Why I Switched BACK to Home Assistant (Goodbye Homey Pro)
I lasted exactly a few months. In my last video, I moved my entire smart home to the Homey Pro for simplicity and family reliability. Today, I’m telling you why I officially packed it up and moved everything back to Home Assistant.
When you have a high-density mesh network with over 40 Z-Wave 800-series devices, a 90% success rate just isn't good enough for your light switches. From major lag bottlenecks and the "popcorn effect" to failed group commands when turning off the entire first floor, the Homey Pro’s internal Z-Wave 700 antenna simply couldn't handle the traffic.
In this video, I’re diving deep into the return to Home Assistant, rebuilding a rock-solid Z-Wave mesh from scratch using the gargantuan Zooz Z32 Z-Wave 800 antenna, and leveraging Z-Wave JS UI for real diagnostics. Plus, I didn't go back to writing YAML manually—I completely superpowered this setup using AI (Claude MCP server and Gemini) to write, test, and deploy all my automations.
Products Mentioned:
Homey Pro: https://amzn.to/4dCSANW
Home Assistant Connect ZWA-2: https://amzn.to/4wLJdo8
Home Assistant Connect ZBT-2: https://amzn.to/3RRkzSM
Beelink Mini PC: https://amzn.to/4tFZoQR
SONOFF Zigbee USB Dongle: https://amzn.to/4wMDyhE
Video Chapters
00:00 – The Backlash & Setting the Record Straight
00:41 – Why I Left Home Assistant Initially
01:38 – The 90% Problem: Z-Wave Lag & Bottlenecks
03:18 – The Hardware Flaw: Z-Wave 700 vs. 800
03:37 – Rebuilding HA with Massive Antennas
04:19 – Superpowering Automations with AI
05:35 – Addressing the Comments: Node-Red, LG, & Price
08:00 – Final Verdict: Can I Ever Leave HA Again?
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