Mark's Home Assistant Setup: The Good, The Bad, The Exploded Server

About this episode

Mark shares his journey transitioning from SmartThings to a robust Home Assistant setup, detailing challenges and solutions along the way.

Mark went from a rocky SmartThings world to a rock-solid Home Assistant install. He shares his tails of disaster and recovery, as well as his journey from Tasmota to ESPHome. Watch this episode on YouTube Show notes for this episode are available at https://homeassistant.fm/HA233 Support the Podcast Get early-access to episodes and an ad-free feed by supporting our Patreon. https://homeassistant.fm/patreon Share your story We wouldn't be able to do this podcast without community members and home automation enthusiasts sharing their stories. To register your interest to come share your home automation journey, head over to homeassistant.fm and click share your story . Chapters 00:00:00 - Intro 00:02:00 - SmartThings beginnings and first automations 00:06:00 - Old timers to cameras after a theft 00:09:30 - Discovering Home Assistant and server build 00:16:00 - From Node-RED to cleaner HA automations 00:19:50 - Reolink AI triggers outside lighting 00:23:30 - Server failure and Proxmox migration 00:28:30 - UPS woes and garage door backup issue 00:38:00 - Presence, Ecobee, salt and propane projects 00:44:00 - Matter locks, long-range Z-Wave ideas 00:49:00 - New Overview, Alarmo plans…

People in this episode

Guest: Mark

Topics covered

• Home Assistant setup
• Smart home automation
• Server migration
• Tasmota to ESPHome
• Home automation challenges
• Community stories

Keywords

• Home Assistant
• SmartThings
• Tasmota
• ESPHome
• server migration
• automation
• Proxmox
• Reolink
• Ecobee
• Z-Wave

Sponsors

Home Assistant Cloud by Nabu Casa

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Home Assistant, SmartThings, Tasmota, ESPHome, Google, Amazon, Proxmox, Reolink, Ecobee, Matter

More episodes of Home Assistant Podcast

• From Tuya to Home Assistant: A Kiwi’s Smart Home Journey · June 9, 2026 · 1h 8m
• Home Assistant 2026.6, E‑Ink Unboxing, Yoto, and Smarter Automations · June 3, 2026 · 1h 2m
• MiciMike will turn your Google Home Mini into a Home Assistant Voice Satellite · May 26, 2026 · 59 min
• Giovanni’s Self-Hosted Home · May 19, 2026 · 58 min
• Home Assistant 2026.5 introduces RF and RS-232 Control · May 6, 2026 · 1h 6m
• How FireAvert wants to prevent house fires with a smart home twist · April 21, 2026 · 48 min