I just got a c8 pro and want to add my Kasa, tapo and smartlife wifi devices. I used the Kasa integration app and only discovered 4 of 9 Kasa devices. They are all on the same LAN and some of the undiscovered devices are the same model as some of the discovered devices. If connecting wifi devices is this complicated then I'm about to send the unit back. If I can only use Hubitat to control these devices through Alexia then what's the point. I wanted local control. This should not be that difficult if the ecosystem apps can control these wifi devices it should be a no brainer to add them to Hubitat.
Welcome to Hubitat. What Kasa devices are you trying to add? As for the Tapo devices, you’ll need to use [RELEASE] TP-LINK TAPO Plug, Switch, Bulb, Hub and Robovac Integration to get them controllable via Hubitat. The provided link might work for your Kasa devices as well depending on the model. The good news is that your Kasa and Tapo devices will eventually get added and have local control.
As for Smart Life, that is a separate story. Depending on the device, you’ll need to try [BETA] Tuya Cloud Driver (Limited device support) and see if it works for your devices. I personally use it for some smart switches and it generally works fine. Tuya (I.e Smart Life) WiFi devices are generally cloud dependent on most platforms or there are some very significant steps to try to get them to be locally controlled.
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@garyhatcher69 Not all wifi devices are supported (infact wifi iot devices are very limited as Hubitat doesn't natively support most cloud devices) Now kasa is supported with the kasa integration but they should all be the same model supported. If you are not seeing them I would start with factory resetting the ones not seen then rerunning the integration. The other stuff is not officially supported by hubitat but as @JB10 points out there are community based integrations.
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Connecting your Kasa devices shouldn’t be that complicated.
Can you confirm that by “same LAN” you mean “same subnet?”
i.e. what’s the local IP address of your Hubitat hub, and what’s the IP address of one of the Kasa bulbs that the hub can’t find?
As others have mentioned, there’s not much Hubitat can do about WiFi devices that connect to the smartlife app; the manufacturer chose to lock users into their app, with a dependency on the cloud.
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It could be that you have ended up with Kasa devices with different hardware firmware on them. The Kasa integration doesn’t support Kasa’s new protocol and Kasa has been pushing that out in newer firmware for some devices. The good news though is that the Tapo integration support those Kasa devices on the new protocol (but not the old ones). So you may end up with having Kasa devices in both the Kasa integration and the Tapo integration
I'm using LAN in terms of my home network managed by my router. All of the devices are on the network and have IP addresses assigned by my router. I have 4 Kasa HS210 switches that were found; however the 5 other Kasa switches were not found. I wanted local control: not to learn computer programing. When I install a device on the Kasa, Tapo or smartlife apps Alexa usually discovers the devices automatically, at most I might have to have Alexa search for new devices. This seem like pretty basic staff to expect for what is suppose to be a user friendly smart home hub.
I don't see the Tapo integration app in the list of apps. Nothing Taps comes up when you search.
That, I’m afraid, is because the Tapo integration is a community integration, so you’ll have to install that yourself first. It is the same developer that is behind this integration as is behind the built-in Kasa integration. You can read about the Tapo integration here: https://community.hubitat.com/t/release-tp-link-tapo-plug-switch-bulb-hub-and-robovac-integration
The installation says that it is recommended to use HPM (Hubitat Package Manager) to install it. Many community drivers and apps use HPM as it makes for a much better experience for the user to manage their community apps and drivers. HPM is also a community app so you’d first have to install that. Instructions are here: https://community.hubitat.com/t/release-hubitat-package-manager-hpm-hubitatcommunity
I'll be sending the hub back. I wanted user friendly plug and play. If I have to jump through a half dozen very technical hoops to get something to work it's going back. I'm 75 years old and my days of messing with programs and apps to get something to work are over. When I got my first computer 1980 I had to write my own programs to get any use out of it. I was glad when computers became user friendly and all you really need to do is run the software you wanted to use. It seems that smart home technology has missed that boat. Very few users of smart devices have the skills needed to run the smart home hubs. I don't like depending on Amazon Alexa; however, it will have to do until smart hubs become plug and play user friendly.
I can understand where you are coming from. Broadly there is a lot of different options for smart home tech available and it does not all work together the way consumers might expect. That said, not all of the difficulty is necessarily the fault of the hub or those who developed it. Hubitat can, and for many is, essentially a plug / pair and play experience, with the ability to take it much further for those wanting to tinker. Choosing devices that are natively supported and use protocols that are more widely supported on a variety of hubs can not only make your experience with Hubitat easier, it can open up alternatives if you want to move between hubs in the future. Protocols such as Zigbee and Z-Wave also have the added benefit of being local, so no dependency on the cloud.
But like I said, I can understand if you would prefer something simpler and that already works for what you have. The guys here are all very happy to help you through setting things up, but if that's not your thing, that's ok.
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If you want plug and play, you'll have to stay with the big names. Amazon, Google, Samsung, and Apple all have virtually unlimited resources compared to other smart home platforms. Of those four, only Apple is primarily 100% local since that is how they designed their home. Amazon and Google are obviously very cloud dependent. Samsung is mostly cloud dependent; though, if one can find an edge driver for their device, it is possible to get "some" local control.
Once you get out of the big names, then the "plug and playness" of a system is ultimately up to how much a person wants to put into making it work. Hubitat, Home Assistant, Homey, etc... all require a willingness to engage with the new platform in a way that is very different than the big four. Whether that is worth someone's time is ultimately up to them.
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Welcome to a local protocol hub!
Your issue seems to be mainly around IoT cloud devices that are NOT locally controlled, so It is a contradiction to say you want local control of IoT devices, since they are not local devices. Your only option is to flash the firmware on them and then use Tasmota drivers to get local control of those. I'm sure that is something you do not want to do.
Ideally, you just use the local mesh protocols that the hub was designed for. Google and Amazon are mainly based on cloud devices and are very limited for Home automation.
Maybe you want to switch to Homey, which does have integrations available for Tuya IoT devices. It is a very expensive hub, or if you do not buy the hub, you pay monthly subscriptions to use the cloud services alone.
SmartThings has Linked services for Tuya and SmartLife. Last I knew it will only add basic devices like switches and outlets, so no dimmers or more specific devices.
All of the above is a good reason to stay with Hubitat and just lose your IoT devices, or use the work arounds with the integrations if you really want to use them. You can also trigger routines in Alexa from Hubitat using virtual devices to control them, as many people do.
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