Philips Hue Light strip not detected

Our Philips Hue Light Strip worked great with ST without their bridge. I tried the ZigBee discovery in HE which timed out. The Hue app in HE doesn’t detect a bridge because I don't have one.

Is there a work around for this?

Thanks

Zigbee discovery in HE should work with these, but the Lightstrip needs to be reset first. If it was previously joined to Hue, "politely" disjoining it from that network should work (just remove it using the Hue app, and if it's online, it will reset itself). You may need to power cycle the device to make it discoverable again--I don't remember how Hue bulbs/lights work there other than that if unpaired they'll remain that way for so many minutes after powering on.

If you can't join it to a Hue Bridge network (and it sounds like you can't), then you can reset the device, but you need some kind of Zigbee remote. One option here is a Hue Dimmer: hold buttons 1 and 4 (and on off) together right next to the Lightstrip controller for about 10 seconds. The lightstrip will start blinking (I think...the bulbs do this but I'm not sure I've ever tried with one of these), then stop. When it stops, you can release the buttons, and the lightstrip is reset. If you don't have a Hue Dimmer, an Eria Dimmer will also work, though I forget which button combination (middle two or outer two?). A Lutron Connected Bulb Remote will also work (buttons 2 and 4).

If you happen to have one of the new Lightstrips (Bluetooth plus Zigbee), then you might also be able to reset them by power cycling them on/off (with a physical switch, or in this case via the outlet) so many times in a row like you can with lots of other bulbs now. They recently added that feature to the bulbs and I again assume they did the same to the Lightstrip, but this would only be for the new version that was just released.

Finally, you should know that most Zigbee bulbs are bad repeaters and can wreak havoc on your Zigbee network if you also have non-bulb devices on that network like motion sensors, contact sensors, or switches/dimmers/plugs. This is summarized in the "Tips..." section of Hubitat's Zigbee mesh docs, but you can also find dozens of posts here (and elsewhere) on the same. Lightstrip controllers might be better than "regular" bulbs here, but since Hue is known to be one of the bad ones, I'm still not sure I'd risk it. (So if you have other Zigbee devices, I'd suggest using the Bridge after all.)

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Thank you for the information. HE is happy with it being a “generic ZigBee RGBW Light.

Yep, that's the right driver for that device. Do heed the warning about Zigbee bulbs above if you have other kinds of Zigbee devices on the same network (i.e., this same hub). Otherwise, glad you got it working!

I do appreciate the heads up regarding ZigBee bulbs. My smart home has been cooperating nicely for over a year under ST and I am aware of the issues with bulbs as poor ZigBee repeaters. Every room in the house that has a ZigBee device also has a Centralite ZigBee repeater, so the bulbs are not used as repeaters.

Zigbee devices choose routes on their own, and while you can encourage this with good repeaters in careful locations, there is no guarantee. The Lightstrip is a repeater and a device may very well use it, so if you run into otherwise inexplicable problems, blame this first. :smiley: (Not trying to rain on your parade or doubt that your experience on ST may have been different; knowledgeable people here have claimed that they hobbled their Zigbee radio to mitigate this issue in ways Hubitat is not interested in doing. So your experience may very well be different.) But again, it's possible lightstrip controllers are different here than bulbs. Best of luck!

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Didn’t think about the Hue as a repeater. Thanks for the enlightenment!

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