I got myself a Hubitat with the intention of building the Smart house around an Android tablet and having a dashboard. i don't want to be screaming at Alexa all the time to do things.
In the house so far is a Samsung TV, a couple of TCP Smart bulbs, Eufy doorbell and 2 Eufy Security cameras (2c), 2 chromecasts. We have 3 Echo Dots which currently help out.
When I added the google home app to hubitat (which is also connected to everything so we can send the eufy feeds to the Samsung TV, NOTHING comes up as a useable device. So seeing as the Hubitat isn't seeing anything, I can't add them to the dashboard for control. So have I just wasted £150 (including import duties) on the hubitat or am I missing something?
Hubitat (an all other hubs I'm aware of) feeds devices to Google Home and/or Alexa for voice control, it doesn't get devices from them. If you want to be able to control devices both with voice and the dashboard the devices need to be removed from the voice devices control and added directly to the hub (as long as the devices are supported by the hub) then in the Google or Alexa app in the hubs app list you add the devices to make them available for voice control. https://docs.hubitat.com/index.php?title=List_of_Compatible_Devices
If those are IP based devices (WiFi) then they don't have to be removed from another system but if any are Zigbee or Z-Wave those can only connect to one controller.
Google Home does not share its devices to other hubs (any hub, not just Hubitat). So anything connected to Google Home can only be controlled from google home (without jumping through a LOT of hoops anyway).
Pretty much the same with Alexa. Like Google Home there are clunky, cumbersome workarounds to get status to remote hubs via virtual devices or routines/automations on the Alexa/Google side, but not worth it in my opinion (at least not for any large number of devices).
It appears that absolutely NONE of my devices are compatible and hence the Hubitat is useless to me. Best sell it on and find another way to do the dashboard on the tablet.
Its not about sticking with buddy, its about already having. To also have no Samsung TV connectivity seems barmy when Samsung are one of the largest Smart TV producers in the world.
There are multiple ways of integrating samsung TVs into Hubitat with user integrations.
But for the existing wifi devices - well, it is what it is. Almost all of the vendors making wifi crap have proprietary, non-published connectivity and messaging. It is very difficult for 3rd party hubs of any brand to integrate with them, as every manufacturer does it in their own proprietary way. For some of them users have reverse engineered ways of connecting them, for others they have not.
And hubitat, or any other 3rd party hub, can't do anything about Alexa/Google connected devices either. Thank Amazon and Google for that.
You misunderstand me. I'm not upset at Hubitat or Goole and Amazon. I get that Google and amazon PULL the devices - that was never in question. My only problem is that I've spent the money and I can't use it. It's my mistake for not researching it entirely fully enough for sure.
I suppose I can throw the bulbs and persevere with the hubitat by buying switches instead of bulbs.... there seems to be a premium on zigbee stuff though and that's now being finished and replaced with the new CHIP protocol. Feels like I'll be behind the ball again if I go that route....
Not really. CHIP is years out from existing in a real manner, and likely won't replace anything - it will be yet another standard in addition to the rest.
But no worries. There is no right/wrong way to go. Just keep in mind that when you buy proprietary devices (almost anything wifi based) they are cheap, but the trade-off is they aren't "open" and only integrate with what they let you integrate with. Oh, and if they decide to shut down their cloud services (has happened many times) you are (often) screwed.
We, the community answering other community members, are in a deficit when it comes to those that started down the WiFi path. We understand how you got there. There have been many before you, come to this community, and ask about their specific list of WiFi devices.
The answers we can offer are not answers we'd Like to Give.. I know that I'd love to say, use the XYZ driver and you'll be good. But as has been stated, the WiFi Device vendors have also drank the Kool-Aid and believe that proprietary is ideal, that the masses will flock to their products eagerly awaiting the day they have to shut down their cloud. Its absurd thinking on their part, but we are all stuck with it, for a while, at least.
The cloud service is part of my thinking to get everything in house too. Hence the Hubitat being the centre of it all as I figured local was best.... Think i'll take a look at the list of approved light switches and see how much I have available to spend.
We, the community answering other community members, are mostly in the Automated-House end of the spectrum. Most started at the Remote-Control-my-home... exchanging perfectly good wall switches and dimmers, for reaching in our pockets for a Phone. That gets old quickly and we start looking for sensors to detect what's happening in our homes. Sensors trigger the switches and dimmers and the need to even see the wall switches heads towards zero. I know in my home, my wife hung a mirror, hiding the bank of 3 switches/dimmers behind. We simply haven't touched a switch or whipped out a phone or approached a Dashboard in at least a year, probably approaching two now. The home is as fully automated as I can make it. I have thousands invested in the sensors and switch/dimmer/outlets. Meaning I really understand:
I just took a look through the compatible item list and I simply can not find a light switch that will replace my current one and give me the ability to use a dashboard to turn a light on and off through hubitat in the UK. Everytime I search for the specific manufacturer and light switch, I get a list of other makes and hence no idea if they will work with the hubitat. Does anyone have a definitive list of hubitat compatible light switches that are available in the uk for a no neutral house and a 2way switch setup on the stairs? Preferably zigbee and that I don't have to hack or change firmware on.
It may be worth starting a new thread with a title like "UK light switch advice needed", or something along those lines, to get more visibility from the UK users.
There are a bunch of UK users on here, so I'm sure some of them may have some thoughts!
You can join the UK group so your avatar will help show others you are looking for UK advice by displaying the flag you see on some of our avatars. Hubitat
