Free IFTTT?

I find this comment of yours bizarre because IFTTT is a totally independent entity from Hubitat, and Hubitat has nothing to do with IFTTT charging a fee. FWIW, IFTTT instituted their policy of charging a fee in the 3rd quarter of 2020 - long after the Hubitat integration for IFTTT was developed.

In any event, the majority of Hubitat users are drawn to using Hubitat because of the lure of fully local home automation. You will not get that with Meross switches and SmartThings. You won't get that with Meross switches, Hubitat and IFTTT.

But you can get that with Meross switches, Hubitat and Node-RED.

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Is this any use ?

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I donโ€™t understand.

You mean you donโ€™t have to use IFTTT to integrate your Meross devices with ST?

IFTTT costs the same regardless of which other platforms you integrate.

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Meross has a native SmartThings integration. It is cloud to cloud. Fun!

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Honestly what you are throughing money at is a limitation of wifi devices. Wifi connected devices are not were hubitat shines best simply because if that company hasn't created a integration for Hubitat you need to look for work arounds like this. If those switches where zigbee or zwave you would probably be fine.

With that said even if you don't want to try Node red you can do Alexa. The integration between alexa and Hubitat should allow you abilities to use those switches as you want.

Node red is free and super powerful. There are signes that even with Smartthings it will soon be one of the prefered method for doing automations and basic smart apps once the Groovy IDE is phased out. I hadn't touched Node red until about the last 2 weeks. I have jumped off the deepend with it because I am using it with Samsungs's "Samsung Automation Studio" Pallet to bring my one device type from Smartthings that doesn't have a integration which are Arlo cameras. In theory you could even do the same since you dont need a hub for your wifi switches.

The cost of a raspberry pi is between $35 and $55 depending on what version you get based on ram. So far from insurmountable or costly. If you have a always on computer then you could just run node red from there. I run it in my home storage server.

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You could go this way too. HA has a Meross integration and this driver will bring it back into HE. No need to learn Node Red.

You have options. :grinning:

[Beta] Home Assistant Device Bridge?

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I looked over the driver that @kevin linked. It looks like based on what that is doing it wouldn't be to hard for a driver to be written to talk to the switch if they work the same way. You may be able to load use it for the switches as well. You should probably try that first.

What I meant about not knowing that IFTTT charges is that, I've been using Smartthings, which has an IFTTT type of interface, but it's not actually IFTTT. It works the same, but it's done within the ST app (everything is setup on the app, not the computer with ST.) So, I was not aware that IFTTT charges.

Yes, there is an unlimited, free IFTTT option. It's called Gmail. Gmail email addresses are free and you can have as many as you like. And HE's IFTTT integration allowed connection to multiple IFTTT accounts. Go figure :wink:

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I'm looking over Node Red at the moment. Still figuring parts of it out.

On the question of using different switches, if I have to upgrade, then it is what it is. But from switches that I can find that are comparable are in the $30 price range, so that's $180. At least a Pi is cheaper. But the other issue I have is that the switches I can find (other than Meross) are actually dimmers, not true switches. The Meross switches have a relay inside them, so it's physical contacts. 3 of the 6 lights that I have these switches in are fixtures with builtin LED's, not just bulbs. So a dimmer type switch is not an option. And one of them controls my kitchen lights, which are LED "recessed" lights. So I'd have to go change all of those. So unless I can find a Zigbee or Z-wave switch that has a relay inside, they are not an option.

On the multiple Gmail accounts, I'm considering that too, but I'm just waiting for them to crack down on that.

Thank God I ditched all cloud dependent IFTTT devices a few years ago! I can't believe people are even willingly paying them for the delays from the cloud operation.
I didn't ditch them because of a fee, I ditched them because their service is terrible with delays on the devices operating.

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Absolutely agree! However, for some devices there are still no alternative options until HE pull their finger out and support them directly (eg. Arlo).

If you're depending on cloud-based solutions, similar thing will happen sooner or later.
Wink started charging, IFTTT started charging, Samsung has quitted selling Smartthings hub and devices, their last gen hub is cloud-based (with Aeotec took over their devices business) and more will come.
To get rid of the issues altogether, the better way is to go local solutions.

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Actually, Smartthings was already cloud based. The only exception is it's app that controls lights, which will locally control lights, and the ST button works locally. Also, automations still work on devices that can be controlled locally. So it will turn lights on and off on schedule. But if you loose your internet connection, everything else is off the table. That is one of the reasons I bought the Hubitat.

As for my issue here, we'll see what I can come up with. Part of the problem is I'm having to learn a brand new system.

As far as the switches being wifi controlled, yes, there's a second or so delay which for me is really not a big deal. But I'm still deciding what to do. If I buy the Raspberry Pi, how much extra is it really going to cost to just get new switches instead?

There are plenty of on/off relay based switches that are Z-Wave or Zigbee. Partial list:

https://inovelli.com/red-series-on-off-switch-z-wave/

https://inovelli.com/black-series-on-off-switch-z-wave/

https://www.leviton.com/en/products/dz15s-1bz

Jasco makes several both in Zigbee and Z-Wave under brands like GE and Honeywell:
https://byjasco.com/

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Check out the GE Enbrighten Z-Wave Plus Switch:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07RQ8NWXS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It's not a dimmer and you can hear the relay open and close when you switch it.

Arlo is a cloud based device, I will not allow cloud based devices in my house.

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Not all Arlo devices are cloud based. If you have the base station that comes with the Arlo Pro 3(VMB4540) or the one that comes with the Arlo Ultra (VMB5000) you can have it be local for the most part. But for the sake of integrations it requires the cloud.

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Unless something has significantly changed with how their system operates, you cannot view your camera's live feed period without an internet connection (to their cloud) because the only way to view the camera's live feed is via their app. Correct me if something has changed.