If the only component of your ST setup is a hub, you’re Doing It Wrong®.
Though, I guess that would go a long way in managing expectations of the system…
1 Like
It’s the only component I’ve purchased from ST and the only component that is proprietary…
My time is worth much more than I would ever spend on Hub(s) and Device(s), though if I could easily exchange time for money, then perhaps I should be spending more money for a more reliable system.
But that’s the concern: If/since I find SmartThings to be acceptably reliable and spend considerable time configuring it (and learning all the quirks and workaround), that is an investment that I do not wish to spend again on a competitor.
1 Like
But like with an aging car, at some point you have to cut your losses, stop constantly ‘repairing’ it and start fresh with a new one.
I’ll admit that technology, particularly in this space, moves quite rapidly.
That said, Hub v2 has barely hit retail shelves. Suggesting we cut our losses already seems a bit… premature.
I’ve had my car for 16 years (Subaru). Looks a bit crappy, but runs fine with minimal maintenance and few major repairs. I would lose more money on depreciation with a newer car, unless I found a real bargain.
Since SmartThings system is an integral part of my home, I really would like it to also last 10+ years within occasional unobtrusive upgrades: i.e.: replacement hubs must have a fully automated migration (goshdarnfixitalready), and platform upgrades must not remove working features willy-nilly with no warning of deprecation.
1 Like
Perhaps I’m phrasing this wrong guys, I just don’t want people to be angry at the situation, to take a step back and re-evaluate what really should be allowed to make people this angry.
I want this feature too, heck it would be perfect if it worked before tomorrow when I have two friends visiting shortly followed by my parents all the way from the UK… alas I’m not planning or expecting it too, so I’m not disappointed or angry that it won’t be, then I can move on personally and with couple of options for work arounds.
They’ve clearly communicated that it’s a high priority and that they have every intention of fixing it, I’m not going to achieve anything by raging in a thread about it asking “is it done yet?” constantly, like you know, it was done a long time ago but they were just waiting for someone to ask… If it was within ST’s power to get this out yesterday, don’t you think they would?
Personally I expect the worse and then I’m grateful for the rest, for example, I fully expect there to be further issues with the additional user function, even after they’ve finally released it. Of course, everyone has a limit on how much they can take, perhaps some people have already reached theirs, I’m still new to this myself.
1 Like
Bingo.
Some of us have been here for a bit longer and have seen feature after feature break or just flat-out be removed (scheduler 2014, sunrise/sunset, TTS, adding users, dashboards, garage doors, scheduler 2015, etc…).
All of these are priorities for the ST team, yet they are all still problematic. I’ve got a reliable scheduler for my system now, but only because I spent many hours building an iron lung for the platform.
Developer communities tend to be passionate lots, and this one’s no different. We’re here because ST’s the best thing out there at this point (at least within a few orders of magnitude in price). We stick it out because we see the immense potential of the platform. We complain because it’s not living up to its stated capabilities which, in some cases, are things it was able to do correctly just two weeks ago.
I think a lot of the angst lately is because there’s been significant regression of the product as a whole since the v2 release. Once folks start to see forward progress rather than continued regression, I’d bet these forums will become a much happier place.
8 Likes
Best most accurate summation, I’ve read here in a long time. Thanks Brian!
8 Likes
Having been a voyeur for most of the duration this has been going on I thought I’d throw my comment in. From a uk point of view it’s annoying that we are so far behind the us in terms of ha. I get that I haven’t invested anywhere as much as some of you guys and I’m not quite old enough to remember a commodore plus 4. I’ve spoken to st support and they’ve been quick at providing feedback and yes it is frustrating that we cant add users really frustrating. I watched on like an excited school boy that you had st in the us and when it came out here I convinced my oh that it was the future (sold on the alarm and user part) for it to fail miserably is disheartening and did result in and argument with our retailer. My option was to wait until it’s fixed or persevere. Which when my kids say they like getting up in the night to go to the toilet and the lights come on automatically is great for them. The simple things it does is brilliant the potential is great, but as yet I don’t see there is one single platform that will fix everything. Some of the technology is all show but where st excels is the integration with other devices. I hate Samsung with a passion but as st is the only real platform that will do what I want I have no real alternative. I can’t wait for it to be resolved and arguably like everyone has said it shouldn’t have taken this long and should have been tested thoroughly but who can test for a human doing something that a geek doesn’t expect. Think like a geek and the system works great, think like a human and we will find bugs. When I’ve moaned st have wanted to listen and try to help whilst the major fubar is going on. That’s customer service. Sure we would all like something for our inconvenience but what we get is technology that will always do something that it shouldn’t. We all knock Apple as the restrict things but if you restrict it you control it. St is flexible as hell.
Now hurry up and fix the bloody thing so my other half doesn’t keep setting off the alarm and moaning at me. Oh and keep up the great work because despite the obvious fault st is amazing.
3 Likes
First off thank you for the response it was great, I do appreciate the time and effort and understand some of the complications/risks involved and how you weigh those against the transparency.
So from there I can digress:
I’m in no way trying to tell anyone how to manage a company, it is not my company. I’m offering a suggestion, you place more on risk of doing (so it isn’t done) as I do on reward of doing (so I ask it be done but I’m not getting paid to do it). That is fine I call this the congressional model.
That being said two things came out of the explanation. One is it makes sense, you have concrete and valid reasons for not publishing bugs and also for not seeking customer data from what appears to be a small subset of a small subset (not statistically significant). The response is well thought out, carefully crafted and I appreciate the time it took to form it. I understand not every idea is a good idea (as opposed to someone here who is destructive and now blocked and thinks no idea is a good idea) but the point is idea’s come from everywhere all around us and they come all the time (not just 2pm on a Tuesday from a pre-selected customer in Iowa). When someone says I’m throwing my hub in the trash (most people dismiss that as hogwash), this is a voice of frustration with no support. Samsung can’t come to their house and troubleshoot the issue I get it, but someone has to ask why they feel this way and what can be done about it. The thing about the vocal few is although sometimes misguided the root of their point often results from a single issue that picks up steam because the masses feel the same way and provide some support.
That being said I’m a realist, I want the company to succeed, I’m truly routing for you everyday. This is a disruptive technology on the forefront of something great. Someday soon these issues will seem like child’s play and will turn into things like my car keeps parking at my neighbors house and my hub scheduled my yearly checkup for 1:00 pm but that is when I watch As the World Turns?
I guess the point (yeah a little too late) is keep chugging along as you were, but never stop listening and learning.
1 Like
I’m 43 years old. I can visualize my grand children complaining to me that their car keeps parking at the neighbors house. Lol. Technology, it’s amazing!
4 Likes
Unfortunately many people reporting problems in the last week, both IOS AND android users. See:
Report it to support.
I bought the biggest kit they had when I started out and was happy with it. I have since added quite a bit more. I have one door with almost $400 worth of zwave locks on it.
I have a 16 year old Crown Vic with over 200,000 miles on it. I wish my ST was even half as reliable.
Yet it too is a retired model replaced by a model not as reliable
…sound familiar?
Many people reporting random problems with modes in time based events. Things like two out of three time based events running, but the other one not. See the following thread.
Can someone please clarify if the events problem recently raised is related to users at all? I am going to guess no. All I know is that a) no update on users for Android and b) yes, scripts such as unlock entry and simply turning on lamps have gone wonky this passed week. When I turn my living room lights on, my door unlock sends an SMS.
Not related to anything any user set up. Support says “platform hiccups”
Users can try two things:
One) unplug the hub, remove the batteries, and leave it off for 15 minutes. Then restore power.
- Open any routine/smartapp that failed, make any minor change, resave it, open it again, change it back to the parameters you actually want, save it again. That should restart the schedule for that individual rule. But don’t do this until after you’ve done step one
Those two steps may help, but they are not a permanent solution, as many of us have had the problem go away and come back multiple times over the last week.
1 Like