ByeBye Smartthings, you're too unreliable!

General Discussion
1

Hello,

i just want to tell you about my Smartthings experience.

Ive got a v2 hub before christmas, it run flalessly for about 2 week, and i got the first problem. Some of my light switch abruptly stop working (GE switch bug, still not fix i think) -10 for smartthing

I finally fix it after some try and error.

a week later, my entire zwave network stop working for at less 3 days! and it bug again a week later! yeah! -200 for smartthings.

Even with v2 hub, LOTS of event are working on the cloud. It was, most of the time, working. But thats not why i brough a v2 hub, it was to not be a slave to the cloud… -50 for smartthing.

I had to thinker in the IDE for some of my device, not everything was working great (read lock management, rule machine) (i will not remove point there, i dont mind checking how thing work)

Thats -260 points for smartthing, and thats the end of it. This hub will be on sale soon on kijiji.

For replacement ive check OpenHAB… you realy need to do EVERITHING, still no secure class implement (lock) but you can work around that with another hub (i have an old vera2)
Event are a lot quicker to fire then anything else ive try!, everything is local. no surprise update that break your rules. The interface is not very slick, but i am sure it will get better.

If youre looking for relyability, security(you have total control), speed, then i recommand looking into openHAB. But be warn that it is something to setup properly.

ps: i am running openHAB with windows and Z-stick gen5

ps2: english is not my mother language, i did try my best to be readable.

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2

I’m sorry about your experiences, but it sounds like to me that you’ll be working more/harder, making compromises (with devices and apps), and sacrificing functionality more with HAB than with ST. Even some of your own statements would lead someone to believe the same thing, even if they weren’t using ST right now. Just reading this gave me a headache! I’ve been with ST for over 2 years, and while not perfect, and still experiencing some big issues, it’s been working very well for me with hub v1 and now with hub v2 with over 72 GE switches (232 devices in total), with no PC, or servers, or z-stick required.

If you are having zwave issues with ST due to hub location, device issues (you mentioned a GE bug), range, mesh issues, etc., do you expect that to go away with HAB?

3

Good Luck Joel!

Every time I look at the effort of using any of the open source stuff to replicate the stuff in ST, I decide I can live with ST.

And (crosses fingers) it’s been pretty good the last day.

“5 9s? we’ve got 9 5s!”

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4

Goodbye and good luck. :smiley:

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5

i work with a vera2 for 3 years prior to smartthing, never got any network issues.
vera 2 was a bit slow, but everything was working.

yes, openhab is not for everyone. But when you understand how it work, the possibility are infinite.
The learning curve is steep, but rewarding. For now all my rules fire up almost instantly!

I am still learning, but when my setup will be working like i want, i will post again to tell you if i am still satisfied.

thanks for the luck.

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6

“The learning curve is steep” - my family wakes up all week for a cold house; none of the scheduled routines/applications work. This is not learning curve. An epic fail, maybe.

ST team still can’t understand they are building an appliance. Home Automation should be more reliable than your clothes washer. Had ST been bought by Apple, they will be all collecting unemployment insurance since the day one.

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7

Hello Oasiz37,

i totally understand, but i was talking about OpenHAB, not ST.

Ive got my presence working with openhab, owntrack and mosquitto (and everything is ssl secure. :smile:
Thermostat is working with my presence to.
Tomorrow, i need to add some windows/door sensor, and some security system like arm/ arm(stay) / away

For now, i am still happy with openhab.

8

It’s nice to have choices for sure. Too bad it’s only for z-wave. Give us your feedback on openhab in a few months. Good luck :grinnismile:

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Denon, DSC Alarm, ecobee, IHC / ELKO, KNX, Leviton/HAI Omnilink, Modbus, Nest, Philips Hue, Belkin Wemo, Insteon PLM, X10 (through Insteon PLM) and a lots more.

Its not only z-wave, you should check the available plugins.

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10

Comparing one product another misses the more important point. Joel may be choosing to move to another system. But many others, including myself are deciding whether to bother with HA anymore at all. The “see you later” approach is what will turn off those who’ve dipped their toes in the water. They will decide that HA isn’t all that great and go back to their simple lives of using the internet, computers, and phones for just doing things that need to be done.

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11

The HA reality is that, someday, maybe even someday soon, you’ll think of HA just like you did above about the internet… which to anyone old enough to have lived a significant portion of their lives before it became the domain of “a basic reality of simple lives” is ironic. Yes, today HA is like “the internet” before significant broadband penetration and the proliferation of digital content. When mobile phones were the size of bricks, with battery life in minutes, no data, no display, and the cutest little antennas. Well before Wifi. Hell, when there were no cell phones. Or home computers. Or color TVs. Or… whatever the normal was before the new normal.

SmartThings is bleeding edge. But we’re close. Close enough that you can buy stuff at best buy or amazon, unbox it, click/tap a few things, and a fair number of times it actually works. Doesn’t help much to acknowledge that we really are still the frontier settlers in this space, and sometimes (many times?) things don’t work, but it’s not a bad thing to step back and honestly recognize the awesome when it is working.

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12

It would have taken me 5000 words to explain it so well. Well done.

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13

Home automation does not have to be a pain. The technology itself is quite mature, if used appropriately. Philips Hue is a perfect example that it can be done. It’s the most reliable and easy-to-use system on the market today. Yes, it’s limited in scope (it only controls lighting), but it does it exceptionally well. SmartThings (and others) tries to be a “Jack of all trades”, but at the end of day it does not do anything well. This is not a fault of technology, just poor implementation.

14

You’re right as far as you go, but Hue has a much simpler task than Hubs and systems that control almost everything you can think of. Hue isn’t opening my garage, locking doors. opening and closing my garage, telling me my washer and dryer are running, the temperature in my refrigerator, telling me my dog got out or countless other things. It also can’t run anyone else light bulbs or switches. A great system, i use it and love it, but a closed system. Much easier to implement.

15

That’s my point exactly. Philips is smart, they know how to introduce a new product into the market. If they’d release a product that claims to do everything, but failed every other time, they’d not only embarrass themselves, but would also lose a market opportunity. That’s how big boys do it. They don’t rush in with their eyes closed.

Granted, SmartThings (when it was a start-up) did not have any reputation to lose, so they could afford to be overly aggressive and release an unfinished and barely working product in an attempt to disrupt the industry. And to some extent, they’ve succeeded. But it’s been 18 month since they’ve been acquired by one of the largest consumer electronics companies in the world. They’re being measured by different stick now. What used to be cute “growing pains” for a tiny start-up is now a major publicity issue for a 12th largest company in the world.

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16

I understand and respect what you’re saying but I totally disagree. I agree it should work and be fixed but I understand why it hasn’t yet. They may never get it right or just give up on the idea but the fact they’re a huge company or that X period of time has passed isn’t the reason it’s messed up or should be fixed by now. I’m excited to see all of these systems and believe a year from now the situation will be much better. Unfortunately, “fixing it” may require some existing hardware be replaced and that will REALLY P***S people off.

17

You mean acute growing pains. I don’t think was ever cute. But let’s hope it doesn’t turn into a malignant chronic growing pain. Looks to me that platform is on life support and they are trying to resuscitate by throwing all kinds of experimental treatments at it. Hopefully they find the right kind of doctor to fix this patient before it’s clock is reaching 0 ratings. At 3.something out of 5, people will start avoiding it like plague soon…

18

I started watching SmartThings around Christmas 2013. Two years ago the attitude on the forums was much more hopeful and positive than today. Many folks have either gave up or became highly cynical since then. Can’t blame them.

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19

I think you drastically overestimate the readership of these forums. :grinning:

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Maybe I am. However, not every company has a VP level position in charge of message boards. :smile:

Also, SmartThings is a high-visibility project within Samsung with many business strategies tied in. I’m sure quite a few top hats are watching. And not everyone is their friend. :smile:

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