The future direction of Hubitat connectivity

Well I see what you're saying, but at the same time Aqara have missed out on a lot of my money, as I really like their devices and would have bought plenty - as well as their hub - if they'd worked with Hubitat

Aqara's issue is more around chipset preference I believe. We may see more compatibility with their devices with a zigbee / thread? revision down the track with HE I think

Doesn't surprise me at all. I've never trusted Tuya stuff, and am amazed that so many techtubers have lavished so much praise on the Smart Life platform lock in.

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I'd rather not buy another hub...lol (said as I just ordered another C7). I already have HE, Lutron, and Hue. That said I just wish the aqara stuff followed proper zigbee protocol. That would solve everything. But they like that semi walled garden as well. Pretty much everything available in Aqara is available in Sonoff and Sonoff works so much better.

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Support third reality, they are true zigbee and their product line is growing. Unfortunately they still don't have all the sensors, like aqara and tuya.

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Did you know that our engineers are mind readers? They knew that you'll ask for the Third Reality support, so the next release will add support for the following Third Reality devices:

  • Door sensor (3RDS17BZ)
  • Smart Plug (3RSP019BZ)
  • Motion sensor (3RMS16BZ)
  • Temp Humidity Sensor
  • Smart Blind (3RSB015BZ)

The new update is currently in beta. If you'd like to test the new drivers, before the public release, it is not too late to enroll your hub in the beta program. Check this thread for more details:

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I don't think we can get them here in the UK yet.

@bobbyD how does beta work. Am I expected to buy said products or test ones that I happen to have?

The expectation is that you will test with what you have.

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That's great news about Third Reality -- I just have a couple 3R things now, but they have proven to be impressively dependable devices out in my detached garage -- between distance to hub and seasonal weather extremes, that's my smart device proving ground :wink:

I'm glad their product line is slowly expanding -- they make solid stuff at reasonable prices.

Whereas Tuya once did their own thing exclusively, they now support Zigbee 3,0 certification on many devices, including their hub. While Zigbee 3.0 devices are backward compatible with Hubitat, even the C7 hub is still based on Zigbee HA 1.2. I have a Moes (Tuya based) Zigbee 3,0 vibration sensor that works well with Hubitat. It is connected directly with Hubitat and does not use the Smart Life cloud connection.

Although I have quite a few older Zigbee 1.2 devices in my system, any new device will be Zigbee 3.0. I have no qualms about purchasing a Tuya based Zigbee 3.0 device. I would not purchase a Tuya WiFi device.

I suspect an integration could be developed between the Tuya Zigbee 3.0 hub and Hubitat just like there is an integration between the Smartthings hub and Hubitat. If I wanted to add a second hub, it would be another Hubitat. I have an old Smartthings hub that is no longer being used.

See above about the meeting between Hubitat and Tuya

Test with what you have, when you have time and provide feedback if you run into troubles. We appreciate all the help we get, however small, to ensure that the public release gives users a better experience, and a more stable update.

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And buy me stuff to test. @Sebastien, I'm still waiting for those contact sensors you owe me. :wink: :rofl:

They are getting some of mine now...I have two C7 hubs, second has several Ikea Tradfri repeaters (plugs) and seven Aqara contact sensors on it for the last 12 days. Been completely solid, no drops/disconnects. Just a small test so far, but so far seems to be a reliable option for Aqara in my environment. I particularly like their small footprint/long life (reported) contact sensors. High WAF and fewer battery changes makes me happy. Others have reported here that the Aqara/Tradfri repeater combo works for them as well.

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I did try with a handful of Aqara temp/hum sensors on my SmartThings hub so there wasn't any other Zigbee device interfering but they did not stay connected on that either. Maybe it's cos I didn't have any Tradfri plugs lol. Oh well there are enough other devices to use.

That is the magic sauce, AFAIK. :slight_smile:

I'm hoping that Matter will help resolve some of these types of issues, but as we all know, it's the hope that hurts. :wink:

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Tradfri buttons and motion sensors are easily accessible for me, affordable, and work well, so that's why I like them so much.

The Tradfri stuff and a couple comments from staff that they weren't interested/not a priority is what pushed me to move on.

It came down to either replace everything I already owned (that didn't work with Hubitat) with more expensive gear that does the exact same thing, or find another solution.

It's not fault to the Hubitat team; I didn't do enough initial research and misinterpreted some information on the Compatible devices page before buying, so that's on me.

There are things that I miss from Hubitat, but it's not a whole solution, so it's back in the box for now until I find a use for it.

Love him or hate him (he gets a lot of hate around here) Paul Hibbert touched on this issue in his video today about Ikea gear.

Yeah that's what started me thinking. I love the way Hubitat software works, and I really want it to be more widely recommended.

It is sort of a double standard you set up here. You are saying Hubitat must connect to all these hubs, but these proprietary hubs aren't allowing that to happen. Hubitat is willing for this to happen, but Tuya and their ilk don't publish an API or other ways to accomplish this.

I do think having the USB port on the Hubitat available to newer radios for things like Bluetooth (as awful as it is) or Matter/Thread (IF that ever comes to fruition) would be a good thing. But it is back to the same problem with Tuya, Aqara, and others. There is no USB out on these hubs, so how do you propose to get their closed ecosystems connected to Hubitat?

I can't stand when devices like a thermostat or a garage door is locked into a particular ecosystem. I bet Honeywell, MyQ, Tuya, and others are thinking how smart they are to lock users into their app. Some executive is probably gleeful at having a monopoly on a garage door app.

But there is zero way to hook up a ceiling fan to my Honeywell thermostat app. Or a way to use my MyQ app to turn on the porch lights when I open the door. If these companies really want to expand their userbase, and have mainstream adoption of these smart devices, they are going to have to change their stubborn ways and allow ways to bring in these other systems.

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It is very much "Ikea-like" to make some kit that is easy to put together and modular-ly expandable but not necessarily compatible with what you buy at your local furniture store. I can see somebody back in Delft (yeah, HQ ain't in Sweden anymore) saying, "we need to offer product in this space because it would integrate with other things we want to sell into the efficient home of the 21st Century. Bjørn, go find somebody that can help make this happen for us". Without a lot of deliberate exclusivity as much as "just make it walk-out-the-door simple for our customers".

So unfortunately they have an assortment of stuff that is well priced but some lacking in generic HA usability. Probably more out of oversight/lack of caring than purposeful exclusivity (unless their manufacturer cut corners or tried to maintain the exclusivity).

If only Ikea could get the message that "hey, your stuff ain't bad...tell your outsourced manufacturer to be more attentive to the standards (and things working with other hubs) and you might find it flying off your shelves instead of just sitting there where many Ikea shoppers just pass right by it".

So where does this fit with the topic? I don't think Hubitat should chase too far down non-standard nooks & crannies (thus the decision on Ikea stuff despite the ubiquity of Ikea). The reality is they are going to need to follow some middle course with what the Big Three do so that HE stays relevant.

It's just a shame we can't do better techno-societally to encourage players (with our $) to play well together and leverage the good-of-the-whole vs trying to lock us up in their respective silos. I mean a company could still make a lot of money building a reputation for making really reliable STANDARD ADHERING kit without having to go proprietary.

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