New to this smart stuff

on a side note our amazon plug in came last night and i think my wife is now closer to accepting automation. i hooked up the christmas tree and she can voice command it off and on.
then i said and soon i can make the door unlock and lights come on when you pull in the driveway instead of having to fumble around. we use life 360 and i read that there is a intergration for that with hubitat. alexa has one to so that should be a easy routine to build

here is the link for the fan i bought. but it is wi fi based. i am not advertising this just making it easier for replies to see it.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Hampton-Bay-Glendale-52-in-LED-Oil-Rubbed-Bronze-Ceiling-Fan-with-Light-and-WiFi-Remote-Control-works-with-Google-and-Alexa-AG524-ORB-B/311937310

This will likely be an issue.

Yes that’s definitely a valid concern re: WiFi IoT devices.

It’s not necessary to reply three times with the same post though, FYI.

If I were you I'd make a pretty hard and important choice between;

A. Continue down your path and stick to Wifi enabled devices which will rely on your Wifi and on cloud services for those devices

B. Go down a path of more local connectivity that doesn't require individual cloud services per device and is just agumented by them (e.g. Google, Alexa, Nest, etc.)

Most of us here have gone down Route B and a) only applies to specific devices we have link Ring Alarm or Camera.

You seem well down the path of A), and perhaps it would be in your interest to return your lock and get a Wifi enabled one, and you consolidate all of your interactions, program-ability, etc. in the Alex app.

You can choose B) and continue with all of your devices, honestly that would be my approach given what I know now, but for your Wifi enabled devices to speak to HE you'll need to dig deep into this community and the community apps to get them all to play well together.

You are in luck! That fan should integrate w/Hubitat as it is a "powered by Smart Bond technology" fan:

    • Control fan with the remote control or remotely via Bond Home app

There is a Bond integration on Hubitat, and it can find your fan and then allow you to add it as a device to Hubitat, and control light on/off, fan speeds, etc.

sorry i never even thought about that i was just making sure i didnt ignore anyone.

so if it is a isssue what would be the best way to help it starting out? would i go ahead and get a extender or add a smart plug or something to link it.? are the items that link together z wave plus items ?

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my hubitat and the ceiling fan are both supposed to be delivered next Wednesday so i will have a busy wedsnday night and thursday.

Your biggest issue may be your lock, as locks often are hard to pair unless the hub is very close by (a few feet) as many go into low-power mode during pairing to reduce risk of the signal being broadcast too broadly. I don't know specifically about the Kwikset you're getting. You may end up needing a long ethernet cable so you can have the hub near the lock to pair.

I suggest slowing down the purchases until you learn a bit more about home automation with Zigbee and Z-Wave devices.

You’re going to learn too quickly and at great cost that the WiFi devices slow down your Wi-Fi network, can be a security concern, cannot join to the Hubitat Elevation hub directly (with a few exceptions), and are dependent on the cloud to function (again, there are a few exceptions, but generally that is the case).

The real problem with cloud dependent WiFi devices (other the aforementioned), is that if the manufacturer goes out of business or cannot support the cost of supporting the devices and their required cloud service, you will be left with a pretty useless device.

Cloud devices are also often much slower to respond. The Hampton Bay fan could be the one exception if you got it for a good price and really like the look of it. They’re unlikely to go out of business since the company has been around for so long, but device support with their cloud service is a wild card for sure. Might be around for many years, or maybe just a few.

But regardless, if the fan is controllable by Alexa today, than you can use Hubitat Elevation to control it as well. It’s pretty easy to create a simple virtual switch that is seen by the Alexa app as a motion sensor triggering when turned on. That trigger of the virtual motion sensor can activate an Alexa Routine, which can then use a new Custom Actions feature of Alexa routines. You type what you would normally say, and then when the Alexa Routine is activated, the fan or other Alexa compatible device will do what you wrote in the Custom Action field. Again, this won’t be that fast, and it relies on the cloud servers all being fully operational, but it will work.

However, if you are not married to the fan with the built in WiFi, then just a standard ceiling fan with a Z-Wave fan/light controller like the Inovelli LZW36 or a Caséta fan controller (requires the Smart Bridge Pro as well) with smart bulbs and a Lutron Pico controller are a better choice since they can be used with just about any standard ceiling fan.

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The fan it self isn't smart if i am reading it right it uses a wifi based smart remote to connect to my alexa.

The fan probably will be the last wifi smart based thing i get. I have just been bitten with the smart home bug now. But I will do alot more research into things now

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The fan is "smart" in that it's a Smart by Bond fan...as I noted above there is an existing community Bond integration that you can use to add your fan to your Hubitat and control from Hubitat using automations based on motion, contact, humidity, etc., as well as buttons and switches.

For example, one of my fans (which is connected via the Bond integration) in the Device list:

2020-12-04 20_30_36-Devices

Its parent and child device pages:

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That’s handy. Maybe something that @bbigcnote should do once more comfortable with the hub and how it works. That’s pretty simple for you or me to setup, but maybe a little daunting for someone just getting their feet wet in home automation.

Very cool that the fan is basically good to go for either Alexa Routines or direct control with the community Bond integration :+1:t2:

He should take it at a speed that he is comfortable with.

The automation is pretty drop-dead simple to connect...

After the fan is set up:

  1. Load the Bond integration app (it's in HPM)
  2. Launch app and fill in bond fan IP and token (gotten from the Bond app)
  3. App finds fan, check a box to add it to hubitat and you're done

The hardest part would be installing HPM, as it has to be done manually. :slight_smile:

that seems simple enough to do. im pretty excited for my hub to arrive now.

oh wait i just now was rereading this on my computer instead of my phone and seen this. so you are saying the fan itself can be contrtolled through the bond app. so i can program it to do certain actions through the hubitat dashboard with out having to use the alexa first. so voice control could be through alexa but i could also network it through a motion sensor or some other kind of action seperate from alexa app.

i do have a long cable from when i remodeled in late 1990's i ran ethernet plugs to other rooms thorugh out the house. but do you think it would be possible to connect it right beside the hub then install it after already setting it up. i would have to remove the power to the lock and while installing so im not sure how long it would hold any thing in memory. i might be able to also put my hub in center of house instead of where the router is now which is in opposite corner.

And Friday and Saturday and Sunday. Welcome to the Hubitat community!

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Install the lock and then take the hub next to the lock w/your long cable and do the lock inclusion into Hubitat. Then put the hub back in its normal spot.

One possible issue w/your lock is that you have almost no Z-Wave devices, so your lock won't have any "repeaters" - mains powered devices like Z-Wave light switches, Z-Wave plugs/outlets, or Z-Wave extenders (devices who's only purpose is to enhance the range/power of your Z-Wave network) so it will be communicating back to the hub on its own. Only way to know if this is a problem is to set the lock up w/the hub next to it, and after you've put the hub back in it's normal spot use the lock w/Hubitat and see if it is reliable. If you have issues w/the lock communicating consistently you may have to add a repeater. Easiest for you in the short term would be a Z-Wave plug or repeater you can just plug into an existing outlet in your house, between your lock and your hub.

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