Better to stick with ST own brands?

Devices & Integrations
1

Been using ST for over 2 years now and whilst I have a few different brand of motion sensors, some of them play up from time to time ( looking at you Xiomi ) so I’m wondering if I’m better just stick with ST own brand of motion sensors and other devices. I’m on V2 hub and was looking at picking up a few third gen motion sensors.
Anyone any thoughts on this or is there better out there?

Thanks
John.

2

I’ve had good experiences with Fibaro motion sensors - also Aeon Labs. Have you tried adjusting the sensitivity? Because they monitor the level of infrared to infer motion, they can be falsely triggered by anything that releases IR - like radiators, sunny windows, TVs… it’s worth trying a few different positions. In my place they work best when angled pretty high - they’re basically picking up the heat from my upper body and ignoring things like the TV that are lower down. Hope this helps!

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3

No not at all use what you can.
I use loads of ikea tradfri devices like bulbs,motion sensors etc and all are very stable.
Also hive bulbs and plugs work great.
The Xiaomi contact sensors I have are reliable now after initially being a bit naff :laughing:

4

I’m hearing great things about the IKEA kit - what’s your experience so far?

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5

Not had any issues.
I have a few of the bulbs which are reliable and a nice bright white (and dimmable), they are a pain to pair at first though but great once paired.
And a similar story with the Motion sensors and Plugs I have, they just work and are cheap which is great when buying a few.
I have one of the round remotes as well but am yet to use that but I’ve heard it works well.

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6

I have a 3rd gen ST motion sensor I haven’t put up yet… my 2nd gen are my least reliable sensors though. I’ve had to rearrange sensors to get my ST motion sensors in the least critical locations as they are the most problematic as far as false positives or not sensing actual motion.

Their open/close sensors also cause me troubles and I plan to replace them… they seem to fall off the network frequently, no matter where I have them.

I’ve had much better luck with much more inexpensive sensors to be honest

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7

I have 3 different varieties (US versions with ver 3 hub). 2 ST latest version, 2 zoom 4in1, 2 Iris (? Availability).

All have been stable, the zoo appears to use slight more batteries despite my attempts to limit polling etc. On the other hand your monitoring 4 vs 2. Only minor downside to the zooz is cloud vs local and possibly slightly shorter battery replacement schedule if you believe the battery reported.

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8

I have had good luck with Ecolink motion sensors. Have 3 installed for over 6 months now. Working fine and have not had to replace any batteries. They have a jumper switch which allows adjustment of sensitivity.

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9

Another option would be to stick with brands/models which have been officially certified as “works with SmartThings.” That would include IKEA and Ecolink and Fibaro, but not Xioami, for example. :sunglasses:

The list is posted on the website. Remember that it is individual models that are certified, not the entire brand.

US:

UK:

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10

Thanks all. I guess I’ll just keep a look out for any bargains and sales then on the other brands. I’m interested to try out the ST 3rd gen motion sensor though. I’m guessing this pairs ok with the V2 hub? ( the one that takes 4 AA’s )

11

Once you adjust all of the advanced settings in the handler, you can now switch to local control for the 4-in-1 ZSE40 sensor, just change the device type to Zooz 4-in-1 Sensor (located under the ZigBee thermostat in the drop-down menu). The sensor is officially certified to work with SmartThings but since the new app doesn’t give access to advanced settings, you still need the handler for that part. With that said, you can alternate between device type on ST without losing your custom settings.

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12

Thanks, but … I am unable to follow your directions (my parents used to say the same thing about me).

In the IDE I currently have had the device type , zooz 4 in 1 sensor, I am using krlaframboise’a custom device handler.

Using the classic app, I am not able to follow your instructions regarding under the zigbee thermostat in the drop-down menu …

Thanks in advance

13

The device type change is actually done in the IDE as well. You need to log in, click on My Devices, click on the ZSE40 sensor, scroll down and click Edit, go to Type and select the Zooz 4-in-1 Sensor (located under the ZigBee thermostat in the drop-down menu), then click Update at the bottom of the page.

14

Thanks for the reply - I believe the issue is that I have the ability to select two device types with the same name “Zooz 4 in 1 Sensor”. One must be associated with the custom device type (krlaframboise) that I added, see comment above - and the other a “built in” smartthings device type.

I am currently using the device type associated with krlaframboise’s device handler - which is cloud based.

15

I will add that I just changed the device handler to the smarthings “zooz 4 in 1 sensor” and the settings (under the gear icon) in the classing app are obviously corrupted - no headings for each setting - not sure at the moment how to remediate this issue closing and reopening the classic app did not fix the problem.

16

interestingly when looking at the device states - I have two zooz 4 in 1 sensors - one using the smarthings "Zooz 4 in 1 Sensor” device type and the other using krlaframboise’s "Zooz 4 in 1 Sensor” device type .

The “current states” of each of the two devices have a different number of states

Smartthings Device Type:
illuminance: 71 %
• temperature: 55 F
• humidity: 32 %
• battery: 50 %
• motion: inactive
• checkInterval: 7320
• tamper: clear

and Kevin’s (krlaframboise)
illuminance: 92 %
• temperature: 51 F
• humidity: 36 %
• battery: 80 %
• motion: inactive
• checkInterval: 7500
• tamper: clear
• lastCheckin: 10/21/2019 08:55:42 AM
• lastUpdate: 10/11/2019 11:47:42 AM
• pendingChanges: 0
• primaryStatus: 51°F
• secondaryStatus: No Motion
• pLight: 92 %
• lxLight: 44 lx
• firmwareVersion: 5.1

The number of lines within the preferences section of each of the two are identical.

17

Kevin’s handler is much more advanced and tracks/gives more information. The ST native device handler is pretty basic but currently the only way to get the sensor to function locally. So we recommend using the custom handler to adjust settings and then changing the device type to the native device type if local control is a priority to you.

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18

Remove the device(s), delete the custom handler(s), install and publish my handler, join the device, and assign it my handler if it’s not already assigned.

My handler will be in the user section at the very bottom of the list.

After changing the settings wake the device up and make sure all the settings sync and then if you want local control change it back to the built-in handler.

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19

Thanks Kevin, I will stick with your and use the cloud. It’s been working great via the cloud. Thanks for all the great work and assistance.

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