I have a dual hub set up. One does nearly everything and the other does the talkative LAN related stuff. I am going to be putting an external antenna on the hub that has the radios but I have a thought about how to do it with much less down time and swapping of devices etc.
Since the LAN hub (B) has way fewer apps and devices than main hub (A) on it I was thinking about doing the following:
Take fresh back ups of both A and B
Temporarily consolidate B onto A
Modify B
Restore B using A backup and restore A using B backup
This seems really silly but I feel like it will keep me from having to do a bunch of swapping since like I said the amount on B is barely anything, especially in comparison.
My only concern in this situation is the IP address and registrations etc. will those switch over?
If you setup a reserved IP address in your DHCP, you will need to swap the addresses there too. The hubs will pickup the new addresses at their next boot-up.
What are the models of the two hubs?
Do you have any Zigbee and Z-Wave devices?
Do you have the Hub Protect Subscription service?
If the hubs are eventually swapped, then all Zigbee devices will need to be re-paired to the new hub's Zigbee radio. At least they will pop right back into their respective devices, assuming you've restored a backup of their original hub.
Z-Wave devices will migrate, assuming Hub A had the Hubitat Hub Protect subscription, which allows for cloud-based backups that include the Z-Wave radio contents. Depending on your hub models, this may or may not even be possible.
Pay for the overnight shipping for the antenna mod... save yourself a lot of grief. Just live without the hub for a few days! Or, buy a third hub, have it modded (after first verifying it works properly!) and then migrate Hub A to Hub C! Keep Hub A for development, testing, and as a spare. Probably cheaper than the expedited shipping fees!
Yeah I was talking to my dad about my need for the mod and he insisted we do it ourselves but I've still been toying with have @lewis.heidrick do it due to work, kids, getting together who lives 30 minutes away etc.
Maybe he just wants to do something with you. There's not really any cost savings doing it yourself other than the shipping costs unless you go with some cheapy antennas so I'm guessing he just wants to hang out. I'd let him do it with you.
Start to finish, you can do everything in about 30 minutes. A little prep work getting everything organized, you can do everything in about 10 minutes without rushing. I'm sure the family can get by for 10 minutes without any automations.
The hardest part to get right is the drill locations so take some time and plan this part out and mark it beforehand. Pay close attention to any components that might get in the way of the connectors and try to get the connector as close as possible to the top of the lid. This gives you more margin for error and also prevents the connector from twisting inside the case once complete and attaching the antennas.
