---
title: 'Choosing the Best Hardware to Run My Smart Home'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=xF5SDzgj2rU'
video_id: 'xF5SDzgj2rU'
date: 2026-08-06
duration_sec: 879
---

# Choosing the Best Hardware to Run My Smart Home

> Source: [Choosing the Best Hardware to Run My Smart Home](https://youtube.com/watch?v=xF5SDzgj2rU)

## Summary

The video documents the creator's journey of upgrading their smart home hub from a Raspberry Pi 4 to a Beelink Mini S13, along with migrating Zigbee and Z-Wave devices to a new combo stick, and optimizing the network for reliability. It highlights both the ease of migration and the pitfalls encountered, such as a USB extender causing boot failures.

### Key Points

- **Starting Point** [00:18] — The creator began with SmartThings V2 hub, upgraded to V3, then moved to Home Assistant on Raspberry Pi 3, then Pi 4 with 8GB RAM and SSD.
- **Hub Upgrade** [01:26] — Chose Beelink Mini S13 ($170) with 16GB RAM, 500GB storage, faster than Pi. Migration was easy: backup, install HA on M.2 drive, restore, set static IP. Took ~30 minutes.
- **Boot Failure** [03:19] — After a few weeks, the mini PC failed to boot after an update. The culprit was a USB extender combo. Using a normal USB extension cord fixed it.
- **Z-Wave Stick Upgrade** [04:29] — Upgraded from Nortech combo stick to Aotec Zstick 10 Pro ($60) with Zigbee 3.0 and Z-Wave 800. Tested Z-Wave Long Range with Home Assistant Connect ZWA2, but regular Z-Wave performed better in his environment.
- **Device Migration** [06:59] — Zigbee migration was easy via backup/restore. Z-Wave required manual exclusion/re-inclusion of each device because the old stick couldn't backup Z-Wave connections.
- **Zigbee Channel Optimization** [08:32] — Checked Zigbee channel (15) and Wi-Fi channels (1,6,11) to avoid interference. Advises changing Zigbee channel if near Wi-Fi.
- **Repeater Placement** [09:27] — Introduced 'dad noise test' - repeaters should be within hearing distance of sensors, line of sight or one room over. Many non-battery devices act as repeaters.
- **Z-WaveJS UI** [10:38] — Switched from Z-WaveJS to Z-WaveJS UI for better mesh control. Can force routes to specific repeaters. Migration steps: install add-on, copy keys, set URL.
- **Network Backbone** [12:07] — Kept UniFi Dream Machine Pro and PoE switch. Added light strips, patch panel, and a permanent monitor/keyboard for server rack.

### Conclusion

The upgrades significantly improved smart home performance and reliability, with the mini PC being a game-changer. Despite a few hiccups, the process was manageable and cost-effective, setting up the system for future needs.

## Transcript

hardware to run my smartome that will work great now and well into the future money. And it's not just about buying new hardware. Can I migrate everything over without destroying my smartome and my sanity? Um, we'll see. When I began
my smart home journey about 8 years ago, I started with a Smart Things V2 hub. It was a great little hub. And a few years later, I upgraded to the Smart Things V3. Again, a very capable hub and I built an amazing smartome with it. But I
was starting to feel the constraints. I was limited to the types of automations I could run and the devices I could connect to it. So, I started trying out Home Assistant on this Raspberry Pi 3, and I caught the vision. I bought a
Raspberry Pi 4 with 8 GB of RAM and an SSD for more reliable storage. But unlike my Smart Things hub that has a Ziggb and Z-Wave radio inside, I would need to buy my own and plug it into the Pi. I did all of that and it worked
great for the last 4 years. I built an incredible smartome, but the hardware to run it all, it's starting to show its age. I've put off upgrading because it can be such a pain to figure it all out. But hopefully you can learn from my
mistakes and it'll go much more smoothly for you. Okay, it's time to upgrade. Starting first with my hub. And for years and years, my smartome hub did not need much computing power. But as I started adding lots of smartome
dashboards around the house and dabbling with local voice control, the weaker CPU in my Raspberry Pi 4 was slowing me down. So after looking at a bunch of different options, I ended up going with the Beink Mini S13. It's inexpensive at
around $170 and that includes 16 gigabytes of RAM, 500 GB of storage, and gigabytes of RAM, 500 GB of storage, and it's way faster than the Raspberry Pi. I was dreading moving everything over in prep for a super long night of
tinkering, but it turns out it was super easy. I started off by making a backup of Home Assistant and downloading it to my computer. Then I used this little MVME case to install Home Assistant right onto the drive. I put it back into
the mini PC and connected it to my networking switch with an Ethernet cable. I went to the devices IP address that now showed Home Assistant working and I restored from the backup I made earlier. I updated the IP address of the
mini PC to use the static IP address I previously used on Home Assistant. Then everything started working perfectly. The whole process took about a half an hour and I was shocked at how easy it was. Even my Ziggb and Z-Wave devices
were working just fine. All I had to do was move over the USB stick to the mini PC. Could it really be that easy? Of course not. I didn't even know what was about to happen. But before any of that drama, I was very much enjoying this new
mini PC. Dashboards were loading extremely fast. Automation seemed to be working with zero hiccups, and I could use local voice control without it taking forever. >> 103° F and sunny. It's probably the best
upgrade I've ever made in my smart home, and it was only $170 and 30 minutes of my time. But oh, was I in for a surprise. A few weeks later, I went to update Home Assistant, and the mini PC did not reboot. It was stuck. I couldn't
get the BIOS to come up or anything. It was terrible. I broke my smartome and I was breaking down, too. >> I was wondering what would break first. this if you want to hear the details. And thanks to many of your comments over
there, I realized the culprit was the USB extender. It was causing the mini PC to not boot up. There were some great suggestions saying to use just a normal USB extension cord instead of a combo. So, I tried that and it worked perfect.
The mini PC boots up just fine with those plugged in. So, I got rid of that stupid USB extender combo. The reason I even use those extensions is so the Ziggb Z-Wave and Thread USB sticks can be up high for a better signal. It makes
a difference. So, even after almost ruining my smart home with a mini PC, do I still recommend it? Oh, yeah. A faster computer for your smart home hub is night and day better. Just don't use a bad USB extender like I did and save
yourself hours of headaches. But my smart home upgrades aren't done yet. The Nortech Ziggb Z-Wave combo stick that I've been using for the last four years needs to be upgraded. That way, I can have the latest features for security,
better sensor, battery life, and range. For Ziggb, not a ton of improvements have happened over the years, but for Z-Wave, that's not the case. I don't range, but it's supposed to reach devices a mile away. So, of course, I
have to try it out and see if it lives up to the hype. I tested the range with both a regular Z-Wave motion sensor and a long range motion sensor to compare. First, using the Zeus 800 series Z-Wave stick, I was able to go across a street
and it stayed connected to both motion sensors, and that's through a couple of interior walls and one exterior wall. Impressive. Once I walked further down the street, it lost connection to both. Okay, let's see what this new Home
Assistant Connect ZWA2, aka the Behemoth, can do. I walked across the street and both sensors stay connected just fine. Check. I walked further away and the long range eventually lost signal, but the regular Z-Wave motion
sensor stayed connected. I was disappointed that the long range didn't go further. I made sure the Z-Wave protocol was set to long range, but somehow the regular sensor did a little better. I can only complain so much
because both sensors had a great connection anywhere in our front yard or backyard. If I had a large property with a barn or a shop far away from the house with a clear line of sight, then the Z-Wave Longrange could possibly do
better. And that's where I see the ZWA2 really shining. The real question is, will your spouse let you add the Home Assistant Connect ZWA2 to your smart situation. >> Get the glue.
We're out of glue. >> One thing to note about the Z-Wave Longrange is that it's completely separate from the regular Z-Wave mesh network. There's no mesh with the longrange devices. So, unless you need a
sensor way far away from your house, the normal Z-Wave mesh is probably a better fit. Now, for upgrading my smart home, I still want the 800 series Z-Wave stick, mainly for the flexibility and the extra range, but I don't need the extended
range of the ZWA2. I also prefer a Ziggby Z-Wave combo stick, so I only have to use one USB port. Well, Aotech just came out with the Zstick 10 Pro. It has all of the latest and greatest Ziggb 3.0, Z-Wave 800, and it's 60 bucks,
which isn't too expensive since you're getting both Ziggb and Z-Wave in one device. That's what I'm going with for my setup since it fits exactly what I need. But now I have a new issue, migrating all my devices over to the new
migrating all my devices over to the new USB stick. Great. It never ends. In an ideal world, moving to a new Ziggby or a Z-Wave stick is easy. You just make a backup, unplug the old USB stick, plug the new one in, and restore from the
backup. Easy. But there's a problem. The Nortex stick that I've been using can't make a backup of all the Z-Wave connections. Apparently, I would need to open up the plastic housing, solder some pins, and then I could update the
firmware so I could make a backup. Yeah, no thanks. That sounds terrible. So, I decided to do things the old-fashioned way and just manually moved everything over. I had to remove each device individually and physically exclude it
by pressing a button or a random combination of presses to do it. It was annoying. Luckily, ZigGB was easier since I could make a backup. Then, I unplugged the old Nortech device and plugged in the new ZStick 10 Pro. I put
in my Ziggby integration to the new USB stick, restored from the Ziggby backup, and everything worked perfectly. For Z-Wave, I had to point to the new USB stick 2 and readdited all the devices manually. Now that that's all behind me
and everything's on the ZStick 10 Pro, I never have to manually move things over again because I can make backups now. Thank goodness. Overall, moving over the Ziggb and Z-Wave devices wasn't too bad, and everything is working great on the
new stick. So far, this hardware is a big step up, but there's still a little bit more I need to do. The software that controls the hardware needs to be super reliable. First, I'm going to start with ZigGB since it operates on
the 2.4 GHz frequency, which is the same as Wi-Fi. This can be a problem if interfere with each other. So, here's what you can do to make sure that it's less likely to happen. Open up the Ziggb network settings and see what channel
it's on. Mine is on 15. So, now I need to see what channels my Wi-Fi is on for the 2.4 GHz. I have three wireless access points around my house and think of them as Wi-Fi antennas. They're on channels one, six, and 11. That's great.
They're all spaced out enough to help reduce interference. And if you ever see your Ziggby channel is near or the same as a Wi-Fi channel, you definitely should change that. So, if you're ever having Wi-Fi or Ziggb issues, check the
channels first. The next thing I check is to make sure there's enough wireless repeaters for Ziggb and Z-Wave devices around the house. Here's my rule of thumb for repeaters. I call it the dad noise test. Anywhere there are sensors
with batteries, like contact or motion sensors, if you sat down near it, there will most likely be some slight groans or grunts. You know, dad noises that might come out. And if a mesh repeater isn't within
hearing distance of those dad noises, it's too far. It needs to be in line of sight or at max only one room over. any further and you probably need another repeater. These can be dedicated repeaters like the Z-Wave one right here
or most Ziggby or Z-Wave smart outlets also work as repeaters. And many other non battery powered devices like light switches can also be repeaters. If you follow this rule, your sensor batteries will last a lot longer and they're less
likely to go offline. As you can see, my Ziggby network has a bunch of repeaters the range. So, if you're trying to justify the Accara Ziggby pet feeder as a candy dispenser, well, just so you know, it's a great mesh repeater. It'll
keep all those sensors online that run your spouse's favorite automations. So, it's a need, not a want. For Z-Wave, I used to not have this view to see the mesh network, and that's because I was using Z-WaveJS
using Z-WaveJS and not Z-Wave.js UI. The UI version is functionality that I think is worth switching over to. Check this out. I have a Z-Wave dimmer switch here in the studio that can connect directly to the
controller stick without a repeater. The problem is the signal isn't very strong, and I want to force it to use the repeater I set up in between the dimmer switch and the controller. So, in Z-WaveJS UI, I can click on the switch
and choose what route I want to prioritize. I select the extender for both sending and receiving. Click save. And now it should always talk to the extender first and have a stronger signal. That's better. It takes the
guesswork out of my mesh system, which I really appreciate. And if you're not using Z-WaveJS UI yet, it's not too difficult to switch over. All I had to do was install it in the Home Assistant add-on store, copy over the keys from
add-on store, copy over the keys from Z-Wave.JS, put them in Z-WaveJS UI, and then stop Z-WaveJS from running. I made sure it was pointed at my Z-Wave USB stick. And then the trickiest part was knowing to copy over the specific URL to
the Z-Wave integration. That way Z-Wave and Home Assistant knows to use Z-WaveJS UI and not Z-WaveJS. After that, everything was working. Not too bad, and
I definitely think it's worth the effort to switch everything over for all that extra functionality. Now, between the updated Ziggby and Z-Wave stick and all the software optimizations, my smart home network is in tip-top shape, which
leads me to the last and possibly the most important element, the home network. It's basically the backbone of a smart home. When I moved into this house over 4 years ago, I bought this UniFi Dream Machine Pro to handle all
the network routing, plus a PoE switch that connects and powers the external cameras and the Wi-Fi access points around the house. These are still working fantastic and I don't feel the need to upgrade them. So, I'm happy I
invested in a good networking system to begin with. Plus, spreading out all my wireless smart home devices between Zigg and Z-Wave helped my Wi-Fi smart home devices keep running smoothly. I still made a few upgrades to the server rack
that weren't too expensive. My favorite are these light strips. It looks a million times better, and it was so easy to add them, too. There's a perfect gap along the inside between the screws and the outer frame where the light strips
automated, and I'll be talking about that soon in an upcoming automation video. I have some great automations to show you, so keep an eye out for that. I did finally add a patch panel and a cover on the side of my server rack to
hide the cords. It looks so much better. Also, I kept needing a monitor and a keyboard for the mini PC and Real Link NVR, so I just added one permanently. I have an HDMI cable plugged into each device and I labeled them. Same with a
USB extender so I can plug the hardwired keyboard in depending on what I need to use. There's probably a better way of doing this, but it works well for me. And before you make fun of this, the monitor is an old camera monitor I had
laying around, so that's why it's so tiny. Maybe I'll upgrade in the future course, I'm going to have links to everything down in the description. Overall, I'm really happy with all my smart home hardware updates. Sure, some
upgrades almost broke me along the way, but I made it out alive. Between the mini PC, new ZigGB Z-Wave stick, and all the networking optimizations, things are running like a welloiled machine. Plus, it didn't cost too much money, and all
of it should carry me well into the future. Let's hope so. Anyways, I saw comments about making everything redundant for hardware failures, more powerful servers, and a very deep home lab rabbit hole I could fall into.
Dangerous. Thanks for watching. [Music] >> Dad, you are so loud. >> What are you talking about?
>> Even my music can't drown you out. [Music] [Applause] [Music]