A severe storm knocked our Internet connection down. My husband is convinced that the Remote Admin subscription we have uses cell towers, but I told him it does not. How am I still able to control my Zigbee & Z-Wave devices through the app?
The title and body of your topic are asking different questions, and the distinction matters: is your Wi-Fi down or is the Internet down? It sounds like your Internet connection is down but your Wi-Fi is still working (as in you can connect to it -- and so can devices on your network) but it just doesn't have an Internet connection. However, devices on your home network can still talk to each other. That is exactly how the Hubitat mobile app works when you are home: it talks to your hub over your Wi-FI (and wired, if that's how the hub itself is connected) connection. On the home page of the mobile app, you'll see "(Local)" or "(Cloud)" after your hub name to indicate how it's connected. In this case, you'd see "(Local)", and as the name suggests, no Internet is required for that.
Even if you have Remote Admin, the mobile app does not use that for cloud connectivity, nor is it necessary for any cloud/remote features of the mobile app. You'd only use Remote Admin if you use the feature to connect to your hub (using the "Remote Admin" option under your hub name menu from the main page, or just going to Remote Admin yourself in any browser).
Additionally, the hub does not have built-in cellular connectivity.
1 Like
I always get confused with WiFi vs Internet. What’s the difference again?
If it helps, I cannot control my Bond devices (ceiling fans). All our access points do not have PoE from the switch. We cannot access our Ring Cameras. So, I’m not sure if I have WiFi or Internet lol. When I get back to the other place, I can bring my laptop and I have a feeling it’s going to say connected to network without Internet Access.
My husband was at a completely different location but he was still receiving notifications from Hubitat while I was locking/unlocking our doors. How is he able to get those notifications?
Wi-Fi is just a way to make or connect to a network. You can have a local Wi-Fi network that is not connected to the Internet at all, though this is not what most people do. Your Wi-Fi network most likely connects to the Internet, the global network of computers (and other devices), including services like the web, perhaps via some all-in-one device (modem/router/switch and Wi-Fi access point) from your ISP or a separate modem you might have from them together with your own networking equipment.
In your case, it sounds like your Internet connection is broken but your local network is still working fine, and the app is accessing your hub using that local connection.
That is unlikely to be possible if your Internet connection is down. How is the notification set up? If it's using a third-party service and some part of that is local (e.g., HomeKit), it's possible it is happening that way instead -- but would still need Internet connectivity at some point if you're away.
1 Like
Do you use an iPhone? When an iPhone is connected to a WiFi network with no active internet, it can use its cellular connection to reach the internet. But it can still connect to local devices with WiFi.
Not sure if that could possibly explain that behavior somehow.
1 Like
I "think" with the built in notification it may look directly for the device on the network then route to the internet. (Please don't quote me on that) Though with pushover you would definitely need to have an internet connection.
To throw another complexity into the mix, at least in some circumstances for me, my router has it's DNS configured as either my local DNS on a rpi, then Google or some other Internet servers. Somehow the router does not seem to resolve much without an Internet connection sometimes.... So that could be at play here.... just a thought...
On a similar note, but probably not relevant, my Pixel phone will typically switch away from my Wi-Fi if it does not include an Internet connection, which is a pain... in certain circumstances...
Sorry.... couldn't resist.... 
1 Like
2 Likes
Thank you all. Now, my husband wants me to change out all the Ring cameras and we haven’t even started living in the place yet 
I kinda wish we weren’t gifted them all. We got roped into it and feel we’re too invested in it now
While I rule my roost, I would still suggest taking a moment and trying to diagnose the problem before taking too radical action... There's nothing to say the reasons for your current issues may not transfer to another platform.... Pretend you didn't have any cameras and this is your chance to see how they work (and don't) before potentially purchasing your preferred solution. Take your time...
I use foscam and reolink cameras and are very happy (especially the prices and quality) Then I use camect to bring them into Hubitat. Camect is a fantastic NVR and records 24/7. I store about 6 mos of footage. Anything beyond that gets purged unless I export it elsewhere for something later. The AI cannot be beat either.
2 Likes
He just doesn’t like that the Ring cameras are basically useless whenever we don’t have Internet connection and he was just jealous that all my “other fun smart” was still usable and controllable through the app & dashboards during that time lol. We kinda live out in the boonies and don’t have fiber. Our best option is Starlink and it goes down often in bad weather. Maybe redundancy & have a back up ISP may help like cellular backup to Starlink or something, but thinking like a solid another $50/mo minimum there 
Yeah, i put up with a lot from.... myself... in terms of flaws in my own setup or what I am willing to accept... Can understand it would be harder with "other people" involved.... 
A point of clarification... and this is likely me not reading enough..... Is the main issue that when the Internet goes down that you cannot control devices from outside your home... or that you cannot access / control devices during an Internet outage while you are located in your home? (I'll likely log off soon btw.... at least partially.... )
There didn’t seem to be an issue with me controlling any of the Zigbee and Z-wave devices when the WiFi was down, either at home or away. We had Internet access it seems but I had to unplug/replug the Switch otherwise there was no PoE to our APs. The Hub is wired directly to the Switch, but powered through outlet so it had both power & Internet access.
However during this time that the WiFi was down and we were in town, we could not access the Ring and my husband is worried what if this happened while we were away and couldn’t be there to restart the router & unplug/plug the Switch.
But, now as I’m typing this, would it be a good idea to plug in our Switch to a smart plug? I would have been able to turn it off & on remotely.
I'll admit my network knowledge is,,, less than others involved previously on this conversation.... That is a cheap cop-out for my brain at this time of night.... also a good option for explaining my brain at this time-of-night....
That said.... I do wonder whether some of mine and other people's responses may be coming true where the loss of Internet connection could be affecting the way some devices connect to the Wi-Fi network.
I think the problem with Ring is it needs Internet access to send videos to the “cloud” and for us to view the cameras live. It also has other limitations like you can only have one “owner” for a device and sets limitations to “shared users”. It drives my husband insane because he likes to mess with them and he can’t. But it’s probably a good thing 
Sounds like more than an Internet problem... IMO....
It does.. Though even with local stuff like blue iris and camect, you still need cloud to view it remotely. Ring doesn't store locally and integration with hubitat is a pain.
