I just bought the Homey Pro Mini, which is definitely not a cheap device. Unfortunately, I already ran into a network error at the very start of the setup process.
After some research, I discovered that the initial setup requires a 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi connection. In many modern households, and with modern phones like Samsung devices, Wi-Fi is often 5 GHz-only or at least not easily switchable to 2.4 GHz.
Because of this, I couldn’t even complete the setup on my main phone and had to dig out an older iPad just to get past the initial configuration. That feels like an unnecessary and outdated dependency for a premium smart-home hub.
This is honestly a disappointing first experience, even before I’ve had the chance to actually use the device. I really hope this doesn’t turn out to be a sign of bigger usability issues down the line.
Yes, I’m sure this is the Homey Pro mini, purchased two days ago directly from the Homey website. It’s the black square box with a circular logo on top and a front LED, connected via Ethernet, not Wi-Fi.
That’s exactly why the behavior confused me. Despite the wired connection, the initial setup failed on my Samsung S23 Ultra, which is connected only to 5 GHz Wi-Fi (there’s no easy way to force 2.4 GHz on this device).
message Found Homey pro mini. → direct get error “network request failed“.
According to research this is related to the 5Ghz band the setup needs a 2.4Ghz… and that is strange.
When I switched to an older iPad that was still on 2.4 GHz, the setup completed without any issues. After the setup was finished, my Samsung phone could connect and manage Homey normally.
So even though the Homey Pro mini itself uses Ethernet, the initial onboarding process seems to depend on a 2.4 GHz client device, which is what caused the confusion.
I’m afraid the chances are you’ll have to get used to it. Every wifi-connected home automation device I own uses 2.4GHz - it remains a de facto standard. FWIW, I’ve never had problems connecting without using separate SSIDs or temporarily shutting down 5GHz. My networks have just coped - maybe I’ve been lucky.
As Emile says, you can always connect using ethernet. You can get an adapter from Athom, or I’ve been using one of these for over a year:
This isn’t really the response I expected, so let me clarify a few things.
First, I’ve been running Zigbee devices for about five years now and currently have around 40 Zigbee devices in use. I deliberately avoid 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi smart devices because they unnecessarily clutter the Wi-Fi spectrum.
There is also nothing wrong with my Wi-Fi setup. It’s correctly configured and working as intended. The fact that the setup fails on my Samsung S23 (5 GHz only) but works immediately on an older iPad (2.4 GHz) while both are connected to the same network clearly demonstrates this.
After completing the setup with the iPad, I can manage the Homey Pro mini perfectly fine from my Samsung S23. So this is not a general connectivity issue, but very specifically an onboarding/setup limitation.
That’s the part I find disappointing, not the device itself, but the unnecessary dependency during the initial setup.
No,
the Homey Pro mini has self NO WiFi and the Ethernet port is the way to connect,
Setup is using ̶ ̶B̶l̶u̶e̶t̶o̶o̶t̶h̶ ̶(̶B̶l̶u̶e̶F̶i̶)̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶r̶ ̶A̶p̶p̶ ̶c̶o̶n̶n̶e̶c̶t̶s̶ ̶o̶v̶e̶r̶ WiFi to configure your Homey on the LAN ̶a̶f̶t̶e̶r̶ and registering it on your account.
Edit:
Checked and was misled by the Blue LED during initial Setup, No BlueTooth on the mini!
I have the feeling it is difficult to explain….
But my guess there is a bug in the setup software procedure, that does a unnecessary check, probably legacy leftover.
Wifi on one device does not have to do anything with ethernet on another. If configured OK in the router (same subnet, correct configurations in the router) they couldn’t care less how the other device is connected.
