SMHUB Nano MG24 Review, The Smartest Device You'll Ever Own

<section class="review-transcript"> <p><strong>Imagine a device that can run local automations, replace your Zigbee coordinator, and expose devices to Matter,</strong> all while integrating seamlessly with Home Assistant. That’s exactly what the <strong>SMHUB Nano Mg24</strong> promises.</p> <p>Hello everyone, my name is Simon and welcome back to <em>Bite of Geek</em>, a channel focused on Home Assistant and smart home technology. Last year I reviewed several Zigbee dongles from <strong>SMLIGHT</strong>, and I was really impressed by their quality and feature set.</p> <p>At that time, I was looking to implement PoE for some of my devices, so I moved from a USB Zigbee dongle to a PoE-based one and used the <em>SLZB-06</em> long-term. It has been absolutely rock solid.</p> <p>SMLIGHT didn’t just stop there. Instead of standing still, they continued designing new products, including the impressive <strong>SMHUB Nano Mg24</strong>. While it shares the familiar design language of their existing products, it’s something entirely different under the hood.</p> <p>Thanks to SMLIGHT for sending me the SMHUB Nano Mg24 for review. As always, they had no editorial input, and these are my honest opinions.</p> <p>So what exactly is the SMHUB Nano Mg24? It’s not just a Zigbee coordinator, although it can work as one. Calling it only a hub also doesn’t do it justice. <strong>It’s more like a computer on a stick</strong> that can take on multiple smart home roles.</p> <p>The device runs a <strong>Linux operating system</strong> and comes with several applications pre-installed. It can act as a Zigbee or Thread coordinator, expose Zigbee devices to Matter, and—most impressively—<strong>run automations completely locally</strong>.</p> <p>All of this comes in the same compact form factor as SMLIGHT’s existing coordinators. Just listing these capabilities already makes you wonder how many different ways this device could be used.</p> <p>The SMHUB Nano Mg24 is still in early development, but all of the key features you would expect are already available. It’s something to keep in mind, but it’s clearly evolving quickly.</p> <p>Like other SMLIGHT adapters, it can be powered via <strong>PoE or USB-C</strong>. I set mine up using PoE and connected it to my Home Assistant instance running on an Unraid NAS.</p> <p>Physically, the device is larger than a typical USB dongle. It has a long body, a multi-directional external antenna, a ventilated casing, status LEDs, an RJ45 Ethernet port, and a USB port.</p> <p>Once connected to the network, setup was incredibly easy. I simply typed <code>smhub.local</code> into my browser and immediately accessed the web interface. <strong>No need to hunt for IP addresses</strong>—it’s ready to go out of the box.</p> <p>If you’ve used other SMLIGHT adapters, the interface will feel familiar, but the hub adds much more. The main dashboard clearly shows that the product is still under development, yet there is already a lot available.</p> <p>The built-in applications include <strong>Zigbee2MQTT</strong>, <strong>Matter Bridge</strong> (to expose Zigbee devices to Apple Home and Google Home), <strong>Node-RED</strong> for visual automations, and <strong>Z-Wave JS</strong> support.</p> <p>There’s also an app manager to install and update services, a Linux web console, SSH access, and comprehensive system settings including networking, Wi-Fi, MQTT, firmware updates, and <strong>WireGuard</strong> for secure remote access.</p> <p>One of the first things I tested was running Zigbee2MQTT directly on the hub. Connecting it to my existing MQTT broker in Home Assistant was straightforward—enter the broker details, restart the service, and it just worked.</p> <p>I paired a Zigbee smart plug and an Aqara button, and all entities appeared in Home Assistant exactly as expected. Automations worked just as quickly as when Zigbee2MQTT runs directly inside Home Assistant.</p> <p>This is just one simple use case. Because the SMHUB Nano Mg24 can also run its own MQTT broker, you can flip the setup around entirely. <strong>Offloading Zigbee2MQTT and MQTT to a separate device adds resilience</strong>, especially on lower-powered systems.</p> <p>Running in bridge mode means Zigbee2MQTT can continue operating even if Home Assistant goes down, which is a big advantage for reliability.</p> <p>SMLIGHT even provided a detailed document outlining many deployment scenarios: multiple hubs connected to Home Assistant, USB devices passed through, or using the full power of the SMHUB Nano Mg24 to run automations via Node-RED while exposing devices to Google, Apple, and Amazon through Matter—all running locally without the cloud.</p> <p>When you add secure remote access via WireGuard, the device becomes an excellent solution for remote locations that need to operate independently.</p> <p><strong>I’ve only scratched the surface of what the SMHUB Nano Mg24 can do,</strong> but it’s already clear that this is a very exciting product from SMLIGHT. I’m definitely going to keep experimenting with it.</p> <p>If you’d like to see more content about the SMHUB Nano Mg24, let me know in the comments. Could you see this at the heart of your smart home? Thanks for watching, and I’ll see you in the next video.</p> </section>