# Smart plug buying tips **URL:** \ **Category:** Devices\ **Tags:** homey-pro\ **Created:** [November 3, 2024, 12:33pm UTC](https://community.homey.app/t/smart-plug-buying-tips/119653 "2024-11-03T12:33:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 39
**Author:** ![Peter\_Kawa](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex025/user_avatar/community.homey.app/peter_kawa/32/173848_2.png) [@Peter\_Kawa](https://community.homey.app/u/Peter_Kawa)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2024, 8:51pm UTC](https://community.homey.app/t/smart-plug-buying-tips/119653/39 "2024-11-12T20:51:02Z")
Yes, Homey is a zigbee controller, but not the best, and very limited compared to monitoring and self-checking, and pairing multiple devices on the fly. There’s also weird compatibility issues between certain brands, which don’t occur with Z2M. Indeed Z2M needs to run at separate hardware, like an [Rpi](https://www.raspberrypi.com/products/raspberry-pi-5/) (Raspberry Pi) with a Sonoff [Zigbee dongle](https://sonoff.tech/product/gateway-and-sensors/sonoff-zigbee-3-0-usb-dongle-plus-p/), and it communicates with Homey per MQTT (which uses wifi) But I can imagine it’s all too complicated at this time. I can recommend to run Z2M as Home Assistant add-on, here’s a “from A to Z” [tutorial](https://community.homey.app/t/tutorial-pro-how-to-integrate-home-assistant-with-homey/92641) I wrote --- _[View the full topic](https://community.homey.app/t/smart-plug-buying-tips/119653)._