Connecting Devices - Factory Reset

Hi - I am new to the community and in the process of setting up my Hub. I have around 80 connected devices (kasa light strips, kasa plugs, treatlife smart switches, philips hue bulbs, strips, bars, lifx beam, etc). I am having difficulty within the device discovery page as none of my devices are populating. The instructions mention a factory reset to ensure the devices is discoverable however I am hoping this is not needed as I do not want to go back and re-connect all 70+ devices. Did I screw up here and go out of order by connecting and setting up all my devices first?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Welcome to the community! It's quite possible you'll eventually get all your devices connected to Hubitat in some fashion, though perhaps not in as straight-forward a manner as you'd like. When you say you've already set up all your devices, do you mean to their respective apps?

Have you looked for your devices in the compatibility list? It's a long list, but primary are ZWave and Zigbee devices, not wi-fi. If you find devices that are natively compatible, that would be a good place to start. Everything else is going to require some research one at a time.

https://docs.hubitat.com/index.php?title=List_of_Compatible_Devices

2 Likes

As @HAL9000 points out, home automation tends to favor Z-Wave / Zigbee over wifi for many reasons. Since a lot of your devices are wifi, you'll need a different approach. However the following documents are well worth your read before you start with Zigbee or Z-Wave. I waited until I was way into my build before I read them and I wish I had RTFM sooner :slight_smile: Also the reference to a factory reset is specific to these kinds of devices, not necessarily wifi.

https://docs.hubitat.com/index.php?title=How_to_Build_a_Solid_Zigbee_Mesh
https://docs.hubitat.com/index.php?title=How_to_Build_a_Solid_Z-Wave_Mesh

For these Hue devices, if you have them all connected to a Philips Hue bridge, then simply install the built-in Hubitat Philips Hue Bridge Integration App. Within the Hue Bridge integration app, you’ll be able to discovery your Hue bridge, and then import all of your Hue lights.

https://docs.hubitat.com/index.php?title=Hue_Bridge_Integration

1 Like

Device discovery will not find any non zigbee or non z-wave devices. Wifi devices typically need a 3rd party app or driver, that is not native to hubitat. I had, at one point, about 6 wifi devices, flashed sonoff, kasa, wemo, ecobee and shelly devices. They all worked well but it seems Hubitat runs best with natively supported zigbee or z-wave devices. By that I mean that my experience was that many wifi devices tend to slow things down on the hub, as compared to only zigbee/z-wave devices

1 Like

Thank you all for your comments, warm welcome and advice...much appreciated.

@ogiewon Yup, it was super easy to add these devices as I just installed the hub integration app.

My other devices are as follows:

Kasa Strips/Switches: Did not see on compatibility list and found that these are not compatible with zigbee/z-wave...sounds like I am out of luck here unfortunately. @Rxich How do you get your Kasa devices to be discovered?

Yale: These are on the compatibility list however when I search for these devices via Hubitat, they do not surface. I assume I'll need to do a factory reset here.

TreatLife Smart Switches (Added via Smart Life app) - I don't believe these are zigbee/z-wave either, if not and if not supported by a 3rd party app that can be integrated with Hubitat (like Hue)...I am out of luck here as well?

Samsung (Fridge, Washer/Dryer, Oven) - Not looking to add to Hubitat (yet)

Delta Smart Faucet - Not looking to add to Hubitat (yet)

Thanks again everyone

Must HE users try to avoid wifi devices where possible (though sometimes it's your only option). I found this reference to a Kasa integration app... not familiar with it myself but probably worth a look-see if you want to hang onto that wifi stuff.

On the yale locks, zigbee or ZWave? If ZWave try doing an exclusion on HE first and see if they get excluded as an unknown device.

Thanks Brad. I'll give the instructions a go. Although I consider myself more tech savy than most, I am nowhere near the level of some of these instructions I see coming from the community members, so at first glance, the Kasa integration instructions seem intimidating.

Both Yale locks are Zwave but no luck when using the exclusion method, I'll fiddle around with the device itself

The Kasa Integration allows either local or cloud connect for both discovery and operation. Read the instructions referenced at the top of the thread.

1 Like