I know this must be a simple issue and I just don’t get it, but…
I’m using mobile phones as presence sensors. Mine always shows correctly; if my phone is here, it says that I’m present. However, not so for the other person’s phone; it pretty much just says 1 not present most of the time.
It is inconsistent though. Sometimes it shows correctly when they come and go, but usually, just not present.
Is this a known problem, and if so, does it depend on phone make/model, or what?
I don’t think anyone has a sold answer for this yet, but i do know it is being looked into.
I beefed up my entry way with 3 plugin zigbee devices and use the key fob. Right now presence is totally accurate for me.
Thanks for the link. I will check out that thread.
I would also like to hear more about your setup that you just described above. Any chance of detailing more about it, or point to URL with more details?
What exactly are you wanting to know about my setup?
Sorry…this part…
Which devices did you install and how, specifically do they help with presence sensing?
I don’t know if it’s a “known problem,” but in my household at least, it’s known that iPhones are unreliable for presence. Resolved by switching to SmartThings presence fobs.
Well, the key fob (SmartThings Presence / SmartThings Arrival Sensor) is a battery powered zigbee device. Anytime you add a hardwired or plug in zigbee device to SmartThings it makes your zigbee network more robust and will increase its effective range (Zwave devices behave in the same manner for other zwave devices). In my case i added a SmartThings Outlet (Zigbee) on my second floor, directly above my entry way, a GE In-Wall Smart Dimmer Switch (ZigBee) to my entry door light and a Securifi Peanut Plug (Zigbee) in my kitchen. With this config i have a zigbee device in front of my door, above my door and to the right of my door.
My hub is located near the center of my home and can’t always detect my key fob by itself in time to run arrival apps/routines due to wifi/bluetooth/2.4ghz wireless devices competing for the same airtime. By adding more zigbee devices near my front door means those devices will detect my key fob first and let the hub know “i’m home”.
OK, thanks.
Aha. Well, my hub is in the center of my home and works just fine (i.e. it’s not lack of z-wave or zigbee or wifi signals or range that is causing this particular problem; something’s just odd about this other phone perhaps, I don’t know).
I’m not exactly sure I understand the part about the front door stuff as it relates to my situation in particular, but I’m not talking about coming and going. I’m talking about ‘here’ or ‘not here’. I’m not talking about whether or not somebody has arrived or has left, but about whether they are here or not…right now…or at any time.
With my phone, it’s pretty much always correct. With the other one though, it’s not.
As for the ‘coming and going’ thing, in my case, when I first got going, I noticed that the radius of the location of my phone was way, way, way to large, and it would sometimes count me as home when I was still more than a mile away (obviously no good for arrival triggers). Then, I changed it to have a smaller area (still way too big for me, but it wouldn’t allow me to set it to any smaller than my neighborhood), but even then, when I got home, and settled into the house, it would sometimes not notice that I had arrived home yet.
Kooky.
I know we’re still in the early stages with some of this stuff. So, I’m not all pissed off about it or freaking out, but just checking in to see if there are any little tricks I can do to help it work better for the other person’s phone or not.
I sincerely appreciate your assistance on this. It really means a lot to be part of such a cool community like this. Thanks, man.