#zigbee
13 episodes
#3792: Cloud Brain, Local Fingers: Decoupled Home Assistant
Can Home Assistant run in the cloud while Zigbee stays local? We explore the decoupled control plane architecture.
#3787: Proxmox vs Stock Linux for Home Servers
When rebuilding a home server, should you install Proxmox or just use stock Linux with KVM? We break down the tradeoffs.
#2821: The Trench Coat Is on Fire: Making Smart Home Parts Interrupt Each Other
Three engineering problems in a trench coat. Make Zigbee sirens, Snapcast speakers, and push-to-talk audio actually work together.
#2763: Do You Really Need VLANs at Home?
Is VLAN segmentation worth it for home networks, or is it just sysadmin cosplay?
#2762: Thread vs Zigbee: Multi-Floor Smart Home Networking
Can you mix Thread border routers from different brands across floors? Yes—here's how it actually works.
#2759: Why Your Smart Home Can't Mimic a Hotel
Can Zigbee and Matter handle a two-story house with outdoor devices? We break down mesh hops, latency, and real-world limits.
#2646: When Your Door Won't Open: The Failure-Mode Philosophy of Smart Locks
Z-Wave vs Zigbee vs Wi-Fi for smart locks. What's reliable enough to trust with your front door?
#2365: Building a Custom Home Alarm Panel with ESP32
Discover how to build a tactile, local-control alarm panel for Home Assistant using ESP32, Omron buttons, and Zigbee sensors.
#2126: Why Auto Wi-Fi Settings Fail You
Stop screaming at your phone: how UniFi transmit power settings actually cause dead zones.
#1941: Why You Can't Zigbee-Wi-Fi Your House
The "mesh" promise fails when you hit the coordinator bottleneck. Here's why multiple hubs don't work like Wi-Fi.
#1934: Why Pro Routers Still Won't Touch Your Light Bulbs
Your Wi-Fi 7 router handles everything except smart home radios. Here’s why the “one box” dream is still stuck in 2026.
#80: Why Your Smart Home Isn't an Airport: Industrial Reliability
Why can't you run the Louvre on a Raspberry Pi? Herman and Corn dive into the rugged, wired world of industrial building automation.
#78: The Local Control Trade-Off
Is Zigbee a "reliable old truck" or a dead end? Herman and Corn debate the future of local control in the age of Matter and Thread.