For light switches, use Lutron Caseta. They are the most solidly performing system that I have ever used, which can be attributed to being an Ethernet only hub. I’ve been slowly replacing all of my WiFi light switches to Caseta, but I’m about to hit the 75 max limit on my hub and may try Aqara for some locations that need just a switch.
I use Hue smart bulbs in a few lamps. Again, the hub is Ethernet and generally works well.
For plug-in switches Im swapping to Aqara plug-ins, although Hue plug-ins should be as solid as the bulbs.
For sensors, I like Hue Outdoor motion sensors, but I’m slowly replacing my various Eve, Koogeek, and other Bluetooth sensors over to Aqara. Now that I created an SSID for IoT devices for a particular access point, my US Aqara hub has been a solid performer.
Garage Door opener just got replaced to an iSmartgate Pro with Apple USB Ethernet adapter and 3 wired magnetic switches this week, but it has been rock solid controlling all 3 doors, even the one that I had to extend the run a good bit. I had 3 Insignia garage door openers, but they occasionally did not set door status quickly enough, batteries died too often, or the occasional no response.
For irrigation, many like Rachio, but I’m about to pre-order the RainMachine Pro-8 because it has an Ethernet port. While I was running Ethernet for the iSmartgate Pro, I went ahead and ran one to prepare my dumb irrigation controller swap to the RM Pro-8.
For cameras, I currently use Amcrest PoE and an RCA Doorbell and use HomeBridge to get the images into HomeKit. I prefer to have all video going to an NVR (currently iVideon but transitioning to Synology Surveillance Station) rather than depend on HSV or the camera mfg’s cloud service. If the Eufy can do both HomeKit native and RTSP streams to an NVR in a future update, I might get a couple (want one for garage).
For audio, I did start off with Airport Expresses to Amps, but when I bought the IKEA Symfonisk for AP2 capability, I ended up buying 2 Sonos Beams and want to keep buying more Sonos. While I do like AP2, I do find that running whole home music when I had spotty WiFi caused dropouts while I walked around with iPhone in pocket, but Sonos allows me to run the audio from its app/devices from the same sources that I’d normally use on iPhone and no longer have to worry about the dropouts. I do prefer using Sonos Amp with B&W speakers and my Snell sub vs swapping over to Sonos Fives and Sonos Sub, but my wife prefers the ability to stream without complication using three Sonos setup vs the A/V multi-zone receiver that I had at the old house.
My alarm is currently alarm.com HomeBridged, but a Honeywell Lyric (wired/wireless system) or Abode (wireless self-install) if the alarm hadn’t already be installed during construction.
Ecobee Thermostats have been solid.
For smart locks, I’d probably get Schlage Sense because I already have Schlage locks, but I’m interested in the Level Lock retrofit kit.
For smoke detectors, I use Roost battery alarm sensors in my existing smoke detectors and CO detectors because I was already over budget on electrical at the time of construction; they aren’t HomeKit but do alert well.
For HomeKit you need good WiFi and Ethernet. Many people like Eero or Ubiquiti Unifi, but I have TP-Link Omada EAP access points, which have been solid. I’m about to switch my Synology RT2600ac, which is now router-only duties (no longer wireless enabled), to Untangle or pfSense. My TP-Link unmanaged switches (PoE and non-PoE) have been good, and if I finally start setting up VLANs, I’d likely also go with TP-Link Managed switches, too.
