I've also been hit by the "slowdown" issue.
I've dealt with it by:
-getting another hub in play
-rebooting on a regular basis
This seems to be a "temporary" fix to the issue.
Like everyone else, in my humble opinion, this issue has to be the number one thing that all support people should be working on. Even in a "all hands on deck" mode .
I'm also frustrated like every one else.
However, since I have seen these guys give so much of themselves, and since they have come so far, so fast, I'm willing to give them some more time to get this problem under control. My patience isn't unlimited, but I'm willing to give them a lot of time to wrestle this issue to the ground.
Besides, I've already tried HomeSeer, Home Assistant, Vera, SmartThings, etc. I'm really emphasized text*tired of another HA product going into (and never coming out of) my drawers.
I've worked in software for almost 20 years now. I've worked for companies as small as 4 employees, as big as 30,000 employees. I've had roles from intern through executive positions.
Here's the reality:
You must do both. Saying "now more stable!" doesn't sell. People assume the device works. However having your customers say "it falls apart constantly" won't sell either. You need to be working towards greater stability AND new functionality. If you can't do both simultaneously the product will fail because others will continue pushing their products forward while you're stuck trying to add stability. Look right now, you've got ST adding a local rules engine and extolling the virtues of local execution. There is an area they are catching up to HE. At the same time they announced almost a dozen new integrations. How many first party integrations has HE introduced in the last year? I believe it is 0 (technically -1 since they lost Nest support). I love HE but let's face it, the web UI looks like something out of the late 90s, the mobile app has the minimum functionality to consider it functional, etc. It doesn't have the feel of a polished application. If they want to become the market leader with the kind of people who buy ST or Wink (e.g. not people who want to invest time in learning Groovy or even RM) they need the UI to be simple to use!
If you want to be successful and grow you need a stable platform that has the killer features everyone ones. Otherwise there will be someone new tomorrow who disrupts the market and you're left in the dust.
Things I can all but guarantee we'll see:
1.) Increase in hub price -- why is it so cheap? They keep cutting the price. Are they having trouble selling it? As someone who invests in companies all the time when I see them cutting the price left and right like HE is I get nervous that it isn't selling and the management thinks price is the reason. You don't have to be (and shouldn't be) the cheapest game in town if you're the best. People expect to pay more for the best!
2.) First party accessories -- Wink, SmartThings, Homeseer, Amazon, etc. they all have first party Zwave/Zigbee devices. Why? Additional sales! Hell, I threw away my ST hub over a year ago. Since that time I've spent more money on ST devices than I've given to HE just by buying ST sensors. Do you think ST cares I bought an HE hub? I've actually given ST MORE money since I switch to HE than when I was an ST user and guess what, I'm no longer using any of ST's cloud services so their margins are even higher! They pay a third party manufacturer to build the devices, slap an ST logo on it and enjoy the markup!
3.) Some kind of subscription service - The market for HA equipment right now is way too small to forego a recurring revenue model. Cloud infrastructure costs money! Cloud platforms for dashboards, integrations, push notifications, etc. Each of those things results in a growing expense as sales grow. They need some way to recoup those expenses.
I for one haven't had any slowdowns like every one is talking about.
I have four hubs. (Hubconnect).
1: Controller Hub with most of the rules. Also Lutron, Google and Alexa Integration.
2: Zigbee Hub with Z-Wave radio turned off.
3: Z-Wave Hub with Zigbee radio turned off.
4: Testing / Experimenting / Development / Whatever App Hub. No Radios turned on.
5: Smarthings with nothing connected.
Only about 100 device though.
I do agree that there should be more on-line (LAN-WAN) devices (services) able to connect. For example Smart Life, maybe also Bluetooth Devices while you're at it.
But a main focus of HE has always been privacy and local control. So far, in my opinion, they are doing a damn good job at it.
I've had my struggles connecting devices, for example my Z-Wave hub is only 6 feet away from my back door lock. I put in the recommended repeater about 1 foot from the Hub and it still didn't work most of the time. Then I put a (Inovelli) Switch about 10 inches from the lock and it works perfectly.
**
I personally hope these guys don't go away, because Hubitat Elevation is doing it's job at my house.
Any wonder why the general population has been slow on the HmAuto uptake?
That's a significant knowledge base that an annual user/developer conference could capture.
Says a lot that you and others have taken the leap onto HE. Also reminds me of all those platforms I looked at and said, "nah, not yet...can't justify the time & $"
I'd gladly pay a modest subscription AFTER six months of building out a useful automation environment and verifying that this platform is solid.
Not really relevant to my original commentary but a few have commented on the quality of their Hubitat hubs so I'll chime in with my feedback.
My hub has been running great lately which I primarily attribute to swapping out of a older z-wave non-plus devices. I also believe Hubitat is the best consumer HA hub (that I'm aware of) available today.
Again, my original comment not related to the current quality
Love this product. Has a Home Assistant feel/customization to it but is a product with a support team and excellent core usability out of the box. If the UI was a bit sleeker they'd appeal to an even wider more "average" consumer.
I've had one unexpected lockup in a ~year of ownership. Otherwise things have been great for me so far. 3 story home filled with Z-Wave switches everywhere, Lutron integration for Pico remotes and lamps, Zigbee locks and some repeaters, water sensors and Envisalink alarm integration. 2 dozen automations and a bunch of apps installed. No slowdowns detected.
I had 4 older non-plus GE switches. Replacing those with some new Inovelli Red dimmers was a game changer for my Z-Wave mesh. That alone sped things up considerably and new devices pair much faster then they ever did previously.
Iām always intrigued with comments that a company canāt survive without a subscription model. Heard it in the Wink forums as well. I have a house full of products that donāt have subscriptions. I think Iāve bought one blender in my lifetime.
On the other hand most of these companies sell multiple products. Even so, there was a time they only had one product. Certainly this is a critical time. A single product can be a fickle income stream - especially in young marketplace that is still trying to establish a mainstream presence.
I agree with one of the comments above - we, as users, are spending greatly more on related products. So how can Hubitat tap into a larger slice of that pie? As any business they need to solidify their revenue stream. Hopefully they have a plan to do so.
On a related note I installed a hub with five Inovelli switches and five GE plug in modules at my parents house. I expected quite a bit of resistance but they couldnāt be happier. Sure I did the initial setup and rule creation but David (91) says he prefers controlling the lights through the web page.
They have a good thing going here. Hopefully they will continue to evolve and thrive.
I want Hubitat to thrive not just for personal reasons but to reward the incredible amount of hard work and time that the Hubitat team have put into this. I've had some issues during my time of ownership but have always been so impressed by the support and responsiveness of the team that any grumbles are soon forgotten.
I recall once posting a feature request on a weekend. I wasn't expecting any reply until the working week, I just wanted to document it while I thought of it. But Bruce responded to it on the Sunday saying he thought it was do-able and by Monday it was in the latest release! Try to get that sort of support free of charge from any other company.
How much did it cost Waring (or Oster, or Hamilton Beach) to support your blender, post-sales? What's their cost (per-blender) for keeping their blender-users forum website running, responding to blender-user queries, updating the blender OS*, etc, etc?
What was the cost for the blender-maker to develop the features unique to your model of blender, discounting the amortized costs of the [substantially similar] blenders they've been selling for the last 10~40 years?
Actually, I do need to upgrade the firmware in my espresso maker -- it's generating a false positive alert message that it needs service.
I would be more than happy to pay $20/yr for enhanced functionality that added Stringify style controls to Rule Machine. Obviously RM would still be there, but I really miss the visual nature of Stringify.
Yes it isnāt a 100% comparison. However these companies do maintain a web presence and support staff. The cost of maintaining a web presence is pretty insignificant compared HR costs. My point is simply that it is possible to sustain and grow a business without a subscription model.
A few people have said they would be willing to pay a small subscription to maintain the product. Thatās great but that isnāt the answer. It would deter a lot of new customers. Why would I go with HE and a subscription when ST has no subscription? For HE to go to a subscription model it would have to offer something pretty awesome and thatās not something they have.
Well, Wink is all but but dead and their revenue model was similar to Hubitat's. Actually, it might have been a bit better when you consider that Wink also sold a number of sensors and other accessories and probably had some integration based revenue. So yeah, the "our only source of revenue is from hubs" is a potential issue once a market saturation point is hit.
Yes, a subscription would have to be a value add and optional.
FWIW I despised the Stringify GUI. It was also Stringify that drove me to HE in the first place. While I was out of town my internet connection went down. As a result my security lighting didnāt work for a week. Thankfully I was already on HE when Comcast pulled the plug on Stringify.
It had it's quirks for sure. But I'm pretty visual and I found it easier to design rules that way. I absolutely agree with you that they can't just add a subscription without adding significant value - otherwise it would sink them.
Yeah but I'm betting that the company that makes them sold a boat load of them. And if it's Saeco, Jura, or one of the other fully automatic espresso machines it likely cost 20X what the HE did. I have a small Saeco Incanto Deluxe that set me back nearly $1000 and that's cheap compared some of the models out there. And I've had it for 7 or 8 years and it's needed zero support.
It was also Stringify that drove me to HE in the first place. While I was out of town my internet connection went down. As a result my security lighting didnāt work for a week. Thankfully I was already on HE when Comcast pulled the plug on Stringify.
