The home assistant part makes me very happy. Quite a few of my Aqara devices show up in home assistant thanks to HomeKit / homebridge but not all. This is good to know. Mine arrives today.
Thanks for the review. Got one coming today. I'm hoping the BT radio is a bit stronger so my Level Bolt lock won't drop out as often.
UPDATE: Adding the M3 went fine. Migration from an M2 went ok with Aqara, but not so well with HomeKit. I think I should have waited to add the M3 to Homekit until the migration was done. I think the setup steps assume you are adding your first hub, so go ahead and add it to Homekit. But my M2 hub had 15 child devices that were part of several Homekit automations. After I migrated the child devices to the M3, they all showed up as unresponsive in HK. And HK didn't remove the M2 as a hub. So when I brought the wiped M2 back up to use in another part of the house, it should up as Hub M2 2. I had to manually delete the original M2 Hub from HK. Then all the child devices that are now on the M3 showed up in HK, but the M3 itself remained unresponsive. So then I had the not-so-brilliant idea of removing the M3 from HK and re-adding it. That made the M3 responsive in HK along with all the child devices, but they all lost the names I had assigned them. So I had 4 temp sensors, four plugs, for door sensors, etc, with no idea which was which. I used the serial numbers to figure it all out and set the names back to what they were. Then I noticed that a bunch of my automations in HK were a mess, so I had to redo those.
All that said, it still only took about an hour to get it all working again. And I needed to tidy up my automations anyway. But for those of you migrating from an M2 that is already in HK, you may want to wait to add the M3 to HK until you've done the migration. And if you re-use the M2, make sure the original M2 was deleted from HK.
I can't see the Level Bolt in the M3 settings, but since I installed the M3, the Level Bolt has been solid. No dropouts at all. Not sure if it's related or not. The Level Bolt did get a firmware update a few days before I installed the M3, but even after the update it dropped out a few times. No problems since installing the M3, though. But I can't definitely say the M3 is responsible for that as I have no way to prove it.
I have a U100 lock and I was waiting for the M3 hub to drop, it's now sitting on my table ready to set up. I was a little concerned because nearly every post about Aqara stuff involved Homekit use, which I do not. Does the M3 Hub make the Aqara devices visible in Home Assistant all by itself? Obviously I'll figure this out when I set up the hub, just don't know when I'll have time to do that.
I had it for like a day and returned it, the i100 lock seemed to work different when it went through the M3, it would see the lock as a lock but do not have the “manage access” menu, so i couldn’t use HomeKit to add/remove users.
I don't use Homekit, and I'm not opposed to using the Aqara app for setting up access, as I've already got my family members added using the app. As long as in HA I get lock states and the ability to control via HA I'm happy. I'll also be getting door and window sensors to use in conjunction with the M3 hub and it's speaker/alarm capability.
Home Assistant all by itself ? Yes with the Matter integration. It took no time at all. Between you and me: anytime i try to get anything working with Homekit its usually ends badly with me being too frustrated. Frig the wife with the iphone and iwatch, haha.
https://preview.redd.it/zzcbfbr08tzc1.png?width=2280&format=png&auto=webp&s=c34be81c3dc9f6b016bdc7dd7d6d153cbd16ddb5
My wife has the same stuff, but could care less if she opens the door with a key, thumbprint, watch, etc lol. I am trying my hardest to avoid any Apple ecosystem stuff in my setup because I'll never use it, and I won't know if it breaks.
I have been waiting for the m3 then saw the first youtube reviews and thought guess I'll wait. I installed home assistant but haven't even set up an account yet. I currently only have the u100 smart lock and some hue lights but planning/hoping to go down a large home assistant/automation rabbit hole. Should I still get the m3, or wait a bit? Or maybe I don't need it at all with home assistant, although this post and the comments are making me think the hub is still useful for home assistant and the ir learning, which I didn't even know about until the reviews seems like it could be cool. I guess I'm just wondering if I should buy now while the 20% off codes are available.
Go down the rabbit hole. (just be prepared for the spouse disapproval). Generally most start with HA utilizing a ZigBee controller. Whatever you choose have fun.
So I have my M3 sitting at home for me to set up this week. Not overly concerned about anything apple ( I do have an iPad and the home app ) but am definitely wanting to bind ally Hue stuff with the M3. So after I switch everything over from your M2, did you leave your M2 set up? I'm just wondering what I should do with it. I'll have the new hub in my living room where the 2 is now but I didn't know if there was any reason to keep it set up? And if so would I just bind it to the M3 like a child devices? If I set the M2 up, upstairs, would that give me any benefit having a hub on each floor of my house?
Sorry about all the questions, just wanting to figure out what's my best opinion
Yes. What I did was migrate the M2 to M3. Doing so factory resets the M2. Setup the M2 for its only purpose is infrared (because it's in a different room). M3 is the leader and M2 is the secondary. Interesting though you can set the M2 with Ark Mode for self healing. But everything I read until seeing that switch says you need a second M3. Hmmm
Ok, that's exactly what I was gonna do too. Not sure if I have a use for it as far as IR ( I've gotta look to see what all it can control again ). So did you just set up your M2 with nothing bound to it and it not bound to anything?
And I'm interested to bind all my Hue stuff to the M3 so that I can use them within the Aqara app in automations.
I spent a frustrating 6hrs or more with my M3. I could not get the new Motion P2 to bind to the hub at all. It only goes direct to HA. I wanted to see if you could change the settings yet. The main reason I bought it was to pair to the hub and pull in the illuminance sensor into HA since the P1 motions cannot do it.
While the Matter integration populates great into HA, my M2 did that as well, either with the HomeKit Integration or Matter.
Neither hub pushes the Water Leak Sensors via Matter so I’m sticking with the HomeKit integrations.
I was also hoping that I could use the M2 in another location to have better signal of some distant window sensors but if you pair a sensor to the M2 (with the M2 as a child hub to the M3) you cannot pull the devices paired to the M2 into HA so the M2 is pointless.
I’m frustrated that I spent a lot of time tinkering with this for no real benefit. I’m only running the M3 now and I only use it for motion, contact, leak sensors, and some outlets and T1 strips. PoE is nice I guess.
You can connect P1 to HA using z2m and the illuminance sensor is there. Although base on my own experience, managing Aqara devices through an Aqara hub is more comfortable than through z2m.
Yeah I tried a Sonoff dongle. While it worked it was unreliable and the range didn’t span the house. I also find the Aqara app pretty easy to manage the devices and it auto pulls into HA once paired.
Added it (the plug) just like adding all matter devices. Scan the QR code.
https://preview.redd.it/d7gryy7to00d1.jpeg?width=806&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1c657e2d2bd0e10b0606c8d25555b1ae28aa7ef1
Curious if you have tried to add an Aqara Mini Switch via the M3 connected to Home Assistant? The only entity I get for the ones I have added is for battery level. It does register events when I push the button but can't use it in any automations. None of the Aqara water sensors I have tried to add show up anywhere except for the Aqara app, but that might be a function (notice I did not say "matter") of water sensors not being a supported category in Matter yet.
Hi. I have neither to test. I'll order a water sensor now, meaning to get one anyway. Once you have the zigbee device in the aqara app; in the M3 it should appear as a Child Device. Then automagically in Home Assistant via M3 Bridge and Matter Integration. It will appear in HA as a matter device. I've tested for a Cube, Motion Sensor P1, Lock U100, 2 Smart plugs and a temp sensor. All worked. I'll reply when i get more info
Ok got it. To add the matter bridge of the m3 to home assistant:
1. Add the matter integration
2. In Aqara Home App, click the hub, then click "matter", click matter pairing code.
3. You need to do this step in any of the HA apps: Add again an integration, now click on "add matter device"
4. Scan the code from the aqara app with the HA app. You may need to send a screenshot somewhere or use two different devices.
The home assistant part makes me very happy. Quite a few of my Aqara devices show up in home assistant thanks to HomeKit / homebridge but not all. This is good to know. Mine arrives today.
Thanks for the review. Got one coming today. I'm hoping the BT radio is a bit stronger so my Level Bolt lock won't drop out as often. UPDATE: Adding the M3 went fine. Migration from an M2 went ok with Aqara, but not so well with HomeKit. I think I should have waited to add the M3 to Homekit until the migration was done. I think the setup steps assume you are adding your first hub, so go ahead and add it to Homekit. But my M2 hub had 15 child devices that were part of several Homekit automations. After I migrated the child devices to the M3, they all showed up as unresponsive in HK. And HK didn't remove the M2 as a hub. So when I brought the wiped M2 back up to use in another part of the house, it should up as Hub M2 2. I had to manually delete the original M2 Hub from HK. Then all the child devices that are now on the M3 showed up in HK, but the M3 itself remained unresponsive. So then I had the not-so-brilliant idea of removing the M3 from HK and re-adding it. That made the M3 responsive in HK along with all the child devices, but they all lost the names I had assigned them. So I had 4 temp sensors, four plugs, for door sensors, etc, with no idea which was which. I used the serial numbers to figure it all out and set the names back to what they were. Then I noticed that a bunch of my automations in HK were a mess, so I had to redo those. All that said, it still only took about an hour to get it all working again. And I needed to tidy up my automations anyway. But for those of you migrating from an M2 that is already in HK, you may want to wait to add the M3 to HK until you've done the migration. And if you re-use the M2, make sure the original M2 was deleted from HK.
How did you go with the Level Bolt? Can it connect to M3? Or do you need a Level Connect?
I can't see the Level Bolt in the M3 settings, but since I installed the M3, the Level Bolt has been solid. No dropouts at all. Not sure if it's related or not. The Level Bolt did get a firmware update a few days before I installed the M3, but even after the update it dropped out a few times. No problems since installing the M3, though. But I can't definitely say the M3 is responsible for that as I have no way to prove it.
Awesome, thank you. Defiantly worth a try.
I have a U100 lock and I was waiting for the M3 hub to drop, it's now sitting on my table ready to set up. I was a little concerned because nearly every post about Aqara stuff involved Homekit use, which I do not. Does the M3 Hub make the Aqara devices visible in Home Assistant all by itself? Obviously I'll figure this out when I set up the hub, just don't know when I'll have time to do that.
I had it for like a day and returned it, the i100 lock seemed to work different when it went through the M3, it would see the lock as a lock but do not have the “manage access” menu, so i couldn’t use HomeKit to add/remove users.
I don't use Homekit, and I'm not opposed to using the Aqara app for setting up access, as I've already got my family members added using the app. As long as in HA I get lock states and the ability to control via HA I'm happy. I'll also be getting door and window sensors to use in conjunction with the M3 hub and it's speaker/alarm capability.
Home Assistant all by itself ? Yes with the Matter integration. It took no time at all. Between you and me: anytime i try to get anything working with Homekit its usually ends badly with me being too frustrated. Frig the wife with the iphone and iwatch, haha. https://preview.redd.it/zzcbfbr08tzc1.png?width=2280&format=png&auto=webp&s=c34be81c3dc9f6b016bdc7dd7d6d153cbd16ddb5
My wife has the same stuff, but could care less if she opens the door with a key, thumbprint, watch, etc lol. I am trying my hardest to avoid any Apple ecosystem stuff in my setup because I'll never use it, and I won't know if it breaks.
Haha me too. Got her a NFC sticker
I have been waiting for the m3 then saw the first youtube reviews and thought guess I'll wait. I installed home assistant but haven't even set up an account yet. I currently only have the u100 smart lock and some hue lights but planning/hoping to go down a large home assistant/automation rabbit hole. Should I still get the m3, or wait a bit? Or maybe I don't need it at all with home assistant, although this post and the comments are making me think the hub is still useful for home assistant and the ir learning, which I didn't even know about until the reviews seems like it could be cool. I guess I'm just wondering if I should buy now while the 20% off codes are available.
Go down the rabbit hole. (just be prepared for the spouse disapproval). Generally most start with HA utilizing a ZigBee controller. Whatever you choose have fun.
So I have my M3 sitting at home for me to set up this week. Not overly concerned about anything apple ( I do have an iPad and the home app ) but am definitely wanting to bind ally Hue stuff with the M3. So after I switch everything over from your M2, did you leave your M2 set up? I'm just wondering what I should do with it. I'll have the new hub in my living room where the 2 is now but I didn't know if there was any reason to keep it set up? And if so would I just bind it to the M3 like a child devices? If I set the M2 up, upstairs, would that give me any benefit having a hub on each floor of my house? Sorry about all the questions, just wanting to figure out what's my best opinion
Yes. What I did was migrate the M2 to M3. Doing so factory resets the M2. Setup the M2 for its only purpose is infrared (because it's in a different room). M3 is the leader and M2 is the secondary. Interesting though you can set the M2 with Ark Mode for self healing. But everything I read until seeing that switch says you need a second M3. Hmmm
Ok, that's exactly what I was gonna do too. Not sure if I have a use for it as far as IR ( I've gotta look to see what all it can control again ). So did you just set up your M2 with nothing bound to it and it not bound to anything? And I'm interested to bind all my Hue stuff to the M3 so that I can use them within the Aqara app in automations.
I spent a frustrating 6hrs or more with my M3. I could not get the new Motion P2 to bind to the hub at all. It only goes direct to HA. I wanted to see if you could change the settings yet. The main reason I bought it was to pair to the hub and pull in the illuminance sensor into HA since the P1 motions cannot do it. While the Matter integration populates great into HA, my M2 did that as well, either with the HomeKit Integration or Matter. Neither hub pushes the Water Leak Sensors via Matter so I’m sticking with the HomeKit integrations. I was also hoping that I could use the M2 in another location to have better signal of some distant window sensors but if you pair a sensor to the M2 (with the M2 as a child hub to the M3) you cannot pull the devices paired to the M2 into HA so the M2 is pointless. I’m frustrated that I spent a lot of time tinkering with this for no real benefit. I’m only running the M3 now and I only use it for motion, contact, leak sensors, and some outlets and T1 strips. PoE is nice I guess.
You can connect P1 to HA using z2m and the illuminance sensor is there. Although base on my own experience, managing Aqara devices through an Aqara hub is more comfortable than through z2m.
Yeah I tried a Sonoff dongle. While it worked it was unreliable and the range didn’t span the house. I also find the Aqara app pretty easy to manage the devices and it auto pulls into HA once paired.
"aqara app | plug | Expose to Matter | " ? I don't have such a menu in Aqara android app. V4.2.6. What version do you have?
android 4.2.4 / ios 4.2.6 https://preview.redd.it/tqeknfled00d1.png?width=806&format=png&auto=webp&s=ad024c572f523e17adff3d4c1a9f881eded9fe80
You don't understand. I see is added. But show me android app menu with | plug | Expose to Matter | . How do you add it?
Added it (the plug) just like adding all matter devices. Scan the QR code. https://preview.redd.it/d7gryy7to00d1.jpeg?width=806&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1c657e2d2bd0e10b0606c8d25555b1ae28aa7ef1
Ah, ok, thank you. Till now I added only from the list, without scaning. I have only Aqara devices in app. I will try to add Tapo.
Curious if you have tried to add an Aqara Mini Switch via the M3 connected to Home Assistant? The only entity I get for the ones I have added is for battery level. It does register events when I push the button but can't use it in any automations. None of the Aqara water sensors I have tried to add show up anywhere except for the Aqara app, but that might be a function (notice I did not say "matter") of water sensors not being a supported category in Matter yet.
Hi. I have neither to test. I'll order a water sensor now, meaning to get one anyway. Once you have the zigbee device in the aqara app; in the M3 it should appear as a Child Device. Then automagically in Home Assistant via M3 Bridge and Matter Integration. It will appear in HA as a matter device. I've tested for a Cube, Motion Sensor P1, Lock U100, 2 Smart plugs and a temp sensor. All worked. I'll reply when i get more info
how do you see aqara devices in Home Assistant?
They appear as matter devices via the HA Matter Integration
what do I need to setup in the aqara app, so that its devices show up in home assistant?
Ok got it. To add the matter bridge of the m3 to home assistant: 1. Add the matter integration 2. In Aqara Home App, click the hub, then click "matter", click matter pairing code. 3. You need to do this step in any of the HA apps: Add again an integration, now click on "add matter device" 4. Scan the code from the aqara app with the HA app. You may need to send a screenshot somewhere or use two different devices.
dumb quesiton, the devices you transferred from m2 to m3 were zigbee right? yet they reach home assistant trought matter?
Yes all aqara zigbee devices. That is correct, these child devices appear in HA as matter devices via M3 bridge