Homebridge on Raspberry Pi?

Leftwaffe

Hi folks,

I’m just getting into home automation. I generally use Apple devices along with Homepods to control smart plugs etc. I want to be able to use a wider range of smart devices using Apples Home app and I’ve heard Homebridge is the way forward. I don’t have a home computer in my house so I was planning on buying a Raspberry Pi to run Homebridge.

I have zero experience with Raspberry Pi, has anyone here ever done this here?
Where should I buy the Pi in Ireland?
Does anyone know of any good guides available for installing Homebridge on Pi?

Any and all help appreciated.

bittihuduga

i use home assistant on pi4. i had sd card but now moved to ssd with pi4

Leftwaffe

bittihuduga wrote: »

i use home assistant on pi4. i had sd card but now moved to ssd with pi4

Where did you buy your Pi? In Ireland I’m assuming? Looking at Amazon for one.

StefanFal

Amazon sell all the Pi kits

bittihuduga

Redordeadqwwer wrote: »

Where did you buy your Pi? In Ireland I’m assuming? Looking at Amazon for one.

https://www.raspberrypi.org/products/raspberry-pi-4-model-b/

cpc farnwell, pihut

xckjoo

I found the RPi struggling under the load of HA but I think it was an RPi3 I was using. Newer ones might be better. I ended up running it as a Docker image on a media PC I was already using

Newtown90

xckjoo wrote: »

I found the RPi struggling under the load of HA but I think it was an RPi3 I was using. Newer ones might be better. I ended up running it as a Docker image on a media PC I was already using

I used HA on an RPi3 aswell and it was sluggish.

What's the new one like with it?

Leftwaffe

xckjoo wrote: »

I found the RPi struggling under the load of HA but I think it was an RPi3 I was using. Newer ones might be better. I ended up running it as a Docker image on a media PC I was already using

Apparently Homesbridge runs very easily even on a Pi zero. I’ve little to no experience but I’ve been reading guides etc. Do you just leave the Pi beside your router wired to it?

talulon

I have it running at home for over 1 year and (almost) everything automated through homebridge. Installation is pretty straight forward following this https://github.com/homebridge/homebridge/wiki/Install-Homebridge-on-Raspbian and (if you are not very tech savvy) GUI interface is intuitive enough to configure all plugins via browser.

I've got Alexa, Tuya, Wemo, Synology and some other stuff connected there that shows up very nicely in my home app on the phone. Only missing a good Aqara integration but hopefully will come up soon.

Cyrus

im running homebridge on a rpi and it works well (running pihole on the same device)

whats the advantage of Home assistant?

Leftwaffe

Just as an update on this. I got a Pi a few days back and have Homebridge running on it. Fantastic little set up. I only have my two TVs integrated so far but have to tweak the setting for the remote app in iOS.

What’s the best way to determine is a device is applicable with homebridge before buying? What are the things to look out for? Just search for a plug-in before purchase?

talulon

Redordeadqwwer wrote: »

Just as an update on this. I got a Pi a few days back and have Homebridge running on it. Fantastic little set up. I only have my two TVs integrated so far but have to tweak the setting for the remote app in iOS.

What’s the best way to determine is a device is applicable with homebridge before buying? What are the things to look out for? Just search for a plug-in before purchase?

Yeah, I would look for a plugin in homebridge to see if it's compatible. If the product says homekit compatible you don't even need the bridge but most "smart" devices have some sort of API or cloud integration that someone has turned into a plugin for homebridge.