Mandara Systems

Smart home without the cloud

Home Assistant – professionally set up. Without the cloud.

A smart home that simply works – locally controlled, no subscription and no data wandering abroad. I set up Home Assistant for you: from simple retrofitting to complex automation. And when your self-built system gets stuck, I get it running again.

Free initial consultation What I do

Sound familiar?

A smart home should be simpler, not more complicated

  • Four apps for four brands – and nothing talks to each other.
  • You tried Home Assistant yourself – it runs, but keeps breaking.
  • You want voice control – but no Alexa microphone in the living room.
  • What if the manufacturer shuts down the server and the devices go dead?

What I do for you

From retrofitting to rescue

Setup & retrofitting

Home Assistant as the local hub, Zigbee/Matter/Thread devices, scenes for lighting, heating and blinds – without tearing open the walls.

Complex automations

Presence, energy optimisation, blinds by sun position, notifications – logic that thinks ahead and runs reliably.

Local voice control

Voice commands that stay in the house – no cloud microphone, no one listening in (optional).

HA rescue & audit

Unstable system? I analyse, stabilise and document your existing Home Assistant – so it finally runs dependably.

Why local

Your home belongs to you

Works offline too

Control stays in the house and simply keeps working when the internet goes down.

No subscription, no overseas account

No monthly fees and no data on third-party servers abroad.

Open & portable

Open source, cleanly documented – no lock-in, you keep control.

How a project runs

What a first smart-home project typically looks like

A first project almost never starts by rebuilding the whole house at once. We begin at a spot that bugs you day to day – say lighting and blinds in the living area, or heating that should finally adjust to presence and time of day. In the free initial consultation we clarify which devices are already there, what you hope the system will do and where the limits are. After that comes a clear plan: which components stay, what is worth adding and in what order we proceed. So you see a result early, instead of waiting months for one big final build.

With a retrofit I integrate your existing devices into Home Assistant and add where needed – wirelessly over Zigbee, Matter or Thread, so no walls have to be torn open. Many common ecosystems can be connected: Philips Hue, IKEA, Shelly, Sonos, AVM/FRITZ!, smart thermostats and plenty of Wi-Fi plugs end up in a single, clear interface – on your phone and on the tablet on the wall. Devices that necessarily phone home to a third-party cloud I point out openly, so you can decide whether they stay or get replaced.

The HA rescue is the other typical case: you set Home Assistant up yourself, it basically runs, but automations break, updates cause problems or the system reacts with a delay. Here I analyse the existing setup, find the causes of the dropouts, stabilise the configuration and set up a clean backup. In the end I hand everything over documented, so you can follow what runs – and on request I keep looking after the system afterwards, so it stays dependable.

Price

Transparent indicative figures

from CHF 690 · Starter; retrofits from CHF 2'000
  • HA rescue / audit: by effort, hourly rate from CHF 130
  • A concrete quote after the free initial consultation
  • No hidden costs, everything handed over documented

Hard-wired work on the 230 V mains is handled by a licensed electrician – the automation comes from me.

Process

Four steps to a smart home

Initial consultation

We clarify what you need – no obligation.

Concept & quote

A clear plan with fixed key figures.

Setup

Clean implementation, tested.

Handover & support

Documented, with ongoing care on request.

Common questions

Good to know

Still undecided on the system? Read the comparison Home Assistant vs Loxone vs KNX.

What if the manufacturer shuts down the server?
With local control, nothing happens – your system keeps running independently in your home. That is exactly the big advantage over pure cloud solutions: there, devices become useless the moment the provider discontinues the service or changes the business model. This has happened several times in recent years and has bricked entire generations of devices overnight. Home Assistant, by contrast, runs on a small computer in your home; lights, heating and scenes are switched directly on the local network. Even if a single device loses its cloud, the rest of your control stays intact. So your investment and your comfort do not depend on whether some corporation abroad keeps a service running or not.
Do I need completely new devices?
Often not. A lot can be retrofitted and integrated into Home Assistant without replacing everything. Devices from different brands – such as Philips Hue, IKEA, Shelly, Sonos, FRITZ! or smart thermostats – end up in a single, clear interface on your phone and tablet. The connection runs over Zigbee, Matter, Thread or Wi-Fi depending on the device, so structural work is usually not needed. In the initial consultation I look at what you already have and tell you frankly what integrates smoothly and what is worth replacing – for example devices that work only through a third-party cloud. That way no unnecessary purchases happen.
Does it work without the internet?
Yes. The core control – lights, heating, blinds and scenes – runs locally in the house and needs no internet for that. If the line goes down, your automations simply carry on; that is a central reason I favour local control over cloud services. You only need the internet for certain extra functions, such as weather data or access while you are out. I set up that remote access securely and without a third-party cloud on request – for example via an encrypted tunnel (VPN) straight to your system. So control stays fast and reliable, and your data only leaves the house when you explicitly want it to.
Can you take over my existing, unstable HA?
Yes – that is the HA rescue, one of my most common jobs. Many people set up Home Assistant themselves first; it basically runs, but automations break, updates cause problems or the system reacts with a delay. I look at your setup thoroughly, find the causes of the dropouts and stabilise the configuration – often it is overloaded automations, unstable integrations or a missing, clean backup strategy. After that I set up reliable backups and hand everything over documented, so you can follow what runs in the background. On request I keep looking after the system afterwards, so it stays dependable long-term and updates are no longer a risk.
Remote or on site?
Both are possible, depending on what is involved. Pure setup work, an audit or the HA rescue can often be done entirely remotely – with your agreement I connect securely to your system without having to come by. For tasks involving hardware, such as retrofitting radio devices or commissioning a new hub, I do on-site appointments. I offer these in Aargau, Zurich, Zug and the surrounding area. Whether remote or on site makes more sense we clarify in the free initial consultation – usually it ends up a mix, with the preparation done remotely and only the necessary part happening on site.

Contact

Let's talk about your home

Free, no-obligation initial consultation. Tell me what you have in mind – I'll get back to you within 24 hours.

Free initial consultation See example build