Is It Time To Dump Home Assistant? - Hubitat C8 Pro

This is a review for the new Hubitat C8 PRO Smart Home Hub, which has the potential for a mile and a half of Z-wave range, support for Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Apple Homekit and IFTTT and has the longest range of any Zigbee device I've tried. It's time to put Home Assistant in a bin... or is it?

This video is sponsored by Hubitat, all opinions are my own.

Probably the best smart home gadget I own, and the Hubitat C8 works with Alexa, works with Apple Homekit, works with Google Home and has Wifi, so no more tying it to your Ethernet!

BUY THE AQARA FP1E AT A DISCOUNTED RATE HERE:
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THE ULTIMATE SMART HOME LIST!
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SWITCHBOT PRODUCTS

BUY A RASPBERRY PI HERE (TO HOST HOME ASSISTANT):

CONBEE STICK (ENABLES ZIGBEE DEVICES TO CONNECT TO HOME ASSISTANT):

OUTDOORLED STRIP (REQUIRES TUYA ZIGBEE HUB OR CONBEE STICK AND PI)

AQARA ZIGBEE MOTION SENSORS AND DOOR SENSORS (REQUIRES AQARA HUB OR CONBEE STICK & PI):

AQARA LIGHT BULB E27 (REQUIRES AQARA HUB OR CONBEE STICK & PI):

AQARA LIGHT SWITCH (REQUIRES AQARA HUB OR CONBEE STICK & PI):

AQARA BATTERY REMOTE LIGHT SWITCH (REQUIRES AQARA HUB OR CONBEE STICK & PI):

FLIC BUTTONS (SMART BLUETOOTH BUTTONS):

BROADLINK RM4 PRO (TO CONTROL INFRARED DEVICES SUCH AS TV & RF DEVICES SUCH AS PROJECTOR SCREENS)

ZIGBEE PLUG SOCKET (REQUIRES ZIGBEE HUB SUCH AS HUBITAT OR SMARTTHINGS):

REMOTE CONTROL CANDLES (INFRARED CAN BE CONTROLLED USING A BROADLINK RM4 PRO)

DECORATIVE BULBS FROM SHELLY

ZIGBEE SPOTLIGHTS & RGB REMOTE

ROBOROCK ROBOVACS

SOMA SMART BLIND MOTOR:

LOCK COVERS (MARRIAGE SAVERS)

4K HORIZON PRO PROJECTOR IN THE BEDROOM

AMAZON ECHO 4TH GENERATION:

ECHO SHOW 10

0:00 - Hubitat C8 Pro Overview
2:38 - Hubitat C8 Pro Zigbee range
5:53 - Hubitat EZ Dashboards
8:11 - Hubitat's new app & Geofencing
9:17 - Hubitat Modes & Basic Rules
9:51 - What's wrong with it?
12:24 - Hubitat Integration for Home Assistant

#hubitat #smarthome #smarthomeideas #smarthometour #review #alexa #smartgadgets #futuretech #technology #alexa #googlehome #applehomekit

[paulhibbert]

***EDIT*** I don't know why this video has ruffled so many feathers 😂

So many people think they have the right answer, none of them know what my walls are made out of, how close my Pi is to my router, how many wireless signals are floating through the air, whether my issue is because I'm using a pi or because I'm using a conbee stick, what zigbee devices make up my mesh, whether I should be using ZHA OR Zigbee2MQTT, no one can agree if I should be using a Sonoff stick or an ethernet based sm something or other... But one thing is for sure, everyone is positive that my working solution is wrong 🤣

Then there are the folks saying I shouldn't be comparing a software solution such as HA to a hardware solution such as Hubitat...I'd be a rubbish YouTuber if I didn't, people need to know whether to buy a Pi and a zigbee stick or a Hubitat don't they??

Some of the condescension has been amazing too 😅 I don't really understand where you think I didn't take "responsibility to understand my hardware", the conbee stick like any other is pretty much plug and play, and Zigbee is supposed to be a self healing, mesh protocol. What more should I have known? I ought to be able to plug it in and use it. I bought it on the recommendation of HA users that at the time were aggressively yelling at me for not having one because it was "flaw less". 2 years later the same aggressive fan boys are telling me it's garbage 🤷‍♂️

If you want to make an informed decision as a first time user of home assistant, from what I gather the Raspberry Pi is now considered trash (despite being the recommendation of the official home assistant website), you now need to install it on a NUC, and buy some dedicated ethernet zigbee radio, all of which will be REALLY easy to implement I'm sure 🤣... Or you know, do what I did, and use Home Assistant on a Pi for your main interface and Hubitat for your signals. My way has a lot more options should you decide to switch down the line to one or the other full time.

[Yama_]

Paul, the problem with your ZigBee range is the Conbee stick. If you got a ZigBee coordinator with an antenna larger than a finger nail then that would work too. Come on.

[litus]

I used to have the same problems with a pi and conbee stick, ended up buying HA yellow and now it’s super stable and Zigbee works amazingly

[chrgeorgeson]

I've been using Hubitat for about 4-5 years now, and I really love it. That said, I had to stop relying on it as my main automation engine because my C8 (non-Pro) model struggled with all the processing. Now, I use Hubitat primarily for my Z-Wave and Zigbee devices and have integrated it with Home Assistant. This setup lets me decide where I want my automations, depending on what's easier—sometimes I use Home Assistant, and other times Hubitat. It's the best of both worlds!

[ucky]

If zigbee range is your only issue, why don't you switch out your conbee stick for something better? Best part of HA is choice, and we can make good and bad ones 😅

It's been a long time since I tried Hubitat, thank you for showing how it's coming along though, I'll be sticking with HA too!

[futurecactus]

I waited years for Hubitat to fix the integration I needed and add the others I also needed until I was ready to give up on smart homes altogether in frustration. I've now switched to Home Assistant and am very happy, very few problems, almost everything just works.

[michaelschmidt]

It is not a homeassistant problem, its a conbee problem, just try the sonoff dongle and use node-red for automation

[markshaz]

Happy Saturday Paul, Home Assistant with an SM light SLZB-06 Zigbee adapter works way better than the conbee or Sonoff.

[AndyDaupert]

This is awesome, thank you Paul! I have a Hubitat C8 that I was considering tossing because I couldn't really get it to do anything. If it would integrate with Aqara...that would be amazing! Thank your for your videos. Thank you for communicating with these companies about what we are all looking for in our systems. You rock brother! Also, congrats on becoming a dad!

[Royster]

I’ve had Hubitat for years, since the first C4 and then up to the 8 Pro. All the while linking them to HA, but I don’t do any automations on either, I use NodeRed for that. I just prefer to keep the automations away from the systems controlling the hardware. It’s super fast and reliable. The Hubitat forum is the best around, not many jerks to point out the noob in the room. And always very helpful. Brilliant vid Paul!! 👏👏

[RyanDWilliamson]

Changing to a different Zigbee stick, and potentially changing the channel, would probably fix all the issues. You may be running into interfere with your wifi 2.4G as well since zigbee uses the same frequency space.

[danwooller]

I'm never going to use a closed ecosystem for home automation. I'm kind of hoping Sonos goes bust and their products all get open sourced.

[TheRealXyzven]

Oh mate, you had me in stitches over Home Assistant! I love it to bits!

Also, anyone else notice “sexy time makes bulbs pink” at 9:42? 🤣

[marcodigits]

The frustration zigbee devices that don’t work very well is familiar to me.
But since I bought 4 wall socket plugs my mesh zigbee network is finally perfect. I placed one at my server, one in my bedroom then I placed one downstairs in the living room and one in my kitchen.

The result is two that cover back side of the house at ground floor and upper floor and the same idea at the front side of the house.

Got 100% stable zigbee coverage

[blainescroggs]

Glad you're not fully switching away from HA, but definitely do what works best for you. I think your isse with the zigbee lights turning on is the same one I had until recently. HA hides a feature called Zigbee groups inside the zigbee coordinator menu, annoying as hell. Fixed my problem though. Just to state it: It is NOT the standard HA groups.

[davidfarrell]

I moved from c7 for all the reasons you describe at the end. Understand the cloud reluctance from hubitat but most of the kit (tv, wifi, sat box etc) isn't available with zigbee or local . I switched 75 devices in 2 hours with all automations done. I can now use unfi as geofencing and turn off tv directly with no motion or get ring or blink cameras as outdoor sensors (much easier). Even basic dashboards much better on home assistant. You mention lights coming on together. That is also a hubitat problem when you move from controller. What I'd love HA to do is to be able to have a cluster of zigbee controllers where devices can connect to one zha or z2m especially for concrete houses. That would be a game changer. A poe controller each end of house and maybe in garage to give better coverage as mesh can sometimes have issues.

[LearnWithGern]

Great video, thanks for posting!

Of course, this sent me deeper down the rabbit hole on what to do in the new house we’re moving into. I’ve been in my current house for 22 years, and the extent of my home automation is a SmartThings hub and a handful of Z-Wave switches/sensors. For the record, I was into X-10 30+ years ago . Since the light switches in the new place are rocker style, I will be leaving all of my rocker smart switches in this house.

This means, it’s ALL brand new at the new place (woohoo)! My rabbit hole adventures led me to White Series Inovelli switches and I was thinking Home Assistant as the hub (I have several Raspberry Pis for many things currently and figured, what the heck, what’s another one). Then I see this video and the Hubitat option…somebody save me.

The extent of my current automation is just scheduling outdoor lights from dusk to dawn. However, I’d like to kick things up a notch and that’s my thinking to go with Inovelli switches.

My actual question: Is the Hubitat with Inovelle White Series switches a good choice out of the gate in the new house? If so, how long should it take for the Inovelli switches to come back in stock? I am moving in 2 weeks, if it’s too long, what would be a good short term solution?

[miestermind]

1: NONE of your shticks are getting old. ALL of them are good because you edit well and youre funny.
2: Youre so entertaining and informative that my kid has been liking you for a few years now. Thinks youre hilarious.
3: I made the switch on your suggestion back then been on it ever since, it does have its trials and tribulations BUT i gotta give them credit they are actively working on the codebase and pushing updates all the time.
4: since that video till this day i didnt know we could up the am doing that now....
5: you rock and you are my favorite. I love that the haters exist because it gives you something to make funny shit about.
6: Congrats on your new family member!

[urbanelemental]

The integration of HA and Hubitat is great. They're a great pair, not getting rid of either is the way. I'm one of those that uses HA for a UI/Dashboards and some integrations. Where the Hubitat is the primary engine of control in my house. Rule Machine is great and I've been able to accomplish everything I've set out to do.

[Sparky_D]

The best thing I did with regards to Home Assistant is swap out the Raspberry Pi with a mini PC. That increased the reliability massively.