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Samsung SmartThings FAQ.

paulbok

What is SmartThings (ST)?
The Samsung SmartThings is a home automation suite of sensors (Things) and a control hub, that allows you to monitor, control and automate your home from anywhere.
You can use it to monitor your home when you are away (or on your own) by receiving alerts form sensors placed around the house or on the doors or windows.
The same sensors can also control your other smart tech, such as have your hall Hue lights come on when the front door (sensor) opens.
Setup routines to have lights & heating come on at certain times or even profile that will have different room smart devices come on/off depending on who is home, or if it is bedtime.

Where can I buy in Ireland?
PC world did have them this time last year in many stores but afaik, they only have stock available online now and I am not sure of actual stock availability. I have seen posts on other forums that there is a general lack of stock around.

Amazon.co.uk also sell them.

Do I need to set a location?
You set your home address as your location on the app, let the app access your location and it will be automatic.

How do I setup SmartThings (ST)?
First, you need to plug the hub into your wi-fi router. Then you need the SmartThings app (android & ios). You need to create a SmartThings account (similar as with Philips Hue).

Once that is done, go into the app, to My Home / Things and follow the instructions to pair with the hub.

Each ST device or Thing, needs to be paired in the same manner, and you need to be within 5M of the hub before pairing to ensure it works, after that you can move the device to where it is needed. The range will depend on your house design and materials, but I had no problem in a 3 bed bungalow.

I would estimate 10-12M max from the hub.

The Hub contains ZigBee and Z-Wave radios, and is also compatible with IP-accessible devices, but not all such devices are natively supported, see below for device compatibility.

Things?

These are the devices, both from the SmartThings stable and other compatible devices.

Samsung Things.

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.
it 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 officially work with Nest.

Hardware. (all battery operated except power outlet & security cameras))
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 SmartThings 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 (~€36) - 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 (~€36)- 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.

Security cameras (~€150_ - don’t have any but various size for indoor and one outdoor model. 1080p HD cameras, two way talk, push notifications, night-time video are some of the features available. Wired power, & wi-fi connectivity.

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

3rd Party Things
I also have 2 Aeotec inline relay switches picked up by the hub for non-smart hall lights - lets me control them (on/off, timers) like the Hue lights and I can also control all devices though Alexa as well.

Just below is a list of devices that have official integration with the SmartThings hub, but the SmartThings community have made it possible to add any z-wave or zigbee (may not be possible with every device) using the SmartThings online IDE . Through this you can manage your devices, create your own smart apps and add new devices.

Adding new devices involves copying code from github, through provided links and tailoring it to your needs using the editor (eg add your Hue hub password), you don’t need to be anyways gifted at coding to do this but you will need some idea of coding basics to understand what to do.

I intend to sit down over the Xmas to see about integrating my Evohome heating control system and Nest protect devices and to create some better smart apps to use to setup the routines for the devices.

Smart Apps you say? Tell me more.

Each device that you get setup on your hub will be available on the phone app, and will at the least let you switch it on/off from there. To add some smarts to it you need to get an applicable smart app. Some are automatically available on the phone app to begin with but they have proven to be unreliable (don’t do what they are supposed to when they are supposed to).

One I have used is a smart lighting app to manage my Hue bulbs. It allowed me to control lights in a room depending on a trigger – a motion sensor – and I had set up 3 different routines, one for the morning, to switch on all lights at a certain colour and dimlevel, one for the evening with a different levels and one for night time, to have just one bulb come on as a night light. All were to switch off after 5 minutes if no motion was detected.
It worked for a while and then started switching to different dim levels and not switch off at all.

More smart apps are available through the community to download or you can build your own using the IDE.
I will report back on this as I get around to it.

Looking on YouTube last night I spotted a tutorial on adding Lightwaverf devices to it which is of interest to me as I have deliberated in getting some wall switches for a while now. I have also seen added devices on tutorials that I never heard of before so I guess it has potential for lots more than the below list.

What Home Automation devices does it officially support?

product - type - protocol

Aeon Labs Key Fob Button Device Z-Wave

Aeon Labs Micro Dimmer Energy Switch/Relay Z-Wave

Aeon Labs Micro Smart Energy Dimmer Dimmer Switch Z-Wave

Aeon Labs Micro Smart Energy Switch Switch/Relay Z-Wave

Aeon Labs Minimote Button Device Z-Wave

Aeon Labs MultiSensor Multi Z-Wave

Aeon Labs MultiSensor (Gen 5) Multi Z-Wave

Aeon Labs Panic Button Button Device Z-Wave

Aeon Labs Recessed Door Sensor (Gen 5) Open/Close Z-Wave

Aeon Labs Smart Energy Switch Energy Switch Z-Wave

Aeotec Siren Siren Z-Wave

Belkin WeMo Smart LED Bulb Bulb ZigBee

Belkin Wemo Switch Outlet Local Area Network

Bose Cinemate Home Theater Systems Speaker Local Area Network

Bose Lifestyle SoundTouch Speaker Local Area Network

Bose SoundTouch Speaker Local Area Network

Bose SoundTouch Amplifier Package Speaker Local Area Network

D-Link Cloud Camera Camera Local Area Network

Fibaro Door/Window Sensor Open/Close Z-Wave

Fibaro Flood Sensor Water Sensor Z-Wave

Fibaro Motion Sensor Motion Sensor Z-Wave

Fibaro Smoke Sensor Smoke Sensor Z-Wave

Fibaro Universal Dimmer Switch/Relay Z-Wave

FortrezZ Siren Strobe Alarm Siren Z-Wave

Honeywell evohome (Coming Soon) Thermostat Cloud-to-Cloud

LIFX Bulb Cloud-to-Cloud

Logitech Harmony Remote Hub Cloud-to-Cloud

Samsung SmartCam HD Pro Camera Local Area Network

Samsung Wireless Audio Speaker Local Area Network

Sensative Strips Open/Close Z-Wave

Smappee Home Energy Monitor Other Local Area Network

SmartThings Hub Hub ZigBee Z-Wave Local Area Network

SmartThings Moisture Sensor Moisture/Water ZigBee

SmartThings Motion Sensor Motion ZigBee

SmartThings Multi Sensor Multi ZigBee

SmartThings Outlet Outlet Zigbee

SmartThings Presence Sensor Presence ZigBee

Yale Keyfree Lock Door Lock Z-Wave

Yale Keyless Lock Door Lock Z-Wave

Philips Hue Color Control Local Area Network

Sonos Speaker Local Area Network

________________________________

I'm by no means an expert on the SmartThings environment so if anyone else has used it, please feel free to add, improve or correct anything on this.

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Comments

Awesome FAQ paulbok, thanks. I'll see if we can get it added to the FAQ sticky.

One thing I noticed when looking into ST's is that it seems to be much more present and better supported in the US then the EU.

In the US, the hub costs just $50 and that is the new v2 hub that includes bluetooth. While in the EU it costs £100 and that is for the v1 hub!

Also it seems to be widely available there, in store in best buy, etc. While it is relatively hard to get here.

Finally there seems to be wide support for it from other companies in the US, for things like light switches, sockets, door locks, etc. But hardly anyone but Samsung seem to support it here.

I maybe completely wrong, but it sort of feels like Samsung released it in Europe as just an afterthought to the US market. That is why I sort of held off on getting that deal in the Amazon sales.

paulbok

bk wrote: »

Awesome FAQ paulbok, thanks. I'll see if we can get it added to the FAQ sticky.

One thing I noticed when looking into ST's is that it seems to be much more present and better supported in the US then the EU.

In the US, the hub costs just $50 and that is the new v2 hub that includes bluetooth. While in the EU it costs £100 and that is for the v1 hub!

Also it seems to be widely available there, in store in best buy, etc. While it is relatively hard to get here.

Finally there seems to be wide support for it from other companies in the US, for things like light switches, sockets, door locks, etc. But hardly anyone but Samsung seem to support it here.

I maybe completely wrong, but it sort of feels like Samsung released it in Europe as just an afterthought to the US market. That is why I sort of held off on getting that deal in the Amazon sales.

It's the V2 hub I have and anywhere I've seen starter kits available, it is the v2, but there are fec{ all options for buying them here.

A lot of Smart tech seems that way, Amazon Echo -UK release has lees features available than the states.
Plenty of desirable tech available in the states not available this side, such as the Wink relay (soooo would love these) or the Keen home smart vents.

I guess the market size compared to the US leaves the UK as and afterthought, and Ireland as and afterthought to that.
I suppose there's also the different power requirements here and with mainland Europe to consider, as well as data protection issues compared to the states.

Roen

Yup, v2 hub here too as part of that special offer.

There's no v3 out there is there?

https://support.smartthings.com/hc/en-us/articles/207477083-Which-version-of-the-Hub-do-I-have-

paulbok

Roen wrote: »

Yup, v2 hub here too as part of that special offer.

There's no v3 out there is there?

https://support.smartthings.com/hc/en-us/articles/207477083-Which-version-of-the-Hub-do-I-have-

Haven't heard of a V3 release but you would suspect that if the current kit is hard to get, they are running down supply before releasing. The sensors were the same for V1 & V2 so maybe a full redesign next time?

paulbok wrote: »

Plenty of desirable tech available in the states not available this side, such as the Wink relay (soooo would love these) or the Keen home smart vents.

Darn, I want those smart vents. I've always had a problem with the idea of massively insulating your home and then going drilling massive holes in your wall!! Makes no sense at all too me.

These look cool. Though a proper air/heat recovery system would be even better.

Great to hear that the hub sold here is v2. But still double the price of the US.

Does anyone know if the US hub is otherwise exactly the same as the EU hub. I might look into getting one the next time I'm over there.

NomadicGray

Roen wrote: »

Yup, v2 hub here too as part of that special offer.

There's no v3 out there is there?

https://support.smartthings.com/hc/en-us/articles/207477083-Which-version-of-the-Hub-do-I-have-

I think I seen on a few Reddit threads how the makers had officially confirmed there were no plans at the moment for a V3

Also, mine arrived today from Amazon and its the V2

paulbok

bk wrote: »

Darn, I want those smart vents. I've always had a problem with the idea of massively insulating your home and then going drilling massive holes in your wall!! Makes no sense at all too me.

These look cool. Though a proper air/heat recovery system would be even better.

Might be worth setting up a thread for devices such as those. God knows when they'll be available here to get their own thread?

Roen

NomadicGray wrote: »

I think I seen on a few Reddit threads how the makers had officially confirmed there were no plans at the moment for a V3

Also, mine arrived today from Amazon and its the V2

Seen those myself. Also suggestions that the hubs will ship integrated into TVs.

matrim

How does this control the hue lights? Do I need to re-pair them with this hub or does it talk to the Phillips hub?

Could you get rid of the Phillips hub and just keep this one? The idea of a continuously growing collection of hubs which must be wired to my router isn't appealing

paulbok

matrim wrote: »

How does this control the hue lights? Do I need to re-pair them with this hub or does it talk to the Phillips hub?

Could you get rid of the Phillips hub and just keep this one? The idea of a continuously growing collection of hubs which must be wired to my router isn't appealing

Had to check that as I had both hubs to start with, but no,you need the Hue hub.

From the ST site;
Philips Hue devices
Note: SmartThings’ Philips Hue integration requires use of the Philips Hue Ethernet Bridge. Connecting directly to Philips Hue lights is not currently supported. The Hue Bridge must be updated to firmware version 01016441 or later. To force your Hue Bridge to update its firmware: Close the Hue mobile app, unplug the Bridge for 10 seconds, plug it back in, and then restart the Hue app.

I have a few hubs now for various gizmos so had to get a ethernet switch and build a comms shelf in a press to house everything.

opus

Thanks for the info, picked up the starter kit during the black Friday sale but haven't even opened the box yet. A friend in getting me a Google Home in the US this week so will have a mess around with them during the xmas break.

Roen

Not had a chance to ship ST into Home Assistant yet, looking like it will be next week at earliest.

Did get Hive into it despite it not being supported. Doesn't add much that you can't already do with the Hive app though. No harm having it all under one roof though.

NomadicGray

Tried setting up my Smartthings this week. since Thursday the motion sensor was just showing constant motion and an unchanging temp, reset it a few times and swapped the battery with the Multipurpose and its finally working great now.

Anyone else have an issue with it? Probably won't be overly keen on getting a second one, what are the alternatives like?

Davy

NomadicGray wrote: »

Tried setting up my Smartthings this week. since Thursday the motion sensor was just showing constant motion and an unchanging temp, reset it a few times and swapped the battery with the Multipurpose and its finally working great now.

Anyone else have an issue with it? Probably won't be overly keen on getting a second one, what are the alternatives like?

I find this one better than the Samsung one:> https://www.amazon.co.uk/Aeon-Labs-Multisensor-Z-Wave-Plus/dp/B0141FQDJQ/ref=sr_1_2?s=photo&ie=UTF8&qid=1481432677&sr=1-2&keywords=smartthings

Roen

Roen wrote: »

Did get Hive into it despite it not being supported. Doesn't add much that you can't already do with the Hive app though. No harm having it all under one roof though.

Actually that was a dumb statement.

The oil boiler is situated outside very near the ensuite window of my bedroom. When the wind is coming from any southerly direction the fumes just go straight in the window (questionable design from the original builders).
So attach the window sensor to that window and set up either a warning or a shut off command when open.

Roen

Right,

Just working off the the bits in the starter kit and I have the patio doors set to alert on vibration or on opening when I am away from home.
The original alarm system had no contacts on the patio doors, which was a bit of an oversight to say the least.

Doesn't beat a full on dedicated alarm system, but considering there was nothing there before at least it's some form of alert that augments the actual alarm I have.

Found it a bit of a rigmarole to set up the alert I have to say. First set up an automaton setting my state to 'away' based on my leaving the house. Then set up the actual alert based on either a tamper or opening of the door.

https://support.smartthings.com/hc/en-us/articles/206370273-How-to-create-alerts-with-Smart-Home-Monitor

Roen

So I've installed and configured the smartthings-mqtt-bridge. Was a bit awkward, and I have to say that the guide on the Home assistant site is much better the docs on the project itself.
I ended up hard coding my ip and mac etc into the app by accident as I was trying to figure it out myself. No harm. Saved me inputting it later

At this stage it's working in the smartthings app, but I haven't yet configured HA to sub to anything that's being published by the bridge.

Would be a neat way of getting stuff into HA if it works!
More next week when I get time.

**Edit**

Couldn't leave it alone

[HTML]1481659295: Received PUBLISH from home-assistant-1 (d0, q0, r1, m0, 'smartthings/Living Room Socket/switch', ... (2 bytes))
1481659295: Sending PUBLISH to home-assistant-1 (d0, q0, r0, m0, 'smartthings/Living Room Socket/switch', ... (2 bytes))
1481659300: Received PUBLISH from home-assistant-1 (d0, q0, r1, m0, 'smartthings/Living Room Socket/switch', ... (3 bytes))
1481659300: Sending PUBLISH to home-assistant-1 (d0, q0, r0, m0, 'smartthings/Living Room Socket/switch', ... (3 bytes))[/HTML]

Looks like I am getting something into HA after all!

Roen

Ok,

I got it working. Just triggered the lamp in the living room that's powered by the smartthings power socket via HA. Awesome!

I could confirm it was on without getting off my ass because the Lux level from the Philips Hue sensor rose from 0 to 6500. I also got the following from the Mosquitto log:

[HTML]1481671572: Received PUBLISH from mqttjs_3ab27219 (d0, q0, r1, m0, 'smartthings/Living Room Socket/power', ... (3 bytes))
info: Incoming message from MQTT: smartthings/Living Room Socket/power = 6.3[/HTML]
Which confirms that the power the lamp is drawing is 6.3W. Nice one!

So now I can get everything into HA that I couldn't before and have HA automate everything!

paulbok

Nice one.
Will definitely have to look at setting up Ha to manage everything.

Roen

Right,

I might revisit this project again but for now the bridge is just too flaky (for me).

It relies on having a Device Handler and Smart App on the Samsung side, the smartthings bridge and an MQTT broker in the middle and a HA install as thre final piece of the stack.
The bridge for me was constantly falling over and requiring restarts of both it and the MQTT broker.

As I said I might look at it again but for now the stuff that lives solely in the ST hub will have to stay out of HA.
Pity as it has great promise.

NomadicGray

Anyone found good brick&mortar places to but SmartThings multi or motion sensors?
Currys/PcWorld are the only ones I know of and they're about €40 quid each.

paulbok

Pc world in Blanchardstown was the only store I found, €36 for each sensor. Stock in store was always a problem esp for motion sensors.
online was the only other option and haven't found any cheaper than that.

Doodoo

The Samsung smartthings starter kit is £140 on amazon with free delivery. Is this as good as it gets price wise?

NomadicGray

Doodoo wrote: »

The Samsung smartthings starter kit is £140 on amazon with free delivery. Is this as good as it gets price wise?

Yeah form what I can see it is, its surprisingly expensive in some places whe its in euros, though maybe check amazon.fr and .de just in case.

I was looking at ordering some more of the things for it yesterday, but Amazon.co.uk was telling me it wouldnt ship to The Republic or even to Parcel Motel, which I hope was just a mistake.

Roen

NomadicGray wrote: »

Yeah form what I can see it is, its surprisingly expensive in some places whe its in euros, though maybe check amazon.fr and .de just in case.

I was looking at ordering some more of the things for it yesterday, but Amazon.co.uk was telling me it wouldnt ship to The Republic or even to Parcel Motel, which I hope was just a mistake.

I found that too, but eventually when it came back in stock it would deliver to both the Republic and PM. That's how I got mine. Looks like it will deliver now though, I tried adding a few bits to the cart and selected my home address in the Republic and no problems.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-SmartThings-Starter-Works-Amazon/dp/B01GJZKRFM/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1482850907&sr=8-2&keywords=smartthings&th=1

Roen

Actually anyone noticing automations being very slow to react? Have a light set to trigger on another light coming on. Takes at least sixty seconds to fire once the first light comes on.

Stoner

Doodoo wrote:

The Samsung smartthings starter kit is Â£140 on amazon with free delivery. Is this as good as it gets price wise?

Ordered it !!

Doodoo

Stoner wrote: »

Ordered it !!

So did I. Got a relay switch separately also so I'll be able to control my heating

paulbok

paulbok wrote: »

Pc world in Blanchardstown was the only store I found, €36 for each sensor. Stock in store was always a problem esp for motion sensors.
online was the only other option and haven't found any cheaper than that.

Now at the special price of €39.99, in time for the Sales.