So I just got some " SYLVANIA SMART+ ZigBee Indoor Starter Kit, Color Changing Light Strip" and was wondering if I was to get the Sylvania hub could the hub hoot up to HU and still be able to control the lights with HU and the APP? or just the app if the hub is used. or is there a better dirver to use than the generic driver.
Also I am sure its the controller, but anyone else have these and notice that when you select 2700k that the red also comes on some and if you select 6500k the blue comes on. kinda creates a different color instead of just 2700 without the red.
Officially, no, but there is a community integration in the works for this:
This is the only way I'd use these bulbs, by the way, unless you have a second hub dedicated entirely to Zigbee bulbs (or at least no other type of Zigbee device) or they happen to be the only Zigbee devices you have on that network. They can pair directly to Hubitat, but at least the older generation (newer one might be better) are known to be problematic repeaters for other types of devices that might mess with your network. See this doc for more, in particular the note on bulbs at the end: https://docs.hubitat.com/index.php?title=How_to_Build_a_Solid_Zigbee_Mesh
First, are you using the Generic Zigbee RGBW driver? That is the correct one, not the RGB driver. Second, regarding the Lightify gateway, I would recommend buying it to update the Sylvania devices to the latest firmware as I have noticed a big improvement in reliability with the updated firmware. You can also use the hub with the community integration that @bertabcd1234 linked to, you can then control the lights from the HE hub, or Lightify hub.
Thanks, Thats great new. I tried searching for the info, but keep finding outdated info. I am now excited again. Been using Wifi RGBW controllers, but want to move away from anything wifi when ever possible. I was going to use the RGBgenie z-wave units and have them, but they only have generic drivers and basic functionality and for the premium price I expected more. But as of today they are being returns. RGBgenie keeps saying they are going to release drivers but no ETA and nothing for me to even test so I am done waiting.
Most of my Sylvania bulbs are on there own HE hub on channel 25 and are very reliable. I found that the more bulbs you have, the more reliable they are.
Avoid adding Zigbee lightbulbs to your hub in combination with other Zigbee devices, since the lightbulbs will try to act as routers, but unfortunately they only perform this role properly with other lightbulbs. The exception we have found are Sengled Zigbee lightbulbs, which do not try to take on the role of repeating other Zigbee devices. Zigbee light bulbs do not have issues routing among themselves, therefore a good alternative is a separate Zigbee network via a compatible bridge such as the Philips Hub Bridge, or a second Hubitat Elevation hub with only Zigbee lightbulbs paired to it. This will avoid this issue of bulbs attempting, and subsequently failing to repeat signals for other devices, by establishing two separate and stable Zigbee networks.
You can also find a lot of posts here (and on other forums) with a search related to Zigbee bulb woes. These bulbs especially seem to be particularly bad for some people, or at least the first (pre-Smart+) generation of them. People do have varying degrees of luck with some. I'm still hesitant to trust any on my primary Zigbee network, and I use a Hue Bridge for everything I can.
I have my Sylvania (with the latest firmware), Sengled, and some GE in-wall zigbee switches and dimmers on one hub. I then have Hue integration (CoCoHue), and all end devices (buttons, contact sensors, motion sensors, water sensors, and zigbee locks, with 4 Samsung outlets, and several GE zigbee dimmers for repeating on my other hub. I use HubConnect to mirror the devices and everything is very fast and stable. I had problems with over 200 (mostly zigbee) devices on the same hub.
I thought I knew what I was doing, coming from SmartThings, when I switched to Hubitat. I had some idea, but it took a lot of trial and error to discover what devices worked well together and what devices slowly destroyed the mesh (I’m looking at you, Peanut plugs). I know they say bulbs are terrible repeaters, but I feel like that is more associated with older zigbee bulbs.
