I'm about to order a second Hub which will be located at another location. Any issues using the same email address or am I better off using a different one? Specifically, I'm thinking about how cloud dashboards might be affected by multiple locations and how the yet to be released app might deal with the same? I suspect the former won't be an issue and the it may be too soon to answer the latter but thought I'd ask anyway.
And speaking of dashboards: I'm probably overlooking something simple, but how do I access the link for the cloud dashboard? The hub's Dashboards page allows me to view the local and cloud dashboards but I can't find the links to either. I created a single dashboard and I tried right clicking the tile but there's nothing in the Firefox or Chrome context menus that allows copying a short cut or opening it in a new tab.
I can't imagine it would be--I'm just being neurotic. From the looks of the Maker App, each hub has a unique token so I can't see multiple hubs on the same network would be a problem. But it's not clear how multiple locations are going to handled. Dashboard links for each hub should be fine from what I can see. But I am hoping the HE app (whenever it gets released) supports multiple locations gracefully.
Damn that was quick. I placed the order for the Hub from the Hubitat store late Saturday morning. It's already out for delivery and should arrive this afternoon. Faster than Amazon--thanks Team HE!
@patrick, I'm considering getting another hub to beat up as well. My only concern is crowding my 2.4ghz channels. I have a Hue hub on 20, and HE hub on 24.
I also have an Eero router setup and a newly acquired Echo Show v2 (can't disable the zigbee radio as far as I know).
I dont know if zwave is susceptible to crowding as well, but I have an ADT system with zwave sensors.
Hi Steve, how did this work out for you? I'm very new to all of this, so forgive me if this has already been answered. I'm facing the same situation of two hubs and two locations. When you go to portal.hubitat.com do both locations appear so you can select the location you want, or do you need separate logins for each location?
Two locations with the same email has been perfectly fine. As Bruce mentioned, the Portal only comes into play when you're connected to you local network. So hitting portal.hubitat.com when at location 1 shows only the hub(s) on the location 1 LAN, and hitting the portal at location 2 only show the hub(s) on the location 2 LAN.
Managing my remote location has been a breeze as well. I have a VPN setup so I can remote in if I need to (seldom). I have cloud dashboards set up for both locations so I can quickly and easily check on sensor status, unlock doors and open the garage remotely if I need to let a contractor in, etc. HE has been super reliable at both locations and I have zero regrets.
The most fragile part of the setup is my internet service. It's never gone down (that I know of) but it's the most likely point of failure and having my cable modem or router hang while I'm 600 miles away would be pretty disastrous. To prevent this eventuality I'm using a Digital Loggers Web Power Switch. These are available for under $100 on Ebay (I snagged one for $80) and can be setup to Auto Ping one or more reliable IP addresses such google's DNS servers. If the Web Power Switch doesn't get a response after X number of attempts each N minutes (both X and N are configurable) you can have it power cycle one or more of the 8 outlets. Mine power cycles the modem and router. I also have the HE hub connected to one of the outlets just in cases it locks up (never has at either of my locations). Should it ever happen, I can VPN in, browse to the Web Power Switch using my browser, and power cycle the outlet that the HE is connect to.
Lastly, one thing I never do is HE firmware updates remotely. I've never had an issue with updates locally but I'm certain Murphy's Law is in full effect when attempting remote firmware updates.
Steve, thanks for helping to clear this up for me. I think I was confused about local vs. cloud dashboards. Thank you for all the other suggestions, especially the Web Power Switch, that's a great idea.
I think I have a better idea of how this works. So when I'm not at either location (not on either LAN) , I would use the cloud, and I would have access to both locations using the same account. Is that a correct assumption?
You can only access the web based administrative interface from the LAN the hub is on. Remember, this is a local hub, not a cloud based one. You can use the Dashboard app to access your devices for monitoring and control remotely, from a mobile device, or even from a desktop computer. But the only way you can get to the administrative interface is locally on the LAN. Some users get to their LAN remotely using a VPN, but this is beyond the scope of what Hubitat does.
