Conversion Complete

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Finished my conversion from Smartthings today. I did a limited test with about 6 things (bulbs, sensors, and lock), Once I had all items up and running running as desired I ran for about 3 weeks with those in parallel with my Smartthings. I set up duplicate rules so that as I converted I only needed to add the new devices into the HE rule. I am very pleased with how much easier overall it is to get things to include with the HE hub, So far the apps Im using, Rule Machine, Hubitat Simple Lighting, Life360 Connector, Dashboard and Alexa skill all work very well , especially considering im a relative novice and amd still figure out some of the more complex applications. My observations so far:

  1. GE Link Bulbs have a tendency to become non responsive.
  2. Sengled bulbs seem to be a bit trickier to pair. I had 3 of them and all of them gave me a little trouble to get to include in HE, but I did eventually get them all to include.
  3. only once have i had an instance where the front door lock didn't trigger as intended . I may try putting a zwave repeater in that room , but i'm not too concerned. Im think of just adding a second rule as a fail safe maybe 10 minutes later.
    4, My Cree bulbs include easily and have been very stable, very reliable. Over time I will probably look to replace the GE and sengeled's with a zwave bulb., but i'm not in any big rush to do so.

Next steps will be to add window open / close and glass break sensors to all ground floor windows and doors. Add open / close sensors to second floor windows. Add some motion sensors and motion lighting rules. When Innovelli gets switches back in stock start swapping out "dub" switches for Innoveli switches.

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Zigbee and ZWave are so different. The end result is the same.. a light comes on, for example, but how it does it is far apart. ZWave devices have no addressing when fully reset and relies on the hub to assign one. Zigbee comes from the factory with a globally unique address and the hub receives that address.

ZWave repeating is not as "delicate" -- repeaters are more or less repeaters. They have good antennas and thus repeat well or they have a poor antenna and have a smaller footprint. ZWave at 800-900 mhz goes through walls better. Zigbee at 2.4ghz competes with WiFi and repeaters in bulbs are notorious for making poor repeaters. With multiple profiles allowed (encouraged) nothing HAS to talk with other profiles. Antennas in the Hunter Fan module, for example, is so poor, it's suggested you use two repeaters at 90degrees.

The current "best advice" for Zigbee seems to suggest that dual Zigbee networks work best. One for bulbs (via Hue) and one for the rest via the Hub. That way the bulbs on a lighting profile won't try to repeat for home automation profile.

Now you have most of the best knowledge available. Most of the door/window/motion sensor problems will be similar enough you already know what steps are needed. :smiley: congrats on all that hard learned knowledge.

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