HE Hub upgrade... wait or

💬 Lounge
1

Hi,
I have been considering purchasing the C8-Pro, because I sometimes have Zigbee communication issues with my C7... but the C8-Pro is almost 1.5 years old, so I am wondering if a new hub C9 hub coming up. It seems the release frequency of the hubs is of the order of 1-2 years.

Thoughts ?

2

You're not going to get any manner of reliable info about upcoming hardware releases. I'll be very surprised if staff weighs in here at all, and anything else would be pure speculation.

If you want to update sometime soon, I'd just get the 8 Pro -- it's a nice machine.

6 Likes
3

Hubitat seem to (understandably) make quite moderate steps forward. So if you are considering edging forward I would take the same cautious approach and edge forward with them.

4

Or go hard and early and let us know the outcome :slight_smile:

5

I don't think we'll see a C-9 anytime soon for the following reasons:

  1. There's nothing on fccid.io - so it seems unlikely that there will be a new hub imminently.
  2. The tariff on goods imported from China is 125%. I would wager that Hubitat will want their existing stock of previously imported hubs to sell first. I also don't think we'll see any sales in the near future.

(also, as pointed out to me in a PM - there's no 900-series ZWave chip out yet)

12 Likes
6

Yeah, (above, Boo-Hiss).... But not-one's fault here....

7

my personal opinion and experience - I'm on my 3rd hub in as many years... C7 > C8 > C8 Pro (which I got on Black Friday deal) ... I was a little jealous when Pro came out on the heels of the C8 so I can see why folks now think oh should I hold out... but the C8 served me well and honestly I don't notice much difference other than faster boot up. Each time I have upgraded I was also able to sell my old one for about 1/2 what I paid new which I think quite good residual after getting a year of use out of it. So if if I were you would I upgrade today - if the sale price looked good sure. And if the mythical C9 comes out tomorrow I'd probably upgrade again as soon as it goes on sale. The other nice thing is they make upgrading / migrating super easy now too.

1 Like
8

I could maybe see a C8 Super or C8 Pro V2 with some memory or CPU upgrades to tie us over until a (theoretical) C9 arrives. For the most part, the hub name has corresponded with the Z-wave chipset, and there is no 900 series Z-wave.

Even then, there is no evidence to support there is a new hub in the works. I don't think that is a bad thing, for the most part the C8 and/or C8 Pro fit the needs of most customers.

I have to think staff are going to concentrate on the Z-wave improvements for the immediate future and not attempt to develop a whole new hub while this process is ongoing.

2 Likes
9

The C8 Pro has upgraded CPU and memory. It is unlikely that you will exceed the capability of that unit anytime soon. The real driving force behind new versions of the hub is updated versions of the radios. If the existing radios cannot be upgraded with firmware updates to the new capabilities, then the staff will being working on a new hub. The big unknown is how Matter will affect other protocols.

There are still many devices that still operate on earlier versions of Zigbee and Z-wave.

2 Likes
10

I guess that phrase is subjective and open to interpretation, but for the record they were released 11 months apart. C8 was announced in Feb 2023 and C8 Pro in Jan 2024.

3 Likes
11

definitely subjective - just going by my own recall it felt like the C8 was still a recent release

12

I was asking myself the same question yesterday, but was seeing little reason for a next-gen hub without an advanced z-wave or zigbee radio to be had. So I bought a C8-pro to replace my C8. Yesterday.

(the following is sarcasm) Since I bought a C8P yesterday, I have to imagine the C9 will be out any day. :crazy_face:

5 Likes
13

Since the difference between the C8 and the C8 Pro is memory capacity and processor speed, those with the C8 only need to upgrade if they have a lot of devices and rules. I decided to upgrade to the C8 Pro because I have 224 devices (including virtual devices). I found that the UI was a lot faster with the upgraded hub in performing searches and sorts. However, the C8 hub operated just fine, even with that many devices and corresponding rules.

If you are purchasing a new hub, I would recommend getting the C8 Pro as it is only a few dollars more than the C8. If you already have a C8, there is no need to upgrade unless you find the UI sluggish.

14

I have 2 c8 pros and 2 c7s . Definately recommend the c8 pro for heavily loaded hubs like my locations with 300-400 devices. I think the increased memory is key. For my condos with approx 15-20 devices the c7 is more than sufficient.

1 Like