https://watch.linuxrenaissance.com/videos/watch/0606de87-0b9c-4c06-a0f7-caef7b7fef3c I'm building my own smart home — but I have one very important requirement: it must work completely locally. No mandatory cloud services. No vendor accounts. No proprietary app that needs to keep existing for the next 15 years. If a device requires online activation or depends on somebody else's server to keep working, I'm simply not interested. In this first video of my Home Assistant series, I talk about what I've learned during my first few months of DIY home automation and the choices I've made along the way. We look at Home Assistant, Matter, Thread, Zigbee and Wi-Fi, why I decided to build primarily around Matter over Thread, and some of the advantages and compromises I've discovered. I also show some of the actual hardware I've been experimenting with: IKEA Matter over Thread bulbs and remotes, a custom 3D-printed wall switch, the Sonoff M5, Aqara H2 EU, and why Shelly hardware has recently caught my attention. Most importantly, this series will approach smart homes from the same perspective I approach computing: local control, privacy, open standards and as little dependence on third parties as possible. If you're already deep into Home Assistant, tell me what I'm doing wrong — I'm still learning. And if you're just getting started, leave your questions and ideas below. They'll help shape future videos in this series. CHAPTERS 00:00 Introducing my Home Assistant smart home series 01:41 IKEA smart bulbs and remotes: an easy starting point 04:01 Turning an IKEA remote into a wall switch with 3D printing 06:50 Zigbee vs Matter vs Thread explained 08:27 Matter over Wi-Fi explained 09:18 Matter over Thread explained 11:14 How a Thread mesh network works 12:42 Home Assistant hardware requirements 13:43 Zigbee vs Matter over Thread for local control 15:18 Vendor lock-in and the problem with smart home ecosystems 16:34 Pairing Matter devices with Home Assistant 17:34 Why I chose Matter over Thread 18:17 The big advantage Zigbee still has 19:32 Using Zigbee and Thread together in Home Assistant 20:26 Why smart remotes can be worse than normal light switches 21:36 Matter/Thread remote latency and double-click delay 23:09 Sonoff M5 with Home Assistant: my workaround 25:03 Aqara H2 EU Matter/Thread switch: another compromise 26:23 Why smart bulbs should always have power 29:17 The missing Aqara H2 decoupled mode 30:59 Discovering Shelly for local home automation 33:02 Where this Home Assistant series goes next 34:08 My rule: the smart home must work 100% locally ❤️ Help Keep This Content Going Memberships: https://youtube.com/@LinuxRenaissance/join Patreon: https://patreon.com/LinuxRenaissance Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/darth GitHub: https://github.com/sponsors/LinuxRenaissance Merch: https://shop.linuxrenaissance.com Zorin Pro: https://zorin.com/linuxrenaissance Keychron: https://www.keychron.com/?ref=LINUX StartMail 50% off: https://www.startmail.com/partner/?ref=mwq0ywj 📢 Join The Linux Renaissance Community On Matrix Chat Matrix v12 Space: https://matrix.to/#/%23space:fosshq.org Recommended Matrix client is "Element" from Flathub and Element X on Smartphones 🌐 Follow Linux Renaissance everywhere Discuss: https://forum.linuxrenaissance.com, PeerTube: https://watch.linuxrenaissance.com, Odysee: https://odysee.com/@LinuxRenaissance:1, Telegram: https://t.me/LinuxRenaissance, Mastodon: https://silversword.online/@darth, Twitter: https://x.com/darthchillash, 🎵 Music By H0ffman: https://soundcloud.com/h0ffman/sets/protracker-amiga 🙏 Linux Renaissance is supported by OPNsense: https://opnsense.org Links within this video may contain affiliate links that I receive a small commission from. #Linux #SmartHome #HomeAssistant Sat, 17 Oct 2026 17:51:05 GMT https://validator.w3.org/feed/docs/rss2.html PeerTube - https://watch.linuxrenaissance.com https://watch.linuxrenaissance.com/lazy-static/avatars/9c56e2c1-4172-455c-9801-e3a8bad36429.gif https://watch.linuxrenaissance.com/videos/watch/0606de87-0b9c-4c06-a0f7-caef7b7fef3c All rights reserved, unless otherwise specified in the terms specified at https://watch.linuxrenaissance.com/about and potential licenses granted by each content's rightholder.