Truth... I think BT as a HA protocol is targeted at the "this room is my home" crowd (teenager's bedroom / dorm room / small-bedroom-while I-share-other-space-with-mult-roommates, etc).
BT for locks being the outlier for a wider base, I suppose.
I use the Level Bolt via HomeKit. It works quite well for me. It really isn’t that hard to get setup.
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I don't think BT is a mesh network topology. As such, it has no built in relay/resend in the design. Unless your BT device is in the same room basically as your hub, I don't think you'll ever see BT on hubs as it stands now. GIven the headstart of ZB and ZW (and Wifi Mesh) network functionality, I can't imagine BT fiting this nitch. 2cents pls.
added while smoking I thought further about this - I bet one could tear open a zigbee outlet and interface a bt 5 chip to it, then program the auto-pair. you'd then need to mod the outlet driver to extend the interface to command the BT device. eesh. library loads, mem requirements... I'll pass. thanks.
According to this, it is:
As for the line of sight, I have bluetooth devices that works reliably trough 3 inside walls and 1 floor down. (Mind you, there are other bluetooth devices along the way but I don't know if they are involved in routing the signal)
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I can't go down one floor without losing bluetooth connectivity to something.
Well I don't think Bluetooth is ideal but some devices will never be made for ZigBee or Z-wave at this point. I wish a company would follow suit of Yale locks. They had a VERY interesting idea of building 1 lock, than you plug in your protocol module. Yes I'm aware theirs a huge difference in price and size of locks vs sensors, but I think the principle is valid.
Imagine if the actual communication (protocol) chipset could be made like a sim card, and it slips into generic sensors, or vice versa. Unfortunately with matter around the corner I'm betting most companies are freezing their creativity and just waiting.
I mean some companies like quickset have swapple modules (z-wave to zigbee)
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Is their an actual physical difference in the antenna hardware for all the protocols, RF, ZigBee, Z-wave, Bluetooth, Wifi, etc? Or is it basically firmware?
That would probably be an @lewis.heidrick question
I can confirm they work too.
I have 3 quickest locks in my house. I’m gonna say 910s and 888s. ( could be wrong ).
One of them ( the 910) was dropping off my network frequently snd I found a different color kwikset (zigbee) at a good price and took a chance to swap the boards. Worked perfect.
The 888 however isn’t swappable. The board isn’t removable. But to be honest those didn’t drop off the network at all. They were certainly newer than the 910. Perhaps the 888 is zwave plus we’re as I’m certain the 910 was just zwave.
I actually found the retro fit kwikset packages on Amazon for 35 each. That was cheaper than buying the board. That deal is looong gone
Cheers
Mac
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The different protocols all have different chipsets they use. It's not software defined as your questions ask. Each chipsets type also has its own software stack and dependencies.
The antenna length is also different for each to match it's required frequency range.
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Very interesting to know!
well color me purple. My experience with BT has never been good. it works for me if i'm a few feet away but thats about it. Reading about the repeaters / relays in your link was interesting. Thanks for the info. Personally, I've got my zigbee working, adding YAMN (yet another mesh network) thrills me not. However I can see how someone might want it.
Rezzing an old thread, hope some of you have this thread tracked still. I came across this little device while I was looking at Adguard/VPN routers. This company gl.inet has a very open and local API for all their devices. Could something like this give HE a way to interact with Bluetooth devices? And body know who to tag that may know?
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Man, that is a cool device. I've got a long term hope to integrate a few bluetooth devices to hubitat, and that looks like it supports MQTT....I wonder if that's the path for integration...
For the BT Integrations (plus many other very useful things) I am using Home Assistant.
It has very solid integration with HE. i was able to get rid from many Cloud Integrations
thanks to introducing HA in my setup.
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That's what I'm working on right now. They made esp32 modules so easy for ble integration.
I've been resisting that, but perhaps I need to give it a go. I like having everything all in one package to keep simplicity down.
So that said, I guess why have both?
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Well, I also like simplicity and having everything in one package. But:
- I absolutely hate automations relied on clouds. It is absolute nonsense to
have the entire Internet infrastructure say between Switch and Light Bulb, etc. - Hubitat doesn't have have a BT interface but there are many really good
BT devices around. For instance Switchbot toys.
My primary reason for introducing Home Assistant was to get rid of cloud-based
control for the Switchbot Curtains. This way I achieved 100% local control for the
curtains. Then I quickly discovered, I can have local control for the Ecobee Thermostat.
Another cloud integration was buried. Next step was using a BLE Beacons as a
Home Arrival sensors. The result is - 100% local control for unlocking and physically
opening apartment front door. My beds are adjustable with BT control from the
application. I am thinking about ingrating beds with HA/HE.
So, adding HA into system was very good and fruitful idea.
Have you been able to integrate any of your BT stuff with Hubitat? I took a chance on a light because someone said it was Zigbee, but it turned out to be Bluetooth (they assumed Zigbee because they got an Echo Show that supported Zigbee and were able to get the light paired when they couldn't previously... but apparently didn't realize that it supports BT too, and by default will try all available protocols during device discovery). I really like the light aesthetically, but am phasing out cloud-based services from my home automation, ultimately including Alexa and such... would love to get the light paired with Hubitat through some local solution instead.
