so i am a real newbie to this home automation smart gadgets. but i started in with 2 ring doorbells. One came with a echo Show 8 free, this is what baited me in to the smart waters. so now i have he two ring doorbells, a ring floodlight cam, a riing Chime Pro and not 1 but 5 Alexa's, 1 echo show and 4 echo flexes. amazon teased me with a 5 dollar amazon smart plug which delivers in 2 days and i bought a kwikset 888 lock also. oh and i ordered a Smart Ceiling fan .
Now today i realized i needed a hub for the lock and smartthings was gone from the shelves, it led me to hubitat elevation. It is the only hub i could find that runs both z wave and zigbee and isnt brand specific.
I also run 2 rokus sticks with one in a smart tv.
it looked like i was headed to overloading my wireless router if i did all i want to do. hopefully this hub will remove some of the burden.
so i have a learning curve ahead of me but i have one quick question will any of the products i listed so far act as a extender for z wave?
the ring chime pro worked really well to improve the signal to the video bell and flood light cam and those are right were the lock will be located too.
AFAIK the only device you mentioned above that uses z-wave is your lock, and that will not act as a repeater.
Which fan did you buy?
I don’t quite follow. Hubitat isn’t a WiFi access point, so it won’t relieve any burden on your WiFi network.
Unless you meant you were considering additional WiFi devices, which would add to the congestion on your LAN, but now that you have a Hubitat hub, you can use some z-wave/zigbee devices instead?
Your Kwikset 888 is a Z-Wave Plus lock, but is battery powered so will not repeat/extend your Z-Wave network. You can connect it to hubitat and lock/unlock, etc., w/the hub and automations.
You said "Smart Ceiling fan" - which brand/model did you get?
All of your other devices are wi-fi based, and the Hubitat hub will not connect to them directly - it requires Z-Wave or Zigbee devices, or an API/integration to talk to some Wi-Fi devices can be created in some instances.
There is a Ring integration for Hubitat but it is a bit limited, and a bit tedious to set up (same issue on other hubs due to Ring not opening up their ecosystem).
I don't use Alexa/Echo, etc., so not up to date on what there is for that, but you can read more about an Echo integration here:
There is a Roku integration available:
https://community.hubitat.com/t/release-roku-connect-integration-app-and-roku-tv-device-handler/
I use both Echo Speaks and the native Alexa integration in Hubitat (found under "Add Built-In App" on the Apps page).
The native integration just allows Alexa to control devices that are connected to Hubitat.
Echo Speaks creates a device that you can use to have Alexa speak or to control various things on the Echo device itself such as volume or controlling music playback and more.
hi, here is the fan i ordered. it is wi fi based too. it didnt require a hub to operate.
Hampton Bay Glendale 52 in. LED Oil-Rubbed Bronze Ceiling Fan with Light and WiFi Remote Control works with Google and Alexa
Model # AG524-ORB-B
thats exactly what i meant. i was looking at items that dint require a base which meant it was probably wi fi and soon realized that it was going to overload one router. these things add up fast. so i began looking at the zwaves and zigbee. i at first was going samsung hub since it worked both bands, was relatively cheap, and seems everything was smartthings compatible. but when i noticed and began reading how samsung has pulled out of the market sorta, it led me to here.
hi, here is te fan i bought
Hampton Bay Glendale 52 in. LED Oil-Rubbed Bronze Ceiling Fan with Light and WiFi Remote Control works with Google and Alexa
Model # AG524-ORB-B
this should be the last wi fi based iem i add.
i am hoping the new hub and the lock will find each other i am a little concerned wit the distancce and number of walls between the too. its will be about 50 foot at most but 4 walls. my ring connected ok but the ring repeater help with the signal.
i will look into this.
alexa does have a skill for roku but its slow and not real responsive time wise.
this will be really handy i think.
the alexa skills are nice but they tend to be slow to respond. i really notice through the ring skill since alexa has to get ring to respond and it takes time. of course its because of travelling through cloud services, so thats why i like the idea of this local hub for control.
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.
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 ?
my hubitat and the ceiling fan are both supposed to be delivered next Wednesday so i will have a busy wedsnday night and thursday.
