Explainers

Explainers

Weekly evergreen: the thing a subscriber still needs in six months. This sample edition has two, both tied to the 15 Aug 2026 brief.

• The best Z-Wave hub for Home Assistant (2026)

  Connect ZWA-2 specs, Z-Wave Long Range, 800-series sticks, regions, setup and migration.

• Zigbee vs Z-Wave: which should you use with Home Assistant?

  Radio band, range, devices, Z-Wave Long Range, Matter/Thread, and which adapter to buy.

• How to install Home Assistant on a Raspberry Pi

  Pi 5 or Pi 4, what to buy, Imager steps, first boot, troubleshooting. Updated for HAOS 18.4.

• Building a Thread network for Home Assistant

  Field report from a ~30-device Thread mesh: border routers, mains-powered backbone, battery-endpoint lesson, concrete walls.

• Matter 1.5, explained

  Cameras, closures, soil sensors, energy clusters — and why a controller cert is not a camera on the shelf.

• What the ESPHome Starter Kit actually is

  Snap-apart modules on an ESP32-C6. First official ESPHome product, not a retailer kit.