SmartThings Hub Version 2.0

Thanks to Best Buy’s sale I’m up to 99 things including virtual stuff. Two are old Weather Station tiles that I can’t delete because I once associated them to IFTTT. AFAIK, you still can’t remove a device that was added in IFTTT unless you completely delete the IFTTT channel and app?

Somehow I’ve managed 20 motions sensors already. Have not used a light switch since last summer (minus ST outages or motion sensors falling off the network). Now when I go to a hotel for travel it seems like such a chore to turn on/off lights manually…

4 Likes

I only have one bulb & we don’t even use it. I found them to not be as “instant on” as other LED bulbs. Mine are mainly switches, outlets, motion & open/closed. Every window & exterior door has a device attached. I have a few other “crazy hacky” devices & am currently writing a blog post for the ST blog about it all.

2 Likes

Can you please provide an update on “migrating” from an existing SmartThings Hub to a new version 2 Hub?

1 Like

There’s been a lot of other stuff to do, so we haven’t implemented the migration solution yet. On the Z-Wave side we’ve decided it will work better to implement a network backup and restore function that can also be used for migration.

2 Likes

Presence issues can definitely be an interference/range problem. Ours were terrible at (a) detecting arrival and (b) reporting incorrect departures randomly.

When I realized it was happening mostly while we watched Netflix, I connected it with high throughput on our 2.4Ghz router. Once I switched to a 5Ghz router that stopped. There must be some 2.4/Zigbee interference.

I fixed the difficulties detecting presence by plugging in a wired motion detector in the garage, which is closer to the front of the house. Still, about once a month it won’t detect arrival and switch mode until we’ve entered the house and set off the “alarm.”

This is why I haven’t bought an ST siren and we still have ADT.

ADT is very reliable, by the way: they reliably screw me out of a lot of money every month, provide virtually no functionality, and wanted
to charge a per device fee. Honestly.

(73 devices, 3-5 are virtual).

2 Likes

Does ADT use a presence sensor / tag?

I don’t under why folks here who are having alarm problems related to presence detection, don’t consider using a PIN entry instead, in the meantime.

Shameless plug for my “proof of concept” SmartApp in Beta…

2 Likes

Terry,

I don’t know about ADT presence. I know one guy who uses ADT Pulse but I don’t think he has it. Our presence detection is two 1st gen ST detectors that I got with our starter kit.

I have our “alarm” set to trigger instantly – there is no delay, so I suppose I would have to tinker to implement a PIN. Still, I like the idea, so I’ll see if I can make it work.

1 Like

So… I am presuming that you and most everyone else uses a PIN pad to arm/disarm their traditional alarm company systems.

The Minimote PIN App lets you do similar with ST, though we could use a nice keypad. Might write one as a tile for SmartTiles.click, but a standalone hardware would be nice.

2 Likes

The SmartTiles aka the Web Dashboard will have a security pin access very soon. For those that have a tablet setup to control the house.

  1. Setup the dashboard to control the house.
  2. Setup the pin.
  3. Setup New version of Smart Alarm to Arm/Disarm from Hello Home frazes.
  4. Setup an entry delay for the purpose of disabling the Alarm when Entering the House.
  5. Mount the Tablet with in walking distance of the door for the Entry delay.

This is my current road map for the House Security and Keypad is for the Wife HA approval factor.

Alternative: All of the Android devices have a Keypad Lock Screen. And you can setup the SmartTiles to load on device boot via Taske.

1 Like

I use SmartAlarm so in my case my garage door is set as an Entry zone so if I open it I’ll set the alarm off. I have an entry delay at the max of 60 seconds which I don’t think is enough time to open the door, park, get out and type in a key plus on top of that I’m not sure I could sell it to my wife. There are a lot of reasons why someone couldn’t or wouldn’t want to park then jump out of their car to type in a key to disable an alarm. Since ST’s last app update the presence detection has gotten better but most of the time not at the Geofence border. Also seems like detecting us as leaving is better than detecting us as arriving for some reason. If an option became available to use a phone to type in a key I don’t think my wife nor I would be interested in that. The presence detection is really our best option so I’ll continue to hope it gets better in ST.

1 Like

@hscox030.

http://cdn.discourse.org/smartthings/uploads/default/original/3X/e/8/e84531586776703e03b5ea88a32f322c0d78319b.jpg

1 Like

[quote=“hscox030, post:493, topic:5146”]
I use SmartAlarm so in my case my garage door is set as an Entry zone so if I open it I’ll set the alarm off.[/quote]

Yes … it certainly is an inconvenience to have to rush to input a PIN-code – my point was that traditional / legacy (and current!) major dedicated alarm company systems (ADT, etc., etc., etc.) have been using that paradigm (PIN entry required to disable alarm after breaching an armed zone) for decades, reliably, and the user’s have found this to be “acceptable” (even if a little annoying and requires a sufficiently long delay time to permit the disarm PIN-input procedure).

You have two options here:

  • Customize the Alarm App so that you can set a longer delay.
    and/or
  • Place an Aeon Aeotec Minimote in the car so that you can enter the PIN (it could be as little as 1 or 2 digits), as soon as you are in Z-Wave range (i.e., no need to exit the car and run to a PIN pad placed at some difficult location inside the home).

The Buttons As PIN SmartApp is, in fact, 2-Factor authentication: You must have the exact Z-Wave registered device (the specific Aeon Minimote), and you must know the PIN to enter (which can be short or long, depending on the level of security desired).

This makes this alternative solution extra secure (much more secure than just a Presence Tag).

You can also, and this may just me being stupid, use IFTT’s new DO app to arm and disarm your system.Aalmost as simple as a mininmote.

I use the ifttt button all the time, but as written it can’t change a mode. It can only turn switches on and off or the other options available through the regular smart things channel on IFTTT.

You can use a virtual switch, and then the custom smart app “big switch for hello home actions” and use that to change the mode. But it does require some custom code.

its been 22 days since last word on progress… Is there any word on we might actually expect to see this product?

I don’t have an official information, but reiterate that I think the “July 1st” timeline is “technically” on schedule.


I would rather heartily recommend patience though, even after release: Don’t rush to be an “early adopter” of the new platform.

If you’ve got time to be a Beta tester (or post-Beta … Gamma (?!) tester), then early adoption is a great service to the Community and hopefully you have a smooth experience with personal benefits.

But there will be a period of time after Hub V2 is in the wild that it could be less stable than Hub V1 (gasp!). Existing Hub V1 customers will have to go through a migration process to Hub V2, and it would be sad to see a lot of folks jump into this and then a rash of Community postings saying “Help! I wish I could rollback!!!”.

SmartThings is surely doing their best to avoid that undesirable scenario with the extensive and progressive behind the scenes beta / burn-in period going on right now.

In other words: Try to look at any further Hub V2 delays as a good thing, because that means they’ve caught a bug that you would otherwise had to “live with” for an indeterminate amount of time and personal environment impact. :sunny:

Most likely Q3, also. :slight_smile:

1 Like

With the risk of being called “disingenuous”, I would interpret this as being the end of August. Yes?

Or no.

“Most likely Q3” also means “…but could be later.”

No guarantees on this one either way. I don’t think they know yet.

Please don’t release it until it is stable and fully functional. I won’t be able to resist the upgrade when it is available. I don’t want to suffer after upgrading. I might start whining in the forums again! :older_man:

2 Likes