r/homeautomation • u/Glittering_Ideal1413 • 7h ago

QUESTION Multi-protocol hub (Wi-Fi/BLE/Zigbee/Z-Wave) that can run HA OS

Disclosure: I’m the founder of a new startup working on local energy optimisation for homes (Australia). I’ve built a small hardware hub that, with minor tweaks, can run Home Assistant OS and provide multi-protocol connectivity (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth/BLE, Zigbee, Z-Wave) out of the box.

Why I’m posting: before I take this further, I’d love feedback from this community on whether this is useful and how to shape it.

What it is (early concept):

  • Compact Linux-based hub capable of running Home Assistant OS.
  • Built-in radios for BLE, Zigbee, Z-Wave (plus Wi-Fi/Ethernet).
  • Goal price for a basic model: ~US$150
  • Considering a higher-end version with better mics/speaker for local voice (on-device speech + small LLM); pricing TBD depending on what you’d actually want but would be aroudn 5-8x more than basic model

Questions for you:

  1. Which radios are must-have for you (BLE, Zigbee, Z-Wave)? Any interest in others?
  2. For a “pro” model, what voice features (hotword accuracy, mic array quality, offline STT/TTS) would justify the premium?
  3. Anything this would need to beat your current dongle/bridge setup?

Next steps: If there’s solid interest, I may explore a public pre-order/crowdfunding path.

Thanks in advance <3

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4

u/Nu11u5 7h ago

Radio support should include Thread.

2

u/criterion67 7h ago

Honestly, I wouldn't want a device that is a single point of failure for my entire HA system. I prefer individual dongles/hubs so that if one dies, I won't be out the cost of an all in one hub or have my entire network go down. Lastly, I've never seen an all in one device that was superior to the individual dongles/bridges/hubs that it purported to replace. Again, being honest with my opinion.

1

u/SearchOver 6h ago

I don't know if this is something that would be useful or not, but having access to a LoRa bridge between hubs might allow you to extend the range for automation project bigger than just a house. It's probably not a need-to -have item, but might be useful as a "pro" upgrade.

1

u/nhorvath 6h ago

whatever you do, don't run it off an sd card. I would add matter / thread support. zigbee devices are much more available than zwave, but I have both. if you had to cut a radio I'd pick the wifi/ble. plugging it in to the router isn't a big deal, that's where my hub stuff is anyway.