About Private Home Lab

Private Home Lab publishes practical local-first smart home guides for Home Assistant, Zigbee2MQTT, Aqara, Xiaomi, and privacy-conscious connected devices.

What this site covers

The focus is hands-on setup notes: device pairing, exposed entities, local-control behavior, network safety, privacy tradeoffs, and the awkward edge cases that tend to show up after the glossy quick-start guide ends.

What local-first means here

Local-first does not mean pretending every product is perfect. It means documenting what can run without a vendor cloud, what still phones home, what breaks when the internet is unavailable, and which integration path gives readers the most control.

How guides are tested

Guides are written from published documentation, device behavior, and practical setup checks. Where a post is based on a specific tested environment, the article should name the device model, integration path, relevant versions, and known limitations.

Disclosure policy

Advertising and affiliate recommendations are not active yet. If they are added later, monetized links will be disclosed near the relevant recommendation and on a dedicated disclosure page before they go live.

Corrections

Smart home integrations change quickly. Send corrections, missing model notes, or privacy concerns to admin@privatehomelab.com.