I currently use Hue B Smart instead of the official hue integration, and the only thing that bothers me is that it only polls for updates every 5 minutes.
I’m considering maybe going back to the official integration, but I wanted to check with people who use it if it works, because it would take a long time to migrate all my bridges.
Could you please check how long it takes for SmartThings to detect changes in status when you turn on/off lights using the hue app or a hue switch?
For me, there is a small difference when turning on/off in the hue app and when the status changes in either of the ST apps - perhaps about 1 second. Of course, YMMV.
The official integration runs mostly local (some smart lighting rules will run local and work when internet is down). It polls the hue bridge for updates every 2 seconds or so (the status as seen in the apps is updated in the cloud, so normal caveats re: latency applies there).
Also note that each light is brought in a single device, and there are no group devices from the hue groups.
Thank you.
Indeed, the lack of groups is my main concern, since I have about 250 hue lights, and using the direct integration the popcorn effect is massive.
Also, having 250 individual bulbs on the SmartThings “Things” tab is awful.
You could try using the native integration and the Light Groups function in the new app. Although it’s limited to manual control only right now (can’t add to automations).
If Hue scenes were exposed in the native integration I would be using it. But unfortunately they are not
1 Like
tgauchat
(ActionTiles.com co-founder Terry @ActionTiles; GitHub: @cosmicpuppy)
8
I have only 6 bulbs in my kitchen/dining area (track with a single power source, so Hue is a perfect solution to lighting specific areas with desired brightness (or even “off”) depending on scenario… cooking, cleaning, dining, movie watching in the next room, nightlight…).
Native Hue Scenes activate immediately and essentially simultaneously. SmartThings Scenes (all remote cuz I’m on Hub V1) take up to 3 seconds, entirely sequential and random. It is horrid.
I guess for now I’ll stick with Hue B Smart, and if the official integration updates with access to scenes or rooms I will try it out.
Thank you everyone for the help
tgauchat
(ActionTiles.com co-founder Terry @ActionTiles; GitHub: @cosmicpuppy)
12
I have SmartThings WiFi (3 puck mesh), but am only slowly migrating Things to it from my V1. I guess moving over my Hue Bridge would be a fell swoop… but I also only have a Hue V1 and ought to upgrade it too!
So I might as well add the Hue V2 to my Hub V3 and then move the bulbs over. One step at a time, right?
Got another favour if anyone wouldn’t mind trying…
If someone is using the official hue integration and has lots of lights in the same room, could you test the lighting group function in the new app and see if the popcorn effect is still there?
Thank you so much
tgauchat
(ActionTiles.com co-founder Terry @ActionTiles; GitHub: @cosmicpuppy)
16
I haven’t tested lately, but I know from talking with ST engineers that SmartThings still does not use ZigBee “group broadcast” and therefore is not as fast as the Hue App.
I’m not sure if Light Groups are “local execution” compatible yet. If they are, then that’s the maximum speed you can expect, indefinitely, until they add native ZigBee “group broadcast” implementation.
If Light Groups are not “local execution” compatible, then the “popcorn” will continue to be very noticeable due to the back/forth cloud latency for each individual light.
I just tried it with 5 lights on one fixture and it is there, but intermittent, which makes me think it is likely dependent on cloud latency issues, as @tgauchat suggested. (It also appears that light groups don’t have color control, fwiw.)
Thank you for the prompt reply.
Im not an engineer and don’t really know how this works, but since the lights are connected to the hue bridge, then to SmartThings, would it really need to have zigbee group broadcast?
It looks to me that in this case it would be just a matter of sending a command to the hue bridge to turn on that group, and the hue bridge can do the group broadcast?
Thank you very much
tgauchat
(ActionTiles.com co-founder Terry @ActionTiles; GitHub: @cosmicpuppy)
19
Yes - technically that would be possible; but that would mean SmartThings would need to add the concept of a “Group of Hue Lights” to the Device Type Handler (and, many, many other places throughout the platform).
SmartThings is supposed to be brand/model agnostic. A Group of Lights should be allowed to contain Hue, ZigBee, Z-Wave, and IP/WiFi.
Now it’s up to super smart engineers / architects to figure out how to parse such a heterogeneous group down into the sub-Groups that may or may not be supported by each protocol.
Not easy stuff.
Personally, I think they could start with Hue … But SmartThings has known about this for, what, about 5 years or more, and not done anything about it.
not yet…but supposedly next year. i would guess smartthings will still control individual Hue bulbs via LAN, but will send Hue Scenes and Groups commands through the cloud in the future.
