The Hubitat C-8 just hit fccid.io

How did that migration go? I still have a C7 sitting in the box as I've been holding on fearing the worst as everything is working perfectly with the C5. Now with Hub Mesh I'm a bit more excited to do it given I "Think" I can easily migrate the zigbee devices (is that true) with hub protect.

I'm ok if short-term my C7 and C5 are dedicated to a protocol each.

You can migrate z-wave not Zigbee. Though if you're restoring the database to the c7, all you have to do in most cases is click remove from the c5, this will throw the device into pairing mode, then you initiate Zigbee pairing on the c7 and the device will be picked up and slotted into its old place

A pain, but not crippling. Took the approach of

  • Restore backup on new hub
  • Rename change all devices' IDs to something high
  • Reset and pair devices to new hub
  • Change ID of old device entry to match newly paired device
  • Delete newly paired device

I might pay for Hub Protect to do it again... or I might not. If I could pay for it only on the target hub instead of the source hub, it would be slightly more appealing.

ZigBee is easy -- reset and re-pair, and they fall right in to the existing device entries.

Yeah. I already have the devices and apps on separate hubs. I've been debating buying a third hub and having the antenna mod done. That would necessitate re-pairing all of my devices, then using the old hub for cloud stuff (Still not sure I REALLY need it). I'm mostly Z-wave . I'm willing to wait it out six months to a year if i meant i can get a performance upgrade in the new hub without having a third party do the mod.

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I'll bet it won't be a year. Past history says it will be between 3-6 months. If they do use the Z-Wave and Zigbee radios that I have speculated on earlier (800 series z-wave; Mighty Gecko zigbee/thread), the performance will be very good. I've been playing with these on another platform without external antennas, and the range is still really good.

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This is also my setup. C5 for whole-house administrative and network stuff. Then two C7s for two zones in my house (upstairs, and downstairs). They hold the ZigBee and Zwave devices, and have their own local apps for their respective local devices.

I'm waiting for a future where I can consolidate everything back to 1 hub like in the olden days. But obviously that would be 2/3rds less fun.:relaxed:

I could probably do that now, but this set up has been rock solid and i've never had any issues with freezing up or slowing down like I did when it was all on the C4. It was just easier to back up the C4 to a C7 and be done with it then mess around pulling it all back one hub again.

Yeah the other advantage is that if one hub goes down, much of the house is still functional.

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Why do some people have multiple hubs? What's the benefit of having 2 c7 hubs other than wider range?

Some prefer to use one for the radio devices while using another to handle all of the rules to keep the load on both lower.

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Hubs are cheap. Splitting the work load between two hubs has eliminated the need for my hubs to be rebooted at any set interval; for the last 2-3 years, I have only rebooted my hubs for a platform update or an extended power outage.

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Same here, but I only have one hub :slightly_smiling_face:.

So some of us are equally satisfied with a single hub doing all tasks.

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I think the majority of Hubitat owners are single hub. A 2nd (and then 3rd, 4th and 5th hub) are used for a wide range of issues.. rapid spare is probably #1. Once you automate your home, you might not want to go back and a 2 day shipping time (order to arrival) might seem excessive. A handy spare is the solution.

Once you have the spare then, maybe just plug it in to get it registered?? More ready for that unwanted event.. :smiley: Then, since it's just sitting there doing nothing, why not try out Hub Mesh to get an idea of what it does... It isn't many hours before you've got a 2nd hub reducing the load on the first. :smiley: It's all downhill from there. :smiley:

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The evil rabbit hole!

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Exactly what @csteele said. For me, it was:

  • I think I'm going to try my hand at coding an app.
  • Man, I need a second hub so I can keep my testing and production environments separate.
  • Hey...now I can try out Hub mesh. Let me move some local IP devices over.
  • Might as well make it my Hue integration point.
  • Man, I can't wait to order a C8 for a third hub.
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I have 2, one for testing and one with the @lewis.heidrick Antenna mod as my primary hub.

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I'm curious how it's going to compare to the C7 with the antenna mod. Performance wise that is. It would be awesome if they let you adjust the power level so you could fine-tune it.

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I use several due to the fact that I have two homes, with 2 hubs at each location. One of these homes has two out buildings too far for coverage, so have ethernet out to them with separate hubsl Also one in motorhome. Total of 7.

Originally I got one C5 as my primary hub to try it all out. Found I liked it (and the community) so much that I bought a second C5 as a backup. Then the C7 came out and I wanted to get that for more of the Z-Wave stuff I had that was newer, so I could separate it from the older Z-Wave gear... Then a SECOND C7 to focus on some development without "risking" my 2 main hubs...

In the end, while I have kept the first C7 to be "Z-Wave Plus" devices only (or Network, it has no ZigBee or older Z-Wave) it was a losing battle otherwise and all 4 have different drivers developed on them. Oops. :wink:

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I know that I should wait to buy the second batch of hardware but I also know that I won't be able to wait.