--- title: "Ecosystems Part 6: Leaving Google Home (Without Losing a Thing)" description: Leaving Google Home doesn't mean starting over. A step-by-step guide to moving Thread, Matter and Nest devices to Home Assistant without losing a thing. image: https://homenetworks.com.au/hubfs/Ecosystem_Part6_rev2.png --- [Skip to content](https://homenetworks.com.au/smart-home-networks-and-iot-blog/how-to-leave-google-home-for-home-assistant#main-content) ![SMH&I](https://homenetworks.com.au/hs-fs/hubfs/Logo%20Transparency%20-01-300px.png?width=300&height=127&name=Logo%20Transparency%20-01-300px.png)Homepage - Home - Products & Solutions - Networking - [Aruba Instant On](https://homenetworks.com.au/network/hpe-aruba) - [TP-Link Omada](https://homenetworks.com.au/network/tplink-omada) - [HPE Juniper Networks](https://homenetworks.com.au/network/hpe-juniper) - Smart Home Controllers - Home Assistant (HAOS) - openHAB - [NUC Build Configurator](https://homenetworks.com.au/smart-home-hubs) - Cameras & Security - IoT Devices - Guides - [What is a smart home](https://homenetworks.com.au/guides/what-is-a-smart-home) - [The building blocks](https://homenetworks.com.au/guides/smart-home-building-blocks) - [Connectivity](https://homenetworks.com.au/guides/smart-home-protocols) - [Controllers](https://homenetworks.com.au/guides/smart-home-ecosystems) - [Networks](https://homenetworks.com.au/guides/smart-home-network) - [Blog](https://homenetworks.com.au/smart-home-networks-and-iot-blog) - [Support](https://homenetworks.com.au/contact-us) - About Us [Shop](https://shop.homenetworks.com.au) - Home - Products & Solutions - Networking - [Aruba Instant On](https://homenetworks.com.au/network/hpe-aruba) - [TP-Link Omada](https://homenetworks.com.au/network/tplink-omada) - [HPE Juniper Networks](https://homenetworks.com.au/network/hpe-juniper) - Smart Home Controllers - Home Assistant (HAOS) - openHAB - [NUC Build Configurator](https://homenetworks.com.au/smart-home-hubs) - Cameras & Security - IoT Devices - Guides - [What is a smart home](https://homenetworks.com.au/guides/what-is-a-smart-home) - [The building blocks](https://homenetworks.com.au/guides/smart-home-building-blocks) - [Connectivity](https://homenetworks.com.au/guides/smart-home-protocols) - [Controllers](https://homenetworks.com.au/guides/smart-home-ecosystems) - [Networks](https://homenetworks.com.au/guides/smart-home-network) - [Blog](https://homenetworks.com.au/smart-home-networks-and-iot-blog) - [Support](https://homenetworks.com.au/contact-us) - About Us [Shop](https://shop.homenetworks.com.au) ![](https://homenetworks.com.au/hs-fs/hubfs/Ecosystem_Part6_rev2.png?width=1536&height=1024&name=Ecosystem_Part6_rev2.png) Smart home ecosystems Home Assistant # Ecosystems Part 6: Leaving Google Home (Without Losing a Thing) ![Dave Gilmore](https://app.hubspot.com/settings/avatar/0e8ebed7dfc5b869e670685272c7a0d2) Dave Gilmore November 1, 2026 *Choosing your ecosystem, part 6 of 8. New to the series? [Start with part 1](https://homenetworks.com.au/smart-home-networks-and-iot-blog/apple-google-or-amazon-choosing-a-smart-home-ecosystem).* **The short version:** you don’t have to move out of Google Home in one weekend, and you shouldn’t. Set up Home Assistant alongside, copy the Thread network across while you still have an Android phone handy, share your Matter devices, bring Nest gear across through Google’s own API as a halfway step, and only cancel the subscription once the new place is fully furnished. Over the last five posts we’ve met the landlords and looked at owning your own place. This is the first of three moving guides, starting with the share house. People usually leave Google for one of three reasons. A device they relied on got discontinued, a subscription price went up, or they read their Google Home activity history one evening and felt a bit watched. Whatever the reason, the approach is the same. Don’t pack up the old flat until the new one has furniture in it. ## Step one: move in before you move out Set up Home Assistant first and run both side by side for a few weeks. Your family keeps using "Hey Google" while you move devices across underneath them, and if something goes wrong you can always fall back. On the network side, this is when the hub gets its permanent seat on VLAN 20, Servers, with a leg into VLAN 50, IoT, where your Nest speakers and smart devices already live. If you’re still on a flat network with everything in one room, it’s worth fixing the seating chart at the same time. Moving house is the cheapest time to rewire. ## Step two: copy the Thread network while you still can If you have Thread devices (newer sensors, blinds, locks or Eve gear), they’re probably using a Nest Hub, Google TV Streamer, Google Home Speaker or Nest Wifi Pro as their border router. Before anything else, open the Home Assistant companion app on an Android phone connected to the same Wi-Fi as those Google devices, and send the Thread credentials to Home Assistant. Then set that network as Home Assistant’s preferred network and bring up Home Assistant’s own Thread radio on it. Now Home Assistant’s border router and Google’s are running the same mesh. When the Google devices eventually come out, the Thread devices just keep talking through Home Assistant’s radio and never notice. Skip this step and every Thread device has to be reset and re-paired from scratch. This needs an Android phone. If you’re leaving Google because you’ve moved to an iPhone, borrow one from the family for ten minutes before you hand yours in. ## Step three: share the Matter devices Every Matter device in Google Home can be shared with Home Assistant without resetting it. In the Google Home app, open the device, find linked Matter apps and services, generate a pairing code and add it to Home Assistant. The device now answers to both, and your Google routines keep working while you rebuild them in Home Assistant. Do these first. They’re the easiest wins, and they make the rest of the move feel achievable. ## Step four: Nest gear through the side door Nest cameras, doorbells and thermostats aren’t Matter devices, so they need a different route. Google’s Device Access program lets Home Assistant connect to them for a one-off US$5 fee and a small Google Cloud project. Doorbell presses, motion events and thermostat controls all come across. Treat this as a halfway house rather than a destination. It’s still Google’s cloud underneath, so it’s only as permanent as Google decides it is. It does let you rebuild your automations in Home Assistant now, then swap the hardware later at your own pace. | Google device | What happens to it | Where it ends up | | --- | --- | --- | | Matter plugs, bulbs, sensors | Shared to Home Assistant, then removed from Google | Home Assistant, unchanged hardware | | Thread devices | Kept on the same mesh via imported credentials | Home Assistant’s own Thread radio | | Nest cameras and doorbells | Connected through Device Access as a stopgap | Replaced with local PoE cameras on VLAN 15 | | Nest Protect | Not supported in Home Assistant | Replaced with interconnected smoke alarms | | Nest speakers and displays | Kept as Cast speakers, or reset and sold | Home Assistant controls them locally over Cast | | Nest Wifi / Nest Wifi Pro | Thread role handed over first | Replaced with a proper gateway and access points | | Google Home Premium | Cancelled last | Recordings downloaded first | ## Step five: cameras and smoke alarms Cameras are usually the biggest job, and the biggest privacy win. Nest cameras record to Google’s cloud. A set of PoE cameras on VLAN 15, recording to a local NVR or to the hub itself, keeps footage of your driveway on your own storage and keeps working through an internet outage. Before you swap them over, download any Nest clips you want to keep. Once the subscription is cancelled, the history goes with it. The Nest Protect is a special case. Google stopped making it in 2025, Home Assistant can’t talk to it, and in Australia smoke alarms are a compliance item rather than a gadget. Replacement hard-wired, interconnected alarms should go in through a licensed electrician (we work with licensed sparkies in Sydney and on the Central Coast for exactly this). Some interconnected alarm systems offer a relay module that can feed a Zigbee sensor into Home Assistant, so you still get the "alarm going off at home" notification on your phone. ## Step six: decide what Google’s job is now Once everything important is in Home Assistant, you have a choice about the Nest speakers and displays around the house. You can keep Google as a concierge. Expose the devices you want through Home Assistant Cloud and "Hey Google, turn off the lounge lights" keeps working for anyone who likes it, with Home Assistant holding the keys underneath. Or you can keep the hardware as plain speakers. Home Assistant’s Google Cast integration plays announcements, music and camera feeds on Nest speakers and displays locally. Or you can retire them completely, factory reset them, and replace them with Home Assistant’s own local voice or a different concierge. There’s no wrong answer. The point is that it’s now your call, not the landlord’s. ## Step seven: tidy up the old flat Once the last device has moved, rebuild any routines you haven’t moved yet as Home Assistant automations, then remove the devices and the home from the Google Home app. Download whatever you want to keep through Google Takeout, and delete or set auto-delete on your Google Home and Assistant activity in My Activity. Cancel Google Home Premium last of all, once you’re sure nothing still depends on it. If you had a Nest Wifi system, it’s usually the final piece. Once its Thread job has been handed over to Home Assistant, a proper gateway and access points (like our [smart home hub](https://homenetworks.com.au/smart-home-hubs) and [Aruba Instant On](https://homenetworks.com.au/network/hpe-aruba) bundles) take over with the VLANs your new home needs. ## Coming up Next we pack up the flat above the shop: leaving Amazon Alexa and Ring, including the Zigbee job everyone underestimates. ## Share this post [mailto:https%3A%2F%2Fhomenetworks.com.au%2Fsmart-home-networks-and-iot-blog%2Fhow-to-leave-google-home-for-home-assistant](mailto:https%3A%2F%2Fhomenetworks.com.au%2Fsmart-home-networks-and-iot-blog%2Fhow-to-leave-google-home-for-home-assistant) ## Keep reading ### [![](https://homenetworks.com.au/hs-fs/hubfs/Ecosystem_Part7_rev1.png?width=1642&height=958&name=Ecosystem_Part7_rev1.png) Smart home ecosystems Home Assistant Ecosystems Part 7: Leaving Alexa and Ring (and the Zigbee Chore)](https://homenetworks.com.au/smart-home-networks-and-iot-blog/how-to-leave-alexa-and-ring-for-home-assistant) ### [![](https://homenetworks.com.au/hs-fs/hubfs/Ecosystem_Part5_rev1.png?width=1642&height=958&name=Ecosystem_Part5_rev1.png) Smart home ecosystems Home Assistant Ecosystems Part 5: Owning the Place (Home Assistant Under Siri, Google and Alexa)](https://homenetworks.com.au/smart-home-networks-and-iot-blog/home-assistant-with-siri-google-and-alexa) [![SMH&I](https://homenetworks.com.au/hs-fs/hubfs/Logo%20Transparency%20-01-300px.png?width=300&height=127&name=Logo%20Transparency%20-01-300px.png "SMH&I")](https://homenetworks.com.au/) We build networks for Aussie homes who've outgrown their ISP router or basic mesh WiFi. From prosumer WiFi and smart home automation (HAOS, openHAB) to mini PC home servers, we design systems that just work.  Smart Home Networks and IoT Baulkham Hills, NSW, 2153 0417-427-106 sales@homenetworks.com.au --- Privacy Policy · Legal · © 2026. 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