You searched for a Home Assistant Yellow SkyConnect hub setup because an older guide made those two boxes sound like the only official choices. In 2026 that shopping list is out of date, and nobody put a sign on it. Both products are discontinued. Both still get software updates if you already own one. Neither one requires a computer science degree, a bootcamp, or a personality that enjoys soldering.
This guide is the decision you actually have to make. If the box is already on your shelf, keep it and set it up properly. If you are buying today, Nabu Casa — the company that sells official Home Assistant hardware — points new people at Home Assistant Green, plus a Connect ZBT-2 stick if you need Zigbee or Thread. Yellow versus SkyConnect was never a fair fight anyway. One is a whole hub. The other is a USB radio. Comparing them as if they were two versions of the same product is how people buy the wrong thing.
If you are still choosing an ecosystem, not a box, start with SmartThings vs Home Assistant vs Hubitat. This article assumes you want the local Home Assistant path and need the hardware truth for 2026.
What each box actually is
Home Assistant Yellow is a small computer that runs Home Assistant in your house. It is a carrier board for a Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4, in a 123 by 123 by 36 mm enclosure. The official product page lists a built-in Silicon Labs MGM210P radio, Gigabit Ethernet, two USB 2.0 ports, an M.2 slot for an NVMe SSD, and either a 12 V / 2 A barrel plug or Power-over-Ethernet on the PoE kit. Idle power is about 1.5 watts, about 2.5 watts with an NVMe drive, and roughly 5 to 9 watts under load. Nabu Casa recommends a Compute Module with at least 2 GB of RAM and 16 GB of eMMC. A CM4 Lite has no eMMC, so it must boot from an NVMe drive, and some SSDs do not work. Wireless Compute Module variants are not covered by the regulatory approval. A Google Coral accelerator does not work in the M.2 slot.
There were two ways to buy it. The Yellow Standard came assembled, with a Compute Module and Home Assistant Operating System already installed. That version is no longer manufactured. The kit versions ship without the Compute Module. You install the module, the heatsink, and the operating system yourself. The PoE kit does not include a power supply, because the switch has to provide Power-over-Ethernet. If that sentence already feels like a project, it is. That is not a character flaw. It is the product.
SkyConnect is not a hub. It is a USB stick that adds a radio to a hub you already have. On 13 June 2024, Nabu Casa renamed it Home Assistant Connect ZBT-1. The announcement is explicit: new name, same hardware, same support. The chip is a Silicon Labs EFR32MG21. It does Zigbee 3.0 out of the box, and Thread after a firmware change. Transmit power is up to +20 dBm. It draws 5 V at up to 150 mA over USB 2.0. It does not run Home Assistant. Plug it into a Green, a Yellow, a Raspberry Pi, or a mini PC that is already running Home Assistant, and the stick shows up as a radio.
So the honest comparison is not “which hub.” It is “do I need a computer, a radio, or both?” A Yellow is the computer and the radio in one case. A SkyConnect is only the radio. If you already run Home Assistant on something else, a stick is the missing piece. If you do not have a computer dedicated to this, a stick by itself does nothing useful on a kitchen counter.
The 2026 status, without the marketing fog
On 15 October 2025, Carl Albertsson, vice president of commercial at Nabu Casa, ended production of Home Assistant Yellow. Sales had slowed after Green launched. Stock is not being replenished. The same post says software support continues for as long as Home Assistant can run on that hardware. Their precedent is Home Assistant Blue, which left production in 2022 and still receives builds. Discontinued is not the same word as abandoned. If your Yellow is running the lights, you do not throw it out because a product page says “out of stock.”
The Yellow page still documents a real upgrade path. The end-of-production post points at official Compute Module 5 support. That is a parts swap for people who already own the board and want more speed, not a reason to hunt a new Yellow in 2026. Open schematics live on GitHub under Nabu Casa’s yellow repository, which matters if you like knowing you can still get the board repaired or studied after the store listing dies.
SkyConnect’s story is a rename, then a discontinuation of the renamed product. Connect ZBT-1 is the same stick. A later batch of ZBT-1 units, sold between June and October 2024, used a bad voltage regulator and can die in some USB-A ports. Nabu Casa’s replacement program covers those ZBT-1 purchases for 60 months from 2 October 2024. SkyConnect-branded sticks are not in that program, because they did not get the bad part. If your stick says SkyConnect on it and it still pairs devices, leave it alone. If it says ZBT-1 and it has gone silent, contact the shop you bought it from. You do not need to prove it failed first.
On 19 November 2025, Nabu Casa ended ZBT-1 production and launched Connect ZBT-2 at a recommended price of $49 or €45, with street prices varying by shop. The ZBT-2 page is the current “buy this stick” page. It uses a Silicon Labs MG24, a larger antenna, a 1.5 m USB cable, and a faster serial link (460800 baud versus 115200 on ZBT-1). ZBT-1 and SkyConnect keep software support. You do not upgrade a working stick for a logo.
Which one should you use?
Use the hardware you already paid for, unless it is dead. A working Yellow is still a local hub with a built-in radio, Ethernet, and room for an SSD. A working SkyConnect is still a Zigbee coordinator, or a Thread border router if you flash the Thread firmware and actually need Thread. Replacing either one because a newer SKU exists is how smart-home budgets disappear.
| Question | Keep or buy | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Yellow already running | Keep it | Software builds continue. Production ending does not turn off your house. |
| SkyConnect already pairing devices | Keep it | Same hardware as ZBT-1, and not part of the faulty 2024 batch. |
| ZBT-1 from June–October 2024, dead or flaky | Ask the seller for the replacement | 60-month program from 2 October 2024. SkyConnect sticks are excluded. |
| No hub yet, you want the simple official path | Green, about $199 / €179 MSRP | Plug-and-play. No Compute Module to install. No built-in radio. |
| You need Zigbee or Thread on a new hub | Add Connect ZBT-2, about $49 / €45 MSRP | Current stick. Dedicate it to one protocol. |
| You specifically want NVMe, PoE, or a swappable module | Used or leftover Yellow only | Nabu Casa is not making more. Do not pay a collector price for a discontinued kit. |
One radio, one job. This is the part older YouTube videos still get wrong. The ZBT-1 page says multiprotocol firmware — Zigbee and Thread on the same stick at once — stays experimental and is not recommended. It can work for some people. It is also how networks get flaky, and Nabu Casa tells new users not to start there. Yellow’s built-in module is a related Silicon Labs radio, the MGM210P, shipped with Zigbee firmware and upgradeable to OpenThread. Give that radio one job too. If you need both Zigbee and Thread, use two radios: the built-in Yellow radio for Zigbee, and a separate stick or an existing Thread border router (a HomePod mini, for example) for Thread. For what those protocols actually do in a house, read Thread vs Zigbee vs Z-Wave and the plain-English Matter and Thread explainer.
Wi-Fi Matter devices do not need this radio decision. They join over your existing Wi-Fi. The stick or the Yellow radio matters when the device is Zigbee, or Matter-over-Thread. If your only “smart” gear is Wi-Fi plugs from one app, you may not need either product yet. That is a valid outcome, not a failure to keep up.
What to buy if you are starting fresh
Home Assistant Green is the current official easy start. The product page lists a Rockchip RK3566, quad-core Cortex-A55 at 1.8 GHz, 4 GB of RAM, 32 GB of eMMC, Gigabit Ethernet, and two USB 2.0 ports. Idle power is about 1.7 watts. The enclosure is 112 mm square and 32 mm tall. Recommended price is $199, or €179. There is no Zigbee or Thread radio inside. HDMI is for diagnostics. The microSD slot is for recovery, not for your daily storage. It is Ethernet-only, same as Yellow. That is a feature if you care about a hub that does not depend on the Wi-Fi it is supposed to manage.
Green’s own FAQ states the difference cleanly. Green is plug-and-play. Yellow was the one you opened to add RAM, storage, or a different Compute Module. Green reaches Zigbee or Thread by adding a Connect ZBT-2. The same FAQ still says Thread support on that pairing is under development, while the ZBT-2 page tells you to dedicate the stick to Zigbee or Thread. Read both pages the week you buy. If Thread is the whole reason you are shopping, confirm the current Thread setup notes before you spend the money. Zigbee-on-ZBT-2 is the path Nabu Casa describes as the easy one. For a wider hub comparison that is not stuck on these two discontinued SKUs, use the beginner hub guide and hubs that actually speak Thread.
You can also run the Home Assistant software on hardware you already own. The installation docs cover that. A spare mini PC is a legitimate hub. It will not have a built-in Zigbee radio, so you are back to a stick. This article does not pretend Green is the only computer that works. It is the one Nabu Casa will still sell you as a finished product, and the purchase supports the Open Home Foundation. That is a reason, not a commandment.
Set up a Yellow you already own
Put it where the Ethernet cable actually reaches, on a shelf with air around it, not inside a metal cabinet and not in a closed AV cupboard if you can avoid it. Yellow has no Wi-Fi of its own for the house network. The cable is the connection. If you bought the PoE kit, the switch port has to be PoE. A normal router port will not power it, and a normal power brick is not in that box.
If you have a kit rather than a Standard unit, install the Compute Module before you go looking for a web page. Nabu Casa’s Yellow documentation is the assembly reference. Minimums from the product page: 2 GB RAM, 16 GB eMMC, or an NVMe drive if the module is a Lite. Do this at a table, with the power unplugged. You are installing a part, not “getting into Linux.”
Power it from the 12 V / 2 A supply, or from PoE, and wait. On a phone or laptop joined to the same network, open http://homeassistant.local:8123. Create the owner account on that page. That account lives on the Yellow. It is not a Google login, not an Apple ID, and not an Amazon account. Write the password down somewhere you will find it. The local account is the thing that keeps a stranger from joining your hub the first week.
Then open Settings, then Devices & services. The built-in Silicon Labs radio should appear. Choose Zigbee if most of your sensors and bulbs are Zigbee. Choose Thread only if you are actually adding Matter-over-Thread devices and you do not already have a Thread border router you trust. Do not install the experimental multiprotocol firmware “just in case.” You can add a second radio later. You cannot easily un-confuse a mesh you split across a firmware experiment. If Matter-over-Thread has been sulking in your house already, what actually fails in 2026 is the more useful read than another firmware toggle.
Pair one device before you migrate the house. A single plug or contact sensor is enough. If that one device responds with the internet unplugged from the router, the hub is local. Cloud logins you add later — a camera account, a vacuum account — are choices on top of that. The Yellow itself does not need them to turn a Zigbee light on. For the privacy version of this point, see what a smart home records, and what you can stop.
Set up a SkyConnect or ZBT-1 you already own
The stick needs a running Home Assistant first. Green, Yellow, a Pi, or a mini PC — any of those. Then use the short USB extension cable that came in the box. This is not packaging filler. The ZBT-1 page warns that USB 3.0 ports, the ones with blue plastic inside, throw off enough noise to wreck a 2.4 GHz radio. Symptoms look like a bad stick: devices that will not pair, devices that drop, timeouts. Move the stick off the computer with the extension cable, away from the USB 3 ports and away from the Wi-Fi router if you can. A lot of “SkyConnect is unreliable” posts are a placement problem.
Plug it in and open Settings, then Devices & services. Home Assistant is supposed to detect a SkyConnect or ZBT-1 on its own. Pick Zigbee unless you have a specific Thread job for this stick. Zigbee firmware is the path Nabu Casa calls the good out-of-the-box experience. Thread firmware works, and it is the right choice if this stick’s only job is a Thread border router next to a Zigbee network that already has a coordinator. Do not point two Zigbee coordinators at the same devices. One coordinator per Zigbee network.
If you are moving an existing Zigbee network onto this stick, pair one new device first so you know the radio is alive. Then migrate. Take a backup before you change firmware: Settings, System, Backups. Firmware changes are the moment people lose a coordinator and discover they have never downloaded a backup. A backup is a file. It is not a personality trait.
SkyConnect and ZBT-1 show up under different product names and the same job. If a menu says Connect ZBT-1 and your stick says SkyConnect, that is the rename, not a mismatch. Leave a working SkyConnect on Zigbee firmware. The November 2025 ZBT-2 is a better antenna and a faster chip for a new purchase. It is not a mandatory replacement for a stick that already holds your mesh.
A 7-step local hub checklist
Do these in order. Stop when the house works. You do not earn extra points for finishing every optional integration on day one. The first-week timeline is the right pace if this is your first hub, and the beginner-mistakes list covers the expensive ones, including buying a second hub before the first one is boring and reliable.
- Name the job. Computer, radio, or both. Yellow is both. SkyConnect is only the radio. Green is the computer, and it needs a stick for Zigbee or Thread.
- Check the 2026 status before you spend. Yellow production ended 15 October 2025. SkyConnect is ZBT-1, and that stick’s production ended when ZBT-2 launched on 19 November 2025. Used is fine. Panic-buying a discontinued kit at a markup is not.
- Put the hub on Ethernet. Yellow and Green do not use Wi-Fi to join your network. A cable to the router is the design.
- Open homeassistant.local:8123 and create a local owner account. Same network, no cloud login required for that first account.
- Give the radio one protocol. Zigbee or Thread. Skip multiprotocol firmware. Official advice on the ZBT-1 page is that it is experimental and not recommended.
- If the radio is a USB stick, use the extension cable. Keep it off USB 3.0 ports. USB 3 noise is a documented cause of flaky 2.4 GHz links.
- Pair one device, pull the internet, then take a backup. Local means the light still responds. The backup is what you will want the day a firmware update scares you.
Frequently asked questions
Is Home Assistant Yellow still worth buying in 2026?
Only if you already own one, or you find leftover stock or a used unit at a normal price and you specifically want the built-in radio, the NVMe slot, or PoE. Nabu Casa stopped production on 15 October 2025 and tells new buyers to look at Green instead. Software support continues. A Yellow you already have is not obsolete.
Is SkyConnect the same thing as Connect ZBT-1?
Yes. Nabu Casa renamed SkyConnect to Connect ZBT-1 on 13 June 2024 and said the hardware, capability, and support are the same. Menus may say ZBT-1 while the plastic says SkyConnect. Treat them as one product. The faulty-regulator replacement program applies to ZBT-1 units sold from June through October 2024, not to SkyConnect-branded sticks.
Can one stick run Zigbee and Thread together?
There is experimental multiprotocol firmware, and Nabu Casa does not recommend it. Pick Zigbee or Thread for that radio. If you need both, use two radios, or use a Thread border router you already own and keep the stick on Zigbee. The Yellow’s built-in radio gets the same one-job rule.
Do I need a Nabu Casa cloud subscription to set this up?
No. The owner account you create at homeassistant.local:8123 is stored on the hub. Remote access when you are away from the house is a separate, optional service. You can set up Zigbee devices, automations, and backups without it. Add remote access later if you want it, not because a setup wizard made it sound mandatory.
What if I bought a ZBT-1 and it died?
If it is a ZBT-1 from the June to October 2024 batch, contact the retailer. The replacement program runs for 60 months from 2 October 2024, and Nabu Casa said you do not have to wait for a failure to ask. SkyConnect-branded devices were not built with that bad regulator. A dead SkyConnect is a warranty conversation with the seller, not that specific program.
A Home Assistant Yellow SkyConnect hub setup in 2026 is a keep-what-works decision, not a shopping contest. Yellow is the discontinued all-in-one hub, still supported in software. SkyConnect is the discontinued USB radio, identical to ZBT-1, also still supported, and not part of the bad ZBT-1 batch. New buyers who want the official simple path get a Green, and a ZBT-2 if they need a radio. One protocol per radio. Ethernet, not Wi-Fi, for the hub itself. One test device, then a backup.
You were not late to a secret club. The product names changed, production stopped, and the old comparison articles did not. Your next step is the checklist above, starting with the box you already have. If you do not have one, buy the thing Nabu Casa still makes, not the thing a 2023 thumbnail is still selling.
