Hi guys I am an IoT fans in Hong Kong. I am confused by this platform and SamSung SmartThings platform. Here are my questions.
What is the difference between this “SmartThings” and “Samsung SmartThings”? If I want to buy a hub, can I buy it from “SamSung SmartThings”?
I saw that many devices are only supported in U.S. Does that mean I can not connect them with my SmartThings app in Hong Kong? Why should this restriction exist?
If I can use SmartThings to connect with my devices, can I write SmartApps to develop my automation? Will there be any region restrictions?
You can connect any Zigbee device to a hub you buy in Hong Kong (note, the hub sold in this region does NOT have Z-Wave!). Some devices may be officially supported and some may be supported through use of custom or 3rd party DTH’s
You should be able to write all your own automatons/SmartApps without any region restrictions
Hey Carlin, thanks a lot and you’re kind! But can I just buy a SmartThings wifi from Amazon U.S. and ship to Hong Kong? If it does not support Z-Wave, I don’t want to buy it from Hong Kong!
hey guys. I have to say Samsung does not sell the device in Hong Kong. What a pity. I asked customer service of Samsung Hong Kong, however it seems that they even don’t know what Smartthings is!
Devices may be region specific for many different reasons.
The first, as we’ve already mentioned in this thread, is that the Z Wave frequency varies from region to region. This is because zwave operates in a frequency band which is often used by local first responders like firefighters and ambulance drivers. So the exact frequency sometimes has to be different in order to avoid interference with these safety services. The frequency cannot be changed after the time of manufacture, and must match the frequency of the hub exactly.
The second is that the electrical system are different. A smart plug-in device designed for Germany will not work in the US and vice versa.
The third is that some smart devices have encryption technology which is not allowed to be exported.
The fourth is that safety regulations can vary between countries. This may mean that a device which is legal to sell, say, in the US is not legal to operate in the EU. (This applies to a number of Zigbee devices because the US allows transmission at higher levels than the EU does.)
And fifth, quite a few companies do not want their products sold outside of specific regions because they do not want to have to meet the customer support and privacy requirements of a different region.
You put all five of those together, and it just becomes too expensive for them to have many different versions of the same device, and many manufacturers will choose to only sell their devices into one or two regions. It just becomes too expensive for them to have many different versions of the same device.
So device selection does vary by region. Some devices are available only for the EU, while others are available only for the US. And vice versa. As far as other regions like mainland China and Hong Kong, again, there’s just a lot of variation as far as what is available.
Yes it is listed on website. However v3 has been monopolized by a local ISP called HKT. Unless you pay for their Internet services, you can not get Samsung SmartThings v3 hub… The only way I can play with SmartThings is just to buy v2. I hope there is no major difference between v3 wifi and v2, such that I can still play with the newest tech.
Technically, there are quite a few differences in the hardware between V2 and V3, although they use the same app.
One obvious difference is that the V3 hub has a Wi-Fi radio and the V2 hub does not.
In addition, there are some technical Z wave differences, although since the OP does not intend to use zwave that may not matter.
There are also differences in video processing, although in that case it’s the V2 that has more capability.
In most countries other than the UK, the US, and Canada, Samsung is partnering with local security companies to provide support for the local version of the hub. That’s Vodafone in much of Europe, or RACV in Australia, etc.
The V3 and V2 hubs will not be supported if you just import them into those regions and customer support may not help you if you do run into a problem.
In addition, it may be illegal to import a hub with the wrong zwave frequency because of the issue of first responder interference, even if you don’t intend to use that function. So that can get tricky as well.
Finally, the V3 hub is region locked when you go to set it up. You may find that you can’t even create an account for it if you aren’t in the right region. that does not apply to the V2 hub at the present time if you are using the classic app. But it’s something that people have run into when trying to import the US version of the V3 hub into non-supported countries.
In Hong Kong, zigbee is much more popular for home automation. You should be able to find lots of device choices in that protocol. The Xioami models are particularly popular, but there are other brands as well.
You won’t need to write your own smartapps, the official features will work fine with the Xioami sensors. So you write your own automations just by using the rulebuilder in the app.
(unless the V3 does not and Wifi does?)
