I am looking for some help. I recently bought my Smartthings Hub to monitor a freezer, and used an outlet as a repeater to extend the range of the multi-sensor inside the freezer - worked great.
I’ve now decided to add additional functionality to my system by adding a few recessed door sensors and GE in-wall smart outlets. The AEON recessed door sensor is too far away from my hub (by probably 5-10 feet and goes by a brick fireplace) to sense when its status changes, so I moved the samsung smart outlet from the freezer to the basement in hopes of repeating the signal. Didn’t work - I figured due to the fireplace again. So I installed the GE in-wall outlet 6 feet away (and not dealing with the brick issue) in hopes of making the distance shorter. However, the in-wall outlet does not appear to talk to the wall outlet to get the updates passed.
I’ve enabled additional logging and can see the command getting sent - the system checking if it’s healthy and a response back, but the command to turn off (or on) the in-wall outlet never takes hold. When I uninstalled the in-wall outlet and moved it closer (just plugging the wires into an existing outlet to get it power) everything works. It even works as an outlet and I can turn it on and off with the button when in the basement, but again it doesn’t receive commands.
Thoughts on what I need to change? I’ve got several other sensors (water, lights, etc.) that I need to install in the basement but need to be able to repeat through the plug-in outlet.
JD - thanks for the comment. Apparently the Samsung branded Smartthings devices are zigbee and the in-wall outlet is z-wave. Would never have suspected that it would have been a zigbee device (or that most of the samsung devices are zigbee). (I just figured out how to determine that with the browser version of the software.)
You can either look into a z-wave specific plug-in switch or if you like the ST plug form factor you can track down the Iris Smart Plug from Lowes. Currently it looks like it’s only available in their kits but it works as both a zigbee AND z-wave repeater.