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Smartthings Hub - any experience?

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    #2
    Roen
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,620 ✭✭✭Roen


    All the reviews of it I have seen seem to say that it's the best of a bad bunch.
    It represents great value though at that price.

    I'll let you know how it works out when it arrives :)


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    #3
    OldMrBrennan83
    Closed Accounts Posts: 26,658 ✭✭✭✭OldMrBrennan83


    This post has been deleted.


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    #4
    Roen
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,620 ✭✭✭Roen


    Patww79 wrote: »
    This post has been deleted.

    Yes, for the longest time they wouldn't ship any ST stuff, even to Northern Ireland. Surprised that they are now.


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    #5
    OldMrBrennan83
    Closed Accounts Posts: 26,658 ✭✭✭✭OldMrBrennan83


    This post has been deleted.


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    #6
    BoardsMember
    Registered Users Posts: 4,444 ✭✭✭BoardsMember


    Would you need the Philips Hue hub at all if you went for a SmartThings hub?


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    #7
    OldMrBrennan83
    Closed Accounts Posts: 26,658 ✭✭✭✭OldMrBrennan83


    This post has been deleted.


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    #8
    bk
    Moderators, Motoring & Transport Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 22,540 Mod ✭✭✭✭bk


    From what I've read, you are better off using the Hue bridge for Hue. Smartthings lacks a lot of extra functionality.


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    #9
    paulbok
    Registered Users Posts: 4,905 ✭✭✭paulbok


    I started off with the Smartthings system and use it to control my Hue etc.
    I selected this system to be the main control for all smart home devices, but like everything else there are pro's and cons to it.
    With the devices it works with, I have found it good, only had to reset once and that was after a power outage, (didn't seem to work right when the power came back, had another outage last week but no problems).


    The starter pack comes with the hub, 1 motion sensor, 1 multi-sensor, a controllable socket plug and a presence sensor.
    Controlled via a smartphone hub that allows you to setup routines, home, away, night etc and to add, group devices an you can download smart apps to setup your routines, I'll come back to these later.
    Works with a fair few other manufacturers, Amazon Echo, PhilipsHue, Lifx, Arlo cameras, Aeon labs/Aeotec and IFTTT to name a few, but I have been disappointed that integration with Honeywell Evohome heating control still hasn't arrived after "coming soon" for a year now. Was one of the main reasons I went with Smartthings.
    Also doesn't work with Nest.

    Hardware. (all battery operated except power outlet)
    Motion sensor (additional device ~€36)- about 65mm square. Has motion, temp, lux sensors, I use it to control the hue lights in my living room, Haven't got the lux sensor working yet, but have yet to dive into the Smartthing community which has a lot of hacks for the system. I got a 2nd sensor for my hall way - the range is about 4-5M so will struggle in large spaces.

    Multi-Sensor (~€36)- I have one on both the front and back doors as contact sensors that trigger when the door is opened, they trigger lights on at night time. I will be setting them up to alert me if no-one is at home and they trigger. They also have a vibration sensor that can pick up a know on the door or attempt to break a window it is attached to.

    Presence sensor (~€30) - just alerts the hub when it moves into/of of range. A mobile phone can be setup to do the same job. I had mine left in the car as a security device but the battery only lasted 3 months, apparently it doesn't like variations with temperature.

    Power outlet (~€50)- similar to the Weemo & Lightwaverf from what I have read. Can be set with a time for on/off or with other trigger (motion or multi sensors).

    Moisture sensor (~€45)- doesn't come with the starter pack and i don't have one, but basically you leave this under your bath or hot water tank and it will alert if it detects a leak.

    PLEASE NOTE: there seems to be a shortage of additional devices around, I got mine in PC World but they only seem to have them online now.

    I also have 2 Aeotec inline relay switches picked up by the hub for non smart hall lights - lets me control them (just on/off) like the Hue lights and I can also control all devices though Alexa as well.


    Smart Apps.
    These are the Smartthings apps that allow you to add automation to devices. For example I had an app in use to control 3 hue colour lights in my living room using a motion sensor.
    Nighttime, getting up fro the babys feed, motion triggered only one light to come on at 10% and at a red colour.
    Morning, from getting up time until lights were no longer needed, all 3 lights came on at 60% level. However the app didn't register the lux levels so I had to use sunrise (gets that time online itself) + 1hr as the trigger to turn them off. it always failed to turn them off so had to manually turn off the switch, as they would keep triggering on.
    Evening - Had the three lights to come on if motion discovered from 1 hr before sunset, this worked fine, and go off after 10 minutes in no motion, and at 12am where it would switch to the nighttime setting (this also worked fine). where the problem was is that during the evening, for reasons i could never figure out, it switched to only one of the three lights on at random dim levels.
    I recently added a Hue dimmer switch to manually control them ans this made things worse so i have deleted the apps and now just work off the Hue dimmer.
    I am expecting a Hue motion sensor next week to see if they will play nicer together.
    In theory you can set up a fair few rules for a device, eg. turn on hall light, if back door sensor opens, between sunset & sunrise, If one or both presence sensors (mobile phones)are at home, then have the same again but if no one is at home, have it send you an alert that the door has opened and have all the house lights flash red.

    I must own up to not putting a lot of time into investigating this problem and Smartthings in general - There are only a few default smart apps available to begin with, you can download more or develop your own, via the Smartthings IDE. The Smartthings community also have their own unofficial hacks for working with devices not supported by Smartthings (Evohome, Nest) and there is even a very convoluted way to get it working with LightwaveRF. I intend to delve into this next week and will report back.
    I expect with a bit of time on effort on my part, I can have my Evohome heating devices and Nest Protect added to my Smartthings app and have automation I want.

    What my plan for Smarttings was at the start was to have it and its phone app, as the master control for all devices and to have both routines for when we are there and away (for security).


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    #10
    paulbok
    Registered Users Posts: 4,905 ✭✭✭paulbok


    Patww79 wrote: »
    This post has been deleted.

    they can be activated remotely using the phone app, other sensors or an automated routine.
    BoardsMember wrote: »
    Would you need the Philips Hue hub at all if you went for a SmartThings hub?

    Yes, it needs access to the Hue bridge.
    Patww79 wrote: »
    This post has been deleted.

    You can set up routines to control the bulbs, dim levels and thanks to the recent app update you can set bulb colour and some scenes - I don't know if it will pick up bespoke scenes.
    As I mentioned in my post above, I've had problems with the apps to control the light automation, but I believe it can be overcome.


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