Choosing a Smart Home Controller is very much like buying a car - the decision to choose a particular manufacturer is only the first choice you have to make, after that there's a bewildering array of models and options on top!
Athom are a relative newcomer to the Smart Home area, having only started out during 2016. Despite their young age, they've already got an impressive track history with their Athom Homey Controller going through three revisions before eventually being phased out, leaving the flagship Athom Homey PRO as the sole Controller in their range.
Athom also takes a slightly different approach with regards to device compatibility where individual Plugins / Apps are installed to handle specific sets of devices - for example to add support for Fibaro Z-Wave devices you install the Fibaro Plugin / App, to add support for Aeotec Z-Wave devices you add the Aeotec Plugin / App, for LightwaveRF devices you add the LightwaveRF Plugin / App... you get the idea!
This means that compatibility for devices can be added by the official Athom developers or by third party developers (maybe even the device manufacturer themselves), or even by both (competition is never a bad thing). It also means that compatibility is a simple case of a Plugin / App install or a Plugin / App update, as opposed to other Controllers that seem to require a lengthy firmware update to add support for any new devices.
As there is now only a single model of the Athom Controller our "Choosing an Athom Controller" guide will simply help you to understand the specifications and features that the Athom Homey PRO offers.
| Feature | Athom Homey PRO | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Software Features | ||||
| Scene Control | ||||
| Graphical Block Scene Editor |  |
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| JavaScript (JS) Scripting | |
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| Virtual Devices | ||||
| Virtual Devices - IP Strings |  |
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| Virtual Devices - Script-based | |
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| Virtual Devices - Scene Triggers | |
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| General | ||||
| Remote Access | |
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| Web UI | |
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| iOS App | |
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| Android App | |
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| App Widgets |  |
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| Android Wear Support | |
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| Alexa Voice Assistant | |
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| Google Assistant | |
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| Siri (via iOS App Shortcuts) | |
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| HomeKit | |
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| Geolocation | |
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| Operating System | Linux | |||
| Number of Plug-Ins / Apps | 40+ | |||
| Recovery / Backup | |
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| Bridge (Linking Controllers) | |
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| Home Automation Support | ||||
| Z-Wave (868.4MHz) | |
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| Z-Wave Plus (868.4MHz) | |
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| Recommended No. of Z-Wave Devices | up to 232 | |||
| ZigBee | |
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| Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) | |
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| 433MHz | |
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| 868MHz | |
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| IP Camera Support | |
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| Hardware Features | ||||
| Processor (CPU) | Dual-core IMX6 (1GHz) | |||
| Memory (RAM) | 1GB | |||
| Storage (Flash) | 4GB | |||
| Ethernet | |
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| WiFi | 802.11 b/g/n 2.4GHz |
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| ZigBee | |
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| Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) | |
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| 433MHz | |
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| 868MHz | |
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| Infra-Red (IR) | |
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| USB Ports | |
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| Z-Wave Series | 500 | |||
| Case | Plastic | |||
| Dimensions | 120mm diameter | |||
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- Features may require third-party Plugins / Apps, experimental (BETA) functionality, additional hardware or optional paid-for subscription services. |
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What do these differences mean?
The Athom Homey PRO Controller will run your Home Automation system with stability and reliability and its powerful hardware will be beneficial as your Smart Home expands to include other technologies such as ZigBee and Bluetooth Low Energy, either now, or in the future.
Scene Control
Scenes enable you to control multiple devices all at the same time. Scenes can be triggered from other devices (such as sensors) or from external events (such as the weather). They form an important function of your home automation system. The Athom Homey PRO Controller offers two ways to create Scenes - Graphical Block Editor Scenes (known as Flows) and by using JavaScript (JS) Scripting (known as HomeyScript).
Graphical Block Editor Scenes
Flows enable you to create relatively sophisticated scenes using a number of customisable blocks. These scenes can have multiple triggers, conditions and actions.
JavaScript (JS) Scripting
HomeyScript scripts are the most advanced scenes available and are based on the JavaScript programming (scripting) language. These types of scenes allow you to do almost anything, but do require basic programming skills. HomeyScript scenes enable you to create very sophisticated scenes, far more complex than the basic "If / Then" format offered by Flows.
Virtual Devices
Virtual Devices are exactly what they sound like - devices in the Smart Home Controller that aren't physical devices. Virtual Devices are very useful for controlling devices via other networks, such as AV equipment that can be controlled from your Wi-Fi / Ethernet network ("IP Strings"). Other types of Virtual Device support scripting directly ("Script-based"), allowing much more complex logic and control. The simplest type of Virtual Device ("Scene Triggers") can be used to create a simple button in the smartphone / tablet App that can control a number of scenes - quickly and easily.
The Athom Homey PRO Controller supports Scene Trigger Virtual Devices via experimental (BETA) functionality and these can be used to trigger Flows.
General Software Features
Remote and Mobile Access
You are able to control the system from a smartphone, tablet or computer whether you are at home or away. App Widgets (provided from a third-party Plugin / App) can also be created to allow quick running of common tasks directly from the home screen on your smartphone or tablet.
Voice Assistants
Alexa and Google Assistant are both available in the Athom Homey PRO Controller, with the integrations being improved upon all the time.
Alexa has two types of Skill available - a Smart Home Skill that offers basic functionality ("Alexa, turn on the light") and a Custom Skill that offers more advanced functionality ("Alexa, tell Homey to set the mode to Home")
Google Assistant and the Athom Homey PRO Controller work together to make your Smart Home even more convenient to use! With the Google Assistant integration you can control lights, scenes and more, all without lifting a finger.
Similar to Alexa, Google Assistant is available in two integrations, one for simpler control ("OK Google, turn on the TV") and one that lets you talk to Homey directly ("OK Google, tell Homey I'm home").
Siri voice control is also supported via Siri "shortcuts" and there's also experimental (BETA) functionality to add full HomeKit integration - as far as we're aware this is the first commercial Smart Home Controller to offer HomeKit!
Geolocation
Geolocation features use the location based services on your smartphone. When you are within a pre-determined range of your home, this can trigger scenes to run. For instance, a heating scene could be triggered when you are 5 miles from home, or an outside light scene when you are just arriving home. This functionality is built right in to the Athom smartphone App.
Plugin / App Support
There are a vast array of Plugins / Apps available from both Athom themselves and from third-party developers. These Plugins / Apps help provide support for external systems, such as Sonos, Kodi and Spotify, allowing you to do more advanced things without needing to develop your own code.
As mentioned previously, Plugins / Apps in the the Athom Homey PRO Controller are also used for direct device compatibility too - so you'll install the TKB App to support your TKB Z-Wave devices and the Aqara App to support your Aqara & Xiaomi ZigBee devices.
While there is no real limit to the number of Plugins / Apps that can be installed on the Athom Homey PRO Controller due to its high specification CPU and Memory, care should be taken to monitor the performance of the system if you are planning to run a lot of Plugins / Apps!
Recovery / Backup
Backup and Recovery are available in the Athom Homey PRO Controller, but this is a paid for service as part of the new Homey+ subscription. Backups are stored on the Athom Cloud Servers every night, or you can manually carry out a backup. Up to a maximum of 7 copies of the backup are stored, with the oldest being deleted to make way for a new one once the limit has been reached.
Bridge (Linking Controllers) Capability
When we talk about "Bridging" of Smart Home Controllers it's usually in terms of the Z-Wave protocol and we typically mean the ability for several Controllers to be used together to create a much larger system than is possible with just one.
With multiple Controllers it allows you to have more than 232 Z-Wave devices on the whole system and you can configure your system to maximise Z-Wave network access by locating the Controllers in different parts of the building.
Athom don't currently support bridging of their Controllers, but it may be something that they look at adding in the future.
Home Automation Support
The Athom Homey PRO Controller supports a Z-Wave network, it is also a good idea to look at support for other technologies as this enables you to choose from a wider selection of products going forward.
Z-Wave Plus
The Athom Homey PRO Controller is a fully certified Z-Wave Plus devices and will therefore experience all the improvements that the Z-Wave Plus protocol implements when used with a Z-Wave Plus interface.
The extended features of Z-Wave Plus include increased range (up to 150m), greater battery life, more available RF channels supporting higher bandwidth communications, standardised methods for Over-The-Air (OTA) firmware upgrades amd improved self-healing, fault tolerance and diagnostics on the Z-Wave network.
ZigBee
ZigBee is a popular technology used by many products. It has been very popular in the US for a number of years, and although Europe has been slow to adopt it, we are seeing more and more European centric ZigBee devices coming to market. The Athom Homey PRO Controller supports a huge number of ZigBee devices!
Bluetooth
Bluetooth and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) devices can be controlled directly from a mobile phone or tablet (or computer) that supports these Bluetooth protocols. This makes them very easy to install and configure - a true plug-and-play experience. The Athom Homey PRO Controller supports a number of Bluetooth devices, allowing you to use these products alongside any Z-Wave or ZigBee devices you also have.
433Mhz / 868Mhz
Since the Athom Homey PRO Controller has these radios already built in, many Plugins / Apps are available that support all sorts of 433MHz and 868MHz based devices including LightwaveRF, Somfy, Oregon Scientific, Visonic, KlikAanKlikUit and many, many more!
IP Cameras
IP cameras are supported by the Athom Homey PRO Controller and many popular camera types such as Foscam and Hikvision have dedicated Plugins / Apps. There's also support for generic cameras too and you'll find that certain Cloud based cameras such as Ring, Netatmo and Arlo will also work.
Hardware Features
Since there is only one model of Athom Controller available, this section of the guide will simply describe its hardware.
CPU Performance
The CPU (or Processor) is the Controller's engine. The faster it runs, the faster your system will run. The Athom Homey PRO Controller uses an IMX dual-core CPUs which is high performance and well suited to the embedded nature of the hardware. The dual-core CPU allows it to run two processes at any time incredibly quickly.
Memory
The other aspect of the hardware that affects performance is memory. The memory is split into two types - Flash and RAM. The basic rule (as for computers) is that the more memory the better, and you can never have too much!
- Flash - This is permanent memory, it holds the main Controller software and details of all devices, scenes, and programs for your system.
- RAM - this is used when the system is running. The more RAM available, the more things the Controller can do at the same time. This translates into allowing it to run more devices, run more scenes and allow it to run quickly regardless of what you ask it to do.
The Athom Homey PRO Controller has 4GB of Flash storage and has 1GB of RAM to support larger Smart Home systems with many devices, Plugins / Apps and scenes.
Ethernet / WiFi
The Athom Homey PRO Controller doesn't support wired Ethernet connections and instead rely on 802.11 b/g/n 2.4GHz WiFi connectivity.
Getting Help and Advice
Hopefully this guide has helped clarify the specifications of the Athom Homey Pro Controller and what they mean in actual real-world use. If you need any further help or advice, contact Vesternet and we will answer all your questions.
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