I used SmartThings for years. It was the easy choice. But when the internet went down, my smart home became dumb. Here is why I switched to local control with Home Assistant.
I used SmartThings for years. It was the easy choice. I bought the hub, connected it to Google Home, and for the most part, it worked.
Until it didn't.
The problem with SmartThings is that it lives in the cloud. When I tapped a light switch on my phone, that signal went from my house to a Samsung server somewhere, processed the command, and came back to my hub to turn on the light.
If my internet went out, my smart home became dumb. I couldn't control my own house because a server was down or my ISP was having a bad day. That wasn't "smart" to me anymore.
I already had my Unraid server running 24/7 (as I covered in my other post), so buying another standalone hub seemed wasteful. I decided to virtualize my home controller using Home Assistant.
The only missing piece was the radio. SmartThings has Zigbee and Z-Wave radios built-in, but a standard server doesn't.
I picked up the Aeotec Z-Stick 10 Pro for about $60. It’s a brilliant 2-in-1 USB stick that handles both Zigbee 3.0 and the newer Z-Wave 800 series protocols.
The first thing I noticed was the speed. With SmartThings, there was always a delay. A half a second or so, but noticeable.
With Home Assistant and the Z-Stick, it is nearly instant. I tap the button, and the light is on before my finger leaves the screen. Because it is strictly local, it works perfectly even if the internet is completely down. My switches talk directly to the server, which talks directly to the lights.
No cloud required.
I still tied Home Assistant into Google Home, so voice commands work exactly the same as before. The family didn't even notice I swapped out the entire backend infrastructure, which is the ultimate mark of a successful migration.
But my absolute favorite new feature is the watch integration.
Because Home Assistant is endlessly customizable, I set up direct shortcuts on my Galaxy Watch. I don't have to yell at a smart speaker or pull out my Pixel phone. I just tap a shortcut on my wrist to instantly switch the lights or toggle the SmartWings shades.
If you are still relying on a cloud-based hub, you are just renting the ability to control your own home. Get a USB radio stick, spin up Home Assistant, and take your control back.
Disclaimer: This post is for educational and informational purposes. The opinions expressed are my own and are not affiliated with or endorsed by Samsung, SmartThings, or Aeotec. Any software modifications or server setups you perform are done at your own risk. Grant Glazer assumes no liability for hardware failure, network outages, or data loss resulting from these configurations.