I have been asked by my sister to help with setting up some basics.
She has a few lightbulbs using Hue - they were set up using the Echo Plus (came with it?) - really easy. But now she is looking to go for some switches and GPO's
Now I have been doing some research, and understand the very basic concepts of the different protocols (z-wave, ZigBee + wifi)
So what I have come to understand, a HE will basically replace all the other hubs and apps? I was reading that it can also work without internet. Does that apply to WiFi devices? Seems to be a little confusion there. She is out in western NSW - and while her town has NBN its not uncommon to be out for the day (router working, just no net)
She was looking at getting the Deta brands from Bunnings - it's more from a place of familiar rather than unknowns from eBay/amazon whom if reading other site may have 'questionable' Certs (don't really want to go into that, just rather stick with big shops.
So I guess, what I'm asking is;
Can HE intergrate with those 'Grid-Connect' devices from Bunnings?
Hi, I’m not from Australia, but I have a few suggestions.
WiFi light switches and bulbs are, to be blunt, a pain in the ass compared to z-wave and zigbee when it comes to working with a hub like hubitat.
I’m sure there are some users in Australia that can help confirm whether the brand you’re referring to can be integrated with hubitat, but most likely some type of firmware flash to the bulbs in question would be required, if they can be made compatible at all.
The hue devices can continue to work with hubitat just like they do with the echo plus hub. And yes, hubitat can control hue devices without an active internet connection as long as the local LAN is functioning.
Devices paired to hubitat can be controlled directly by asking Alexa without having to use an incantation like “tell hubitat.” However, Alexa doesn’t work without an internet connection, even though hubitat can maintain control of your devices when the internet is down.
Edit: actually just to clarify, your sister has a hue bridge and bulbs along with her echo plus hub? Or just hue bulbs paired directly to the echo plus?
From what I read, I understand that WiFi stuff is generally painful cause most time than not, it’s cloud based. But Australia is pretty tough when I comes to standards/regulations especially when it comes to mains power and reading some other Aus based forums, there seems to be questions about some other ‘online’ retailers conformance to said regulations. I didn’t really want to go down that rabbit hole.
Hence trying to stick to the big retailers in this case (if it was my house, sure I would give it crack.. but it’s me sisters)
It’s more the switches than the bulbs she is looking to upgrade and make smart. Specifically these ones when she was browsing Bunnings. They have a series called grid connect
But yeah, open to suggestions from other aussies that might be reading!
Yeah, I get that if the interwebs go down Alexa doesn’t work. Would be good if these WiFi products still work while LAN is still functional. Not essential though, just a good “that’s cool” on HE’s part. Or I can still operate via the app. Her net doesn’t go down all the time, it’s just out in the bush, it can go down for a day or two every so often.
Re: the edit, it’s the latter. Bulbs paired with Alexa directly. I was just looking at getting her a hub that will do everything (or close too) before going too far into home automation... She is looking to automate air-con etc down the track as an example.
A WiFi device on the local area network could be controlled by Hubitat, through its local are network (wired) connection. The potential problem is that there are not a large number of Hubitat drivers written for TCP/IP devices - probably because many manufacturers consider other protocols that require less power and less infrastructure (e.g., Z-Wave, Zigbee) more appropriate for many home automation devices.
The Hubitat Hub does not require full-time internet connectivity but many other devices that you might want to integrate with it may have those requirements. For example, I use the Google devices as a way of allowing me to use voice commands to control devices - Google devices require an internet connection. You would also need an occasional internet connection to perform software updates and driver downloads as you add to and expand the system.
Unfortunately the industry doesn't accommodate that very well. Most of the wifi products are designed to be a hub in the cloud. Grid Connect is reasonably new and there aren't any local methods for connecting those devices to anything other than their cloud service. It will facilitate connecting to google or amazon, but other automation systems is unlikely.
We don't have access to the same breadth of products in Oz as elsewhere and most of the major stores are selling wifi cloud products. Z-Wave automation is the most common in Aus for switches, and those products will mostly work with Hubitat. Tend to be on the pricey side though. Zigbee is smaller in Aus and it is only smaller retailers doing it, such as 3aSmarthome in Melbourne.
I got that impression. I’m guessing the big box shops are sticking with WiFi only really for compatibility issues (or less of) most consumers probably won’t get or understand difference of z-wave/zigbee but everyone has WiFi.
Well, I bought a HE anyways to give it a go. Sister has some zigbee switches and of course the hue bulbs. So hopefully can control via one interface rather than many.
Just a little OT, but how do you setup those switches from 3ASmartHome - is there a guide I can go though with her stashed somewhere? (those are the ones she has atm but having trouble setting up a scene with a dual switch circuit)
The 3a items should have drivers for them in hubitat already so when you pair them they will be recognised on their own nothing really to do. I have a few and they work great.
Grid connect is based on the tuya cloud which is used by most wifi smart products (Kogan, brilliant Aldi etc) which doesn't have a native ability to be paired to Hubitat but can be flashed with alternative firmware to remove the cloud connection and only run locally. I have Tastmota (the firmware) on my devices and if you have a raspberry pi changing the firmware can be done over wifi otherwise it needs to be done manually by soldering which is a pain and isn't always an option.
I'd sick to the 3a switches as they cost basically the same as the Deta and require no extra effort.
For the dual scene switch you can set up devices to mirror one another so if you have 2 smart switches it isn't an issue. Or you can always get some cheap zigbee battery powered buttons and put them wherever is needed.
I've got several DETA Grid-Connect stuff working around the house. I agree with @at9, if you're not experienced with raspberry pi, some level of linux, and networking experience, I wouldn't go there just yet.
Also, one thing to think about is the quality of the wifi coverage where these devices are. While back, I had an average AP, and my wifi switches were playing up a lot. I ended up sticking with z-wave and zigbee for a while. But now that I have a much better wifi coverage at home, I'm increasing my wifi devices.
