Hardware We Trust
Haven runs on open, repairable hardware you already own or can buy anywhere. No proprietary boxes. No vendor lock-in. Our own hardware line is coming soon.
What Haven Runs On
The brain of your smart home. Haven works on anything that boots Linux, but these are the options we reach for first.
Raspberry Pi 5
The default Haven brain. Affordable, repairable, well-supported by a massive community. The 4GB model handles most homes comfortably. Grab 8GB if you run cameras or a lot of integrations.
Home Assistant Yellow
Purpose-built for Home Assistant with built-in Zigbee and a clean, compact design. Plug it in, connect to your network, and you're running. The closest thing to turnkey local smart home hardware.
Home Assistant Green
Entry-level, no frills. Good for apartments or simple setups where you just need lights, sensors, and a few automations. Add a USB radio stick and you're set.
Any Old PC or Laptop
Got a dusty tower in the closet? It probably runs Haven. x86, ARM, whatever. If it boots Linux, it works. Give that old hardware a second life instead of sending it to a landfill.
Mini PCs
Intel NUC, Beelink, MeLE, and similar. Silent, small, powerful. Great for people who want headroom for cameras, media, or dozens of devices without breaking a sweat.
Radios & Connectivity
Your Haven brain needs a way to talk to your devices. These are the protocols and adapters that keep everything local.
Home Assistant Connect ZBT-1
USB Zigbee and Thread stick formerly known as SkyConnect. Covers most smart home protocols in one tiny dongle. Plug it into your Haven brain and start pairing devices.
Zigbee Devices
Lights, sensors, switches, buttons. Local-only, no cloud required. Solid picks from IKEA Tradfri, Sonoff SNZB series, and Aqara. Huge ecosystem, tiny price tags.
Z-Wave
Older protocol but rock-solid and interference-free (runs on a different radio band than Wi-Fi). Particularly good for locks, thermostats, and some sensor types.
Matter / Thread
The new industry standard backed by Apple, Google, and Amazon. Haven supports it natively. Thread devices form a mesh network and stay local. The future is looking good here.
Wi-Fi Devices
They work, but many phone home to manufacturer clouds. We test and flag which ones are safe for local-only operation. Devices running ESPHome, Tasmota, or WLED are always a good bet.
Storage
Your data stays in your home. Here's where it lives.
External USB Drive or SSD
Simple, cheap, and works for most families. Plug a USB SSD into your Pi or mini PC for fast, reliable storage that outlasts any microSD card.
NAS (Synology, etc.)
For serious storage needs. Photos, security camera footage, backups, media. Synology and similar NAS boxes give you redundancy and remote access on your terms.
MicroSD Card
Fine for getting started on a Pi, but plan to upgrade to an SSD. MicroSD cards wear out under constant read/write and can corrupt your data without warning.
Coming Soon
Haven Hardware
We're working on our own hardware line, purpose-built for Haven and designed to be opened, repaired, and upgraded. No glue. No proprietary screws. No planned obsolescence.
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