Considering Switching from ST

💬 Lounge
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I’m fed up with the unreliability and device delay of ST. I didn’t see any compatibility listed for these products tho:
MyQ Garage door opener
Logitech Harmony Hub
Lifx
Wemo

Did I miss it?

Also, does Rules Engine do everything WebCoRE can do?

Any issues with running 150+ devices?

I really wish the mobile app had better reviews. It looks pretty much in its infancy and needs a lot of work.

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There is a community driver for the MyQ garage door opener and Logitech Harmony Hub that a lot of us use successfully.

There is also an app called HubConnect that allows you to let multiple hubs talk to one another and sync devices. That could be a 2 Hubitat hubs, a Hubitat hub and a SmartThings hub, etc. I switched from SmartThings but have kept my ST hub going and left the Logitech Harmony Integration along with a community app called Echo Speaks that allows control of Amazon Alexa devices. I figure since those devices already have to go out to cloud, I don't really gain any advantage moving them to Hubitat. If you are happy how MyQ and Harmony hub are running on ST, leave them there. I don't own any Lifx or Wemo.

Keeping your ST hub up & running will do a couple of things for you. You don't have to move all of your devices from ST to HE at one time. You can do it a few at a time and build your mesh network slowly and steadily on the HE. Also, if you discover any Pistons that you can't recreate with Rule Machine, just sync those devices needed from HE to ST thru HubConnect and you can continue to utilize WebCore. It is strongly discouraged to use WebCore on HE. Evidently in the past it was found to be the cause of major slowdows. I never tried it and don't know the latest. Others can chime in.
T
As far as the app, you really can't compare the 2. For ST, everything is done with the app on your phone. For HE, i predominantly manage everything locally using a browser with my device's IP address. I would much rather do all of my setup on a computer and rely on my phone only to turn switches off & on. ST doesn't have any way to do most of its setup on a computer screen as far as I know.

Also, to clarify because it confuses some people (incl me), you can only do setup of rules, dashboards, automations, administration items, etc. locally. However, you can access those dashboards thru the cloud to flip switches, change dimmers, etc. on your phone from anywhere.

You didn't mention if you already have an HE, have one en route, or have already received one but welcome. This community is great and you will find that the HE staff are actively involved and there is a wealth of other people willing to help. Keep up updated.

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A few points to answer some of your questions.

  1. I use the MyQ integration very successfully on Hubitat. However, I also still have a ST Hub active, which I use as the source for a few cloud based activities. The MyQ integration works on Hubitat, the same way it works on ST - I don't think taht there is much of a difference.
  2. The Rule Machine of Hubitat is perhaps it's most outstanding feature! It's very flexible, and very powerful, and can do almost anything that you can imagine in the Home Automation arena. The interface is somewhat clunky, but they are always working on improving it.
  3. There are many who use one Hubitat to control at least 200 devices. However, this is strictly a case of YMMV. The reason for that, is because HE is REALLY different than ST. Just because it worked on ST doesn't mean it will work THE SAME WAY on HE. THe strength of your mesh (zwave and/or zigbee) is especially paramount. (I personally find that HE handle zigbee better than zwave. Nonetheless, I must have around 75 zwave devices with no issues.) Furthermore, if you find that there are issues, as a last resort, you can always buy a second HE, and use the magic of HubConnect to spread out your devices over 2 (or more) Hubitat's.
  4. There is a community based integration for the Logitech Harmony Hub that many use.
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Thanks for your answer. I was about to order one but figured I should make sure it will work with these devices first. Will order one now. I’m a bit disappointed I won’t be able to edit rules remotely, but i suppose that makes sense given the setup. I imagine I could set up some sort of remote access to my always-on Mac Mini and edit rules if needed.

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There are a quite a few posts on how people do remotely manage HE. I think most of those people use a VPN. I use Teamviewer to access a home laptop to then manage HE from there.

EDIT: I just noticed your username. I work in the golf industry. Its a good thing you added your middle initial.

Justin C Leonard
image

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What he said in post 2. That describes my transition exactly. I'm extremely happy with HE and the community. Garage doors and Alexa on ST still, as well as my Laundry monitory mostly because it works and I've been too lazy to move it.
If you have zigbee bulbs, be aware of moving them to the HE system, since many bulbs are repeaters and do a terrible job repeating. Many people will keep them on ST, or put the bulbs on another HE hub and use HubConnect.

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I have Hue bulbs, with a Hue Bridge, so Zigbee. Does your suggestion apply to that type of Zigbee setup? How would HE be any different than ST since presumably my Hue bulbs are relaying now. Although admittedly they are not always reliable now.

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Pairing to the Hue bridge you should be good. It is when you pair to the main HE with other zigbee devices is where the problems start.

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If you leave the bulbs on the hue bridge you won't have any issues.
The issues with bulbs occur when you add them to HE and due to the poor repeating they can cause issues with the other zigbee devices in your mesh.

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To edit rules remotely, simply set up a VPN. DO NOT USE A NAT RULE TO OPEN THE HE TO THE INTERNET

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In terms of a VPN, there are many implementation possible. However the three most common ones (in my humble opinion) are:

  1. Put on the VPN from your router. Here, the implementation will vary depending on the router. Nonetheless, you will find that the major new routers from the large companies (Netgear, Linksys, Asus, D-Link, etc.) will all have this capability. (I hope I haven't insulted anyone, by not mentioning their favourite router.)
  2. Put on a VPN on a Raspberry PI. This may also be able to do double duty. You will find that many here use a RPI to do Google Assistant Relay, (future) HubConnect, Node-Red, Hubitat E-mail/SMS Text, etc.
  3. As mentioned other solutions: TeamViewer, RealVNC, etc.
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Just dont expect plain sailing there are a few threads on the ongoing issues

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Like what?

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Lock ups, slowdowns , most seam to point to memory or a resource or a buffer issue, which the HE team say they are working on.
There are some workaround like reboots. I've got issues with the hub becoming disconnected from the z-wave stick, happens mainly when I run groups ie lots of commands. Only fix is shutdown and pull the power

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Ok well I will see how it goes. Seems like it’s moving in a good direction Long-term so probably worth trying. Don’t know yet what’s going to happen once Samsung shuts down the Classic app, ie if all my custom apps will still be supported

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That's why I jumped ship at Christmas and they where having a few cloud outages

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I moved over from ST nearly 2 years ago now. Never a single hub outage (can't say the same for ST)

First hub slowdown was due to a community app, remove it and waited for the next version, all good now
Second slowdown was 3 weeks ago, not sure what happened, rebooted and all is well

You won't regret it. The community is fantastic :slight_smile:

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EDIT: Smartly dashboard skin engine has been officially released. Try it out!

https://community.hubitat.com/t/release-smartly-the-hubitat-dashboard-skin-engine/36681

I have also had some lockups/slow downs in the past month+ I hope they get it resolved soon, but it is still 983277343x more reliable than ST.

If your looking for a more appealing dashboard, I use a dashboard customization app by @spelcheck After seeing it I moved from ST to HE the next day, and have never looked back. It is still in beta testing, but it should be released soon. Once it is the group will be posting more samples, but here is my main dash.

Annotation 2020-03-15 142635
Annotation 2020-03-15 1426352122×1600 1.1 MB

If you want to help out with the beta let me know.

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