Looking to move from Smartthings

Dashboards are accessable remotely and there are community drivers you could load to be able to restart it, local control of everything else though. There's always ways around that limitation though.

1 Like

The community is really supportive here and are pretty quick to help solve just about anything you come across.

2 Likes

Admin functions... Adding / removing devices, adding code, enabling Apps, etc are all functions that must be local. However, it's almost trivial to set up a VPN to connect your remote device (phone/tablet/computer) to your local LAN and thus have that access. On those occasions when I've wanted access, it's about 2-3 seconds to start the VPN and be in the Hub.

Mostly these days though I use the same VPN to look at my LAN based Cams. After two years with Hubitat hubs, I'm not 'experimenting' as much, and so I can just leave it alone. :smiley:

4 Likes

Yea, it's kind of on set it and forget it mode now. I've been trolling the forums looking for things to do but I've pretty much got everything covered.

2 Likes

Another question:

I know you use Groovy to do custom programming -- what is the authoring (and debugging) experience like? Anything like the ST IDE, or is it something else? Any integration with GitHub?

You can copy-paste code for apps and drivers like in the IDE, but there aren't GitHub links like in ST though. There's a community app Hubitat Package Manager that supports a lot of the custom drivers and apps written by @dman2306 https://community.hubitat.com/t/beta-hubitat-package-manager/38016 Which is better than the GitHub integration in ST IMO.

2 Likes

I took the leap and ordered a C-7 hub. I have a few unused devices to play around with and learn the ins and out of the system.

1 Like

I was a little lost at first but watched a couple YouTube videos and it all clicked.
These are a good source for getting started:
https://docs.hubitat.com/index.php?title=How_to_Build_a_Solid_Z-Wave_Mesh
https://docs.hubitat.com/index.php?title=How_to_Build_a_Solid_Zigbee_Mesh
https://docs.hubitat.com/index.php?title=Join_and_Reset_Instructions

Thank you for the link to the list of supported devices. I have a Sonoff BASICZBR3 Zigbee Smart Switch which isn't listed, do you think it could be made to work with a custom device handler if there isn't already one?

Isn't that a huge hassle? Do you have to unlink everything from the HE system and link to ST and back again?

There are custom drivers for that one, plenty of people use it. It is not a very powerful repeater due to the chip used, but together with other more powerful repeaters in the same mesh it is usually ok.

1 Like

It depends.

For a zigbee device, the simplest method would be to perform a factory reset on the device itself (donā€™t delete from the hubitat interface), then pair with smartthings so it can get a firmware update, then factory reset the device (again, no need to delete from the ST interface) and pair it back to hubitat.

That way one doesnā€™t have to recreate any automations/rules at least. But if the device itself is in an inconvenient spot, then it could still be a hassle.

1 Like

I am mostly z-wave here, I used it to upgrade some smartthings sensors that were eating batteries like crazy. Upgrading the firmware from 11 to 14 made a huge difference so I'd say it was worth the effort.

1 Like

Quick off-topic question. In Hubitat, all of my Samsung multi-sensors in Device Details, Data, say application 11. Do the ones that you've updated now list 14 in that spot? I'm not having any battery issues with 6 or 7 that I have. All going on 8 months or so and still above 80% so I'm not too inclined to update them at this time. Just curious if that field actually shows the version.

Thanks

In Hubitat my leak sensors are showing 14.

image

If you join them to the ST hub in Smartthings IDE look in the firmware section. It will give you it there.

This is a screenshot I pulled from the ST forum:
image

My laundry multi-sensor use to drop about 5% per week. It's used a lot though with 5 kids in the house. It's dropping around 1% a week now.

It is worth mentioning that the firmware update itself uses up about 10% battery. I was about to replace them anyways so didn't matter to me.

It's been less than a week since my HE arrived, and I've migrated one of my locations at this point.

I have to say that I'm very happy about the experience. It took me a while to get over the differences, but that's just inertia. The Dashboard interface seemed a little primitive compared with the SmartThings Classis App, but the flexibility has won me over. I can set up my own dashboards with full control, etc. It looks like the Windows Phone interface, which I actually loved. I still miss that phone... :slight_smile:

Anyway, I really love the fact that I use a browser interface to set things up, something I remember wondering why on Earth ST didn't have. It is so much more efficient and productive than pecking away at a mobile keyboard.

The main downside so far seems to be that using my iPhone as a presence sensor seems very unreliable compared with my experience with the SmartThings Classic App. I shouldn't have to press 'Send Geo Event' in the app to get it to update status when I have already set it to allow background location tracking. I'm also wondering how it will work with multiple locations.

Overall, though, a great experience. Not fun to reset and rejoin dozens and dozens of devices, but it's a one-time thing, after all.

1 Like

There are several combined presence apps that can help.

I'm sure there's a topic or thread somewhere in this community that goes through all the options... :slight_smile:

Get Hubitat Package Manager and there will be lots to choose from.

Is this the one?