Drew Morrison is a hardware tinkerer and smart-home operator who has rebuilt more than one mesh after a move. He writes about Zigbee, Thread, Home Assistant, and IoT protocols as things that fail in apartments, not in diagrams. He cares about setups you can pack, restick, and still explain to a roommate.
Home Assistant
Zigbee
Can Home Assistant voice run on the same box as the Zigbee coordinator without missing button presses?
Drew Morrison
October 7, 2026
Home Assistant
Smart Home
Does a Shelly Plus need Zigbee if the Wi-Fi relay already works without a hub?
Drew Morrison
October 7, 2026
Home Assistant
Smart Home
What still runs in Home Assistant when the internet drops?
Drew Morrison
October 7, 2026
Home Assistant
Smart Home
Phone presence in Home Assistant vs a mmWave sensor at the desk: the lights that turn off while you sit there
Drew Morrison
September 23, 2026
Smart Home
Home Assistant's automation editor vs Node-RED for one Zigbee button: which flow you can still read next year
Drew Morrison
September 23, 2026
Self-Hosting
Smart Home
A Used Mini PC vs a Raspberry Pi for Home Assistant Only: When the Board Is the Bottleneck
Drew Morrison
September 22, 2026
Home Assistant
Smart Home
Home Assistant vs Hubitat When the Mesh Misbehaves: Local Automations That Still Call Home
Drew Morrison
September 18, 2026
Explainers
IoT
Networking
How the Internet of Things Actually Communicates—Protocols, Power, and Range
Drew Morrison
July 7, 2026
Digital Lifestyle
DIY & Maker Culture
How Home Automation Setups Break When You Move—And How to Build for Portability
Drew Morrison
July 7, 2026
Smart Home
Moving House With Home Assistant: What Actually Breaks and What Survives
Drew Morrison
April 8, 2026
Networking
Smart Home
Z-Wave 800 Series vs Zigbee 3.0 for US Homes: An Interference Reality Check
Drew Morrison
April 8, 2026
Networking
Smart Home
Thread Border Router Placement: Why One Bad Corner Tanks Your Whole Mesh
Drew Morrison
April 8, 2026
Smart Home
Zigbee Router Tables: Reading Network Maps Without Losing Your Mind
Drew Morrison
April 7, 2026
Smart Home
Zigbee
Zigbee End Devices That Wake Too Often: Battery Drain Patterns Makers Miss
Drew Morrison
April 7, 2026
Home Assistant
Smart Home
Self-Hosted Home Assistant Yellow vs Commercial Zigbee Hubs in 2026
Drew Morrison
April 7, 2026
Smart Home
Zigbee Binding vs Automation Rules: When Direct Control Still Beats the Hub
Drew Morrison
April 7, 2026
Smart Home
Zigbee
Zigbee Bindings and Direct Clusters: When Groups Aren't Enough
Drew Morrison
April 7, 2026
Home Automation
Smart Home
Zigbee Source Routing: When Turning It Off Fixes Weird Dropouts
Drew Morrison
April 7, 2026
Smart Home
Zigbee OTA Updates: Why Your Bulbs Lag Behind Security Patches
Drew Morrison
April 7, 2026
Smart Home
Zigbee Green Power: Why Energy-Harvesting Sensors Still Vanish From Your Mesh
Drew Morrison
April 7, 2026
Smart Home
Zigbee Network Healing: Why Smart Bulbs Drop Off After Power Blips
Drew Morrison
April 7, 2026
DIY & Maker Culture
Smart Home
Using a Raspberry Pi as a Zigbee Backup Coordinator (Failover Basics)
Drew Morrison
April 7, 2026
Smart Home Networking
USB 3.0 and Zigbee: The Interference Pattern That Breaks Cheap Coordinators
Drew Morrison
April 7, 2026
Home Networking
Smart Home
Zigbee and Wi-Fi Coexistence: Fixing Channel Bleed Without Replacing Your Router
Drew Morrison
April 7, 2026
Smart Home Networking
Building a Budget Zigbee Mesh That Doesn't Drop Constantly
Drew Morrison
April 6, 2026
Smart Home Networking
Zigbee vs Thread vs Z-Wave in 2026: A Buyer's Honest Guide
Drew Morrison
April 6, 2026
Smart Home
What Matter 2.0 Would Need to Actually Fix Smart Home Interop
Drew Morrison
March 15, 2026
Smart Home
Why the Smart Home Matter Standard Is Still a Mess in 2026
Drew Morrison
March 15, 2026
DIY & Maker Culture
Smart Home
Why Smart Plugs Are the Unsung Hero of Home Automation
Drew Morrison
March 7, 2026
Smart Home
Why Your Smart Lock Might Be the Weakest Link in Your Home
Drew Morrison
March 7, 2026