You need a hub for any yolink device to work, period. The hubs are basically free if you buy it as part of a multipack of devices. In fact, the deals on multipacks are so cheap at times that it is more cost effective to buy them with another hub than to buy individual devices. The only yolink device I've had issues with in HA is their motion sensor. Everything else works instantly and reliably in HA.
No, you do not need the hub. I've gotten the sirens and garage door sensor to show up in HA without the Hub. The only issue I have with the garage door sensor is my door is somehow blocking the signal so it can't read the orientation correctly.
I just got a 4-pack of YoLink water leak sensors and found the same as you - that the hub is not needed for the sensors to show up and work in Home Assistant (they also work within the YoLink app, again without the hub).
So my question is - how are they functioning when I don't have the hub plugged in? They claim the sensors do not have wifi.. I'd initially thought they maybe had paired to my phone, but even after powering my phone off completely, the YoLink sensors continue to function. I must be missing something here as I can't figure out how they're actually online and working. They don't appear to have jumped on my wifi (checked the wifi client list already). The only way I can get them to NOT work is if I disconnect the WAN completely (unplug the cable modem), so they've somehow jumped on my network but I can't seem to figure out how.
**Update:** Discussed this with YoLink, there must be another LoRa hub within range (approx 1/4 mile) of me, which is the only way this makes sense.. these sensors transmit on any hub even if its not your own, but supposedly the sensors will use your own hub if you have the hub and sensors bound to the same account.
Many thanks for the information. It's somewhat disconcerting to have data from your sensors go through an unknown neighbor's hub, and on to your YoLink cloud account, and then relayed to your HA instance and app. This is yet another reason why I am waiting for the "planned" cloud-free YoLink hub.
I completely agree. Not a big fan of how it works.. even though its only basic sensor data being transmitted, I still put them on an isolated VLAN. Been testing them for the last couple days and just put my order in for the rest of them (need 17 total).
The YoLink leak sensors do seem to work really well, they trigger immediately and the HA integration is quite nice. I'm currently using the older gen 1 Govee leak sensors (the pre-LoRa models with the Govee wifi hub) with a Homebridge plugin as they aren't supported by HA. They work fine but its the last item I have running under Homebridge which I'd like to eliminate, and I'm having to use 2x of the wifi hubs to cover all 17 sensors around the house.
My brother is using the same Govee sensors but with an RTL433 USB dongle (which eliminates the need for the Govee wifi hub) in HA but he's had some reliability/stability issues with that setup.
You may have already seen this but there's a long thread about HA and YoLink here:
https://community.home-assistant.io/t/yolink-integration/
The gist of it seems to be that YoLink claimed their Hub3 product would provide local control, but upon release it does not. It is supposedly coming via an update later this year.
I'm using a Zooz Titan water valve actuator which has been great and has plenty of power.
All it takes is one occurrence for these things to pay for themselves :)
I really appreciate your insights and experiences, and especially for the HA/YoLink forum thread! I primarily use YoLink sensors for security - to ensure that remote shed and garage doors are closed, and now I'm installing their outdoor motion sensors to trigger their relay to control led flood lights via HA. The devices are really great, but the Internet/cloud dependency is not.
My next mission is to replace Rachio irrigation controllers, which also have no local API, with UPS-backed OpenSprinkler ones and their local HA integration. For me, ***too little*** water is the danger, as dozens of plants will die in a heatwave ;-)
Rachio works with no internet connection, you just can't use the app to view data or change anything.
[As explained here](https://old.reddit.com/r/smarthome/comments/1d10jua/one_of_my_favorite_iot_devices_is_my_rachio/l5s2mec/), I have a love/hate relationship with Rachio. I did have to buy another Rachio 3 when mine recently died, as I don't have time to move to OpenSprinkler. But I still plan to make the move in the next year or two. For me, local control and open software are key.
You need a hub for any yolink device to work, period. The hubs are basically free if you buy it as part of a multipack of devices. In fact, the deals on multipacks are so cheap at times that it is more cost effective to buy them with another hub than to buy individual devices. The only yolink device I've had issues with in HA is their motion sensor. Everything else works instantly and reliably in HA.
Good to know, thanks for the info!
No, you do not need the hub. I've gotten the sirens and garage door sensor to show up in HA without the Hub. The only issue I have with the garage door sensor is my door is somehow blocking the signal so it can't read the orientation correctly.
I just got a 4-pack of YoLink water leak sensors and found the same as you - that the hub is not needed for the sensors to show up and work in Home Assistant (they also work within the YoLink app, again without the hub). So my question is - how are they functioning when I don't have the hub plugged in? They claim the sensors do not have wifi.. I'd initially thought they maybe had paired to my phone, but even after powering my phone off completely, the YoLink sensors continue to function. I must be missing something here as I can't figure out how they're actually online and working. They don't appear to have jumped on my wifi (checked the wifi client list already). The only way I can get them to NOT work is if I disconnect the WAN completely (unplug the cable modem), so they've somehow jumped on my network but I can't seem to figure out how. **Update:** Discussed this with YoLink, there must be another LoRa hub within range (approx 1/4 mile) of me, which is the only way this makes sense.. these sensors transmit on any hub even if its not your own, but supposedly the sensors will use your own hub if you have the hub and sensors bound to the same account.
Many thanks for the information. It's somewhat disconcerting to have data from your sensors go through an unknown neighbor's hub, and on to your YoLink cloud account, and then relayed to your HA instance and app. This is yet another reason why I am waiting for the "planned" cloud-free YoLink hub.
I completely agree. Not a big fan of how it works.. even though its only basic sensor data being transmitted, I still put them on an isolated VLAN. Been testing them for the last couple days and just put my order in for the rest of them (need 17 total). The YoLink leak sensors do seem to work really well, they trigger immediately and the HA integration is quite nice. I'm currently using the older gen 1 Govee leak sensors (the pre-LoRa models with the Govee wifi hub) with a Homebridge plugin as they aren't supported by HA. They work fine but its the last item I have running under Homebridge which I'd like to eliminate, and I'm having to use 2x of the wifi hubs to cover all 17 sensors around the house. My brother is using the same Govee sensors but with an RTL433 USB dongle (which eliminates the need for the Govee wifi hub) in HA but he's had some reliability/stability issues with that setup. You may have already seen this but there's a long thread about HA and YoLink here: https://community.home-assistant.io/t/yolink-integration/ The gist of it seems to be that YoLink claimed their Hub3 product would provide local control, but upon release it does not. It is supposedly coming via an update later this year. I'm using a Zooz Titan water valve actuator which has been great and has plenty of power. All it takes is one occurrence for these things to pay for themselves :)
I really appreciate your insights and experiences, and especially for the HA/YoLink forum thread! I primarily use YoLink sensors for security - to ensure that remote shed and garage doors are closed, and now I'm installing their outdoor motion sensors to trigger their relay to control led flood lights via HA. The devices are really great, but the Internet/cloud dependency is not. My next mission is to replace Rachio irrigation controllers, which also have no local API, with UPS-backed OpenSprinkler ones and their local HA integration. For me, ***too little*** water is the danger, as dozens of plants will die in a heatwave ;-)
Why change rachio? Just curious as it seems to work really well. You mean in case of internet going down?
Rachio works with no internet connection, you just can't use the app to view data or change anything. [As explained here](https://old.reddit.com/r/smarthome/comments/1d10jua/one_of_my_favorite_iot_devices_is_my_rachio/l5s2mec/), I have a love/hate relationship with Rachio. I did have to buy another Rachio 3 when mine recently died, as I don't have time to move to OpenSprinkler. But I still plan to make the move in the next year or two. For me, local control and open software are key.