New User of HE and worried

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#1

So I decided to buy a hubitat after my internet went out for a few days and I couldn't control my wifi devices. I've looked for videos on how to do this and no mention of this, but how can go about in controlling my wifi devices. Even if there's an indirect way through IFTTT,Google, or any other app that could help hubitat to find those devices and tap into the automations.

Kitchen Lights:
https://www.costco.com/feit-electric-wi-fi-smart-bulb-br30-color-changing%2C-4-pack.product.100485604.html

Bedroom Lights:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07GT3RXM6

Basement Lights:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07ZFSW1YJ/

Outdoor Balcony Lights:
https://www.costco.com/atomi-smart-led-color-string-lights.product.100525753.html

SwitchBot Hub Plus + Sensor For the baby room monitoring w/ an Integration of IFTTT to change my bedroom wifi lights to blue if it's too cold or red if it's too hot
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07DL6M8PZ/

Is there any chance of integrating the rgb wifi bulbs with Hubitat and
I also just bought this to control the wall:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01NCEJAOD, to turn off the wifi bulbs?

I currently have Google Home and Alexa setup as well as IFTTT and Smart Life w/ the products mentioned above alongside some other 3rd party apps that I'm forced to use to connect to the light itself (outdoor and kitchen)

I also just got this, trying to figure out how I can use this with Hubitat?
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0151Z8ZQY/

#2

Welcome to the community!

Candidly, you are going about this backwards, buying devices without first researching whether they work with your hub.

Here is the list of officially-supported compatible devices:

https://docs.hubitat.com/index.php?title=List_of_Compatible_Devices

The Hubitat hub is primarily a Z-Wave and Zigbee device controller.

There are also many user-written community device drivers and apps that work with WiFi, Z-Wave, and Zigbee devices not on the Compatible Devices list. Search this forum. I have several community-written drivers and apps for WiFi devices. Be aware, though, that most WiFi devices depend on a cloud server in the internet, and often don’t work if internet is down.

#3

WiFi is a complicated answer..

Although Hubitat's hub works with WiFi deices, it's reliant on device drivers. The Community has created drivers for just about every WiFi device that has a known, available protocol. However, that highlights the actual problem with WiFi devices... a huge portion of them use proprietary protocol and don't publish it. The vendors invest time in creating a driver for Amazon/Alexa and Google Home and then ignore the rest of the universe. "Works with Google", "Works with Alexa" are vendor funded work they do.

Shelly, also a WiFi product vendor DID work with Hubitat and Community to get drivers built. So I guess there's a "Works with Hubitat" program too if vendors wanted to take the time. So far, most haven't. Again, a large number of them also subscribe to "the cloud is best" and this Community isn't heavily aligned with that idea.

as @672southmain suggests, review your devices against the compatible list and then search this community forum to see what will work. The rest will have to work via IFFFT or similar.

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#4

This thread compiles the community-developed options for integrating devices not on the official compatibility list. The thread is a little long, but the first post is a wiki that should have most or all of the devices mentioned in subsequent posts.

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#5

If you can control the WiFi lamps using MagicHome (which you normally can) then there is a community integration for that.

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#6

Another option to consider in your home automation arsenal is NodeRed. That has integration into Alexa and a lot of wifi devices as well. NodeRed, Alexa (and/or Google), and HE all coexist quite nicely, share data and can used to bridge data wherever you want. What you can't solve with HE direct you can almost always find a solution with all 3.
For example, I have some wifi controlled RGB controllers from Smart Life which integrate easily into Alexa, HE and NodeRed do not. I use Alexa to 'control' the lights, then NodeRed to bridge the controls for HE. It's a little bit of programming but these are the things you sometimes have to do when you build an integration around an incompatible device.

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#7

Just wanted to note that your two statements above are generally in conflict with each other...if you're looking for a way to keep control when internet goes down, then going through IFTTT, Google, Amazon, etc., are not going to help you at all...they require an internet connection to function.

If you want local control when internet is down then your best bet overall is to focus on compatible Z-Wave and Zigbee devices.

4 Likes
#8

As you can see, people are welcoming here and ready to assist if you're ready to accept it. You're learning that you've gone about this wrong. Sorry for your loss of dollars spent on cloud only stuff, and I want to assure you that's not totally your fault. The marketing for this WiFI stuff (much of it junk) is designed to make you think you can't go wrong by purchasing their product. You can and it leaves you totally reliant on a cloud service that may not be there tomorrow.

On a positive note, you bought from Costco and Amazon, so for the most part you will be able to return these items if it hasn't been too long for their respective return policies. So you have the opportunity to do this correctly from the start! :grinning:

If you cannot return them, you can salvage some of the mistakes by using Alexa as the bridge to these devices. You won't get status back into HE when these devices activate, but at least you can activate them.

This post I wrote talks about using the new Alexa custom actions to control devices, but if they are Lights, Plugs, some fans, some thermostats, then you can select those devices directly as the Alexa Routine action.

But do yourself a favor and stop buying the WiFi stuff. Move to Zigbee or Z-Wave devices. If you cannot find the device type you're looking for in the list of compatible devices, ask in the community. There are many devices that people have made work, even though they're not officially compatible. But I would try to stick with the compatible devices and even then I would ask for opinions if you cannot already find them with a search of the forum.

Welcome to the Hubitat Community!

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#9

Well the Aeotec devices you bought will link directly with the hub, but it is hard to say about the others. Some Wifi stuff works well and direct with the hub while others don't at all. Unfortunately knowing for sure isn't a simple task. The best thing to do is some google searches for other folks did the same. Sometimes it requires changing the firmware of the devices you have as well to basically turn them into something else. So a bit of hacking.

As others here have mentioned many here try to avoid the wifi stuff because of these pitfalls unless we are 100% certain they will work directly with the hub like Wemo switches, If any of those wifi devices are returnable it may be something to consider. You may also be able to find replacement wifi(if you wanted wifi) devices that do work with Hubitat. Just remember some may still require cloud to be up even if they have a integration with the hub. Govee is a good example of that.

#10

I too use Shellies for lighting. When WiFi or hub goes out the wall switches will still work. Check them out. The good thing is they are cheap.

1 Like
#11

The recently released Echo Speaks V4.0 BETA by @tonesto7 adds the ability to send custom commands to Alexa, which may provide a way to control (but not get status) for the wifi devices that are Alexa compatible.

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#12

okay, thank you all for your much needed feedback. So today is the last day to return most of the items that I've listed above.

My only concern is that there doesn't seem to be any reliable zigbee or zwave lightbulb that's in the mid price point but not the cost of a Philips Hue. Can anyone recommend any light bulbs standard sockets and the bigger kind of recess lighting, to replace the ones I'm about to return. Preferable ones that anyone has used for more than a year without any glitches on them (flicker, failing after few months,etc...).

Also, I can't tell if I should return this cuz I can't quite determine if this works with HE, https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07KM1YZWW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 ( IKEA 203.033.17 TrĂĄdfri Remote Control), can anyone verify this for me? I looked in the compatibility list and although there other Ikea based products, this isn't one of them, is it safe to assume it doesn't work at all w/ HE?

#13

That remote doesn't work. Return.

Sengled are a good mid-priced Zigbee bulb. Look for Amazon warehouse deals is a good way to save too.

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#14

Many thanks, I just took a look at the amount of devices connected to my wifi network, through my verizon app. Looks I have 32 devices, some of which are a combination of smart devices like amazon echo, google home, mobile phones, smart tvs, and lights and a few smart switches. One thing I did see with the basement lights, is that the last two lights always seem to auto turn off while the rest stay lit. Could an overcrowded wifi network be the cause of this? Even if it's on a different band (2.4ghz)?

#15

I'm unsure if I should return the SwitchBot Hub Plus since the kids room has a tempture gauge that speaks to the hub plus. I used it as an home automation to turn the lights red if it was too hot or blue if it was too cold. Now I'm not sure what to do at this point.

#16

I managed to return those recently purchased lights. Now I'm gonna hunt for affordable Zigbee lights and switches.

#17

I created a driver integration for most SwitchBot devices: SwitchBot gets an open API!

It still has a cloud/internet dependency, but at least you can take IFTTT (or whatever you might be using to access it indirectly) out of the chain.

#18

And so it begins: Welcome to the rabbit hole!

1 Like
#19

I've been happy w/Sengled bulbs, both white and color ones. They are reasonably priced, and on Amazon you can find wharehouse deals on them frequently. They work very well w/the new Advanced Zigbee Bulb drivers that were included in 2.2.5.

For switches, GE/Jasco/Honeywell/Ultrapro (all are the same, just different branding) switches have been very reliable for me. You can find them on and off on Costco in 2-packs for $49. They are relatively "basic" switches in terms of features (aside from normal on/off, multi-press/taps, etc.) They don't offer OTA updates, but on the other hand I've never had an issue w/a switch that required one. :slight_smile:

Inovelli switches are more feature-rich, they have two levels (Black and Red) and many members here are very fond of them. Likely a little more expensive than the GE. They offer OTA updates.

Zooz switches have good pricing, closer to GE, and also have additional features, and offer over the air updates to improve their switches over time.

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#20

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