How to connect WiFi devices

Hi all
I don't have the HE yet so am lacking knowledge. I understand how the HE connects to zigbee/zwave devices but how does it connect via WiFi? For example, the sonoff wifi wall switches.
Thanks
Alan

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Via specific drivers (if they exist) and most usually fixed ip addresses for your devices.

Hubitat has a LAN connection, which is how you connect to the web interface for setup and administration. Wi-Fi devices are (in the way most consumer networks are set up) accessible from this same LAN, so Hubitat--like any device on your network--is able to connect to them over standard TCP or UDP protocols (as long as they are accessible from your network).

The real issue is whether there is a documented or reverse engineered API for such devices. The Hue Bridge is technically wired (not wireless) but is a great example of a IP-connected device with a great, documented, local interface that Hubitat supports natively. Sonoff doesn't have an official Hubitat integration, but there is a community driver that works for many. The important thing is to not assume that Hubitat can connect to any random Wi-Fi IoT device--most are cloud-only, have only undocumented or at best reverse-engineered interfaces, and work poorly if at all outside their manufacturer's "ecosystem."

And as noted above, most of these work a lot better (as will your hub) with a "static" IP address. Some may let you set one directly, but I normally prefer to do it via DCHP reservation on my router by MAC.

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Thanks for the detailed reply.
I understand the network connectivity but was wondering how the devices actually communicated (e.g through relevant device app or direct) which you've answered now, thanks.
I'm assuming, for any devices without drivers, hubitat can communicate via IFTTT if supported (although losing local control). Is that correct?

Yes, there is an IFTTT integration with Hubitat so pending a direct API integration for your devices, you can use that. Of course the normal perils of Clihd, slow speed, missed transactions may arise :wink:

I use it for several Smart Life and eWeLink based devices and it works OK with around a 2-5 second delay being typical.

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Thanks

Sorry for refreshing the topic.
Is there a chance that anyway without the drivers, hubitat will see the WIFI device?
I man for example this one: allegro.pl/oferta/wlacznik-swiatla-wifi-dotykowy-szklany-czarny-2p2p-8718153782

Thanks in advance for your feedback.

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Without a driver, hubitat can’t interact with any kind of device.

As @bertabcd1234 noted above, WiFi devices need very specific drivers because device manufacturers don’t standardize how their WiFi IoT devices function.

In contrast, Z-wave and zigbee devices from various manufacturers can work with generic drivers provided by hubitat.

There is zero chance of that happening for Wi-Fi devices. Pretty much all of them need to be "discovered" by a Hubitat app written exactly for that purpose and have a dedicated driver that knows how to communicate with the device. There is no standard for Wi-Fi devices beyond the protocol itself.

Since OP mentioned Sonoff switches, there are tons of videos on YouTube showing how to flash Tasmota onto them (and other brands of wifi devices) as well as tons of posts in this community. I did it successfully on 2 Sonoff Basics and a Pinlo Power strip. Those deceives are now locally controlled directly thru HE. If I can do it, anyone can.

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Thanks for this replay. However in each post there is also information about the drivers.
Is it really not possible to simply port somehow the wifi devices as my light switch so Hubitat can see it?

It is not possible. Assuming your WiFi device has an app. Can you control your WiFi device with the Facebook app? Even though they are both apps and both connect over WiFi, the reason you can't is the Facebook app has no idea of how to talk to your WiFi device. A stupid example perhaps but what and how devices communicate is important. Without some way to translate between how the WiFi switch communicates back and forth with the HE hub, you are out of luck. Since the site lists Tuya and Smartlife I would read up on some of the posts here in the Hubitat communities.

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Should I not be using Facebook to control my home automation? :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

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Very scary idea.

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Should not be using Facebook for anything. :wink:

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As that device use the Tuya cloud you should be able to flash it with another firmware like Tastmota and then use the community drivers.
There has even been a fork of the firmware made to work with Hubitat.

What if I change my mind? Can I flash them back to original factory settings?
If so, how?

If you use Tasmotizer, you can according to documention:

See 1st bullet point under Features. I don't know how though.

I prefer and use this to flash OTA:

Requires Linux and a WiFI adapter, but you can make a bootable USB stick that allows you to run Linux on your Windows machine without altering your Windows installation. You boot into the OS from the USB stick. CD/DVD is another option for booting an alternate OS, but it's slower than a USB stick.

With some of the OTA methods a Raspberry Pi is required, this one does not require a Rasperry Pi, just a booted Linux OS.

In my case I used an old laptop (2011-ish) running Antix Linux, a lightweight Debian distro, that has only 2GB of RAM (and some of the limited RAM is used by the display adapter, making the RAM amount available to the OS only 1.8GB! Worked great for flashing also for light web browsing.

I also installed the Opera web browser on this machine and I'm able to open 5-6 tabs without performance degradation...but anyway now I'm getting off topic :wink:

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You usually need an App or Integration, HE never finds ANY LAN devices, I have about 30 but it can find none. It has the worse LAN integration ever. You need to make you own application were you can assign and IP address and for HE to connect to it. Their LAN discover is a 100% disaster!! HE has no WiFi but it dies have Ethernet. Since its LAN discovery is such a colossal failure you are best looking for a ST driver. I have gotten EVERY LAN device I have gotten to work his way. Many devices not on the supported list work once you find a way to connect. Yamaha AVR, MyQ, WeMo, Roku, NVidia Shield and some Samsung TVs (2016 and newer) all work but no thanks to HE but due the the strong community support. I have all those working despite HE complete failure with LAN. The only thing I have gotten working via HE software is my Lutron items and even those required their app to work. LAN discovery would not have any chance of finding the Bridge.

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