How-To Guides
How to Back Up and Restore Home Assistant (2026 Guide)
Back up and restore Home Assistant step by step: automatic backups, off-device locations, your encryption key, Proxmox VM backups and moving to new hardware.
Smart Home Guides
mmWave vs PIR Motion Sensor: Which Is Smarter?
PIR detects motion; mmWave detects presence. Here's which technology belongs in each room of your Home Assistant setup, and the best sensors for both.
Smart Home Guides
Best mmWave Presence Sensors for Home Assistant
The best mmWave presence sensors for Home Assistant in 2026: Aqara FP2, FP1E, FP300, SONOFF SNZB-06P, and Everything Presence One compared.
Smart Home Guides
Best Smart Thermostats for Home Assistant (Local)
The best smart thermostats for Home Assistant local control — Z-Wave, Matter, and Thread options ranked by genuine local integration quality.
How-To Guides
How to Set Up Zigbee2MQTT in Home Assistant (2026 Guide)
Set up Zigbee2MQTT with Home Assistant from scratch: coordinator choice, Mosquitto, onboarding, device pairing, channel tuning and backups — step by step.
Smart Home Guides
Thread Border Router vs Zigbee: Which Is Better?
Zigbee wins on device choice today; Thread is where new hardware is landing. Here's which coordinator or border router you actually need for Home Assistant.
How-To Guides
Installing Home Assistant in a Proxmox VM
Install Home Assistant OS as a Proxmox VM from scratch — disk import, UEFI setup, USB dongle passthrough, snapshots, and first-boot onboarding explained.
Smart Home Guides
Best Thread Border Router for Home Assistant
The ZBT-2 is the top pick for most HA setups. Here are the best Thread border routers for local-first, cloud-free Matter-over-Thread networks.
How-To Guides
Set up a Windows drive for sharing to Proxmox
Set up Windows drive sharing to Proxmox step by step: create an SMB share on Windows 10/11, mount it as CIFS storage on Proxmox, and make it survive reboots.
Smart Home Guides
Best Matter + Thread Smart Bulbs for Local Control
Nanoleaf Essentials A19 is the top Matter+Thread pick for Home Assistant. Philips Hue 2025-gen adds Zigbee too. IKEA KAJPLATS wins on budget.