EU SmartThings compatible repeaters

Devices & Integrations
1

Hey guys,

First of all, I’m pretty much new to smart homes in general and SmartThings in particular and I’m also a severely technologically challenged person. I’ve had the dream of a smart home for years though (especially a voice controlled one), only it was always out of my reach for lack of technological knowledge. I thought with the introduction of SmartThings and Google Home my dream would finally come true. How wrong I was.

To cut a long story short, I now have more than €1.000 worth of kit at home and still can’t get the system to work. I started with a SmartThings hub and Wemo LEDs. Couldn’t get them to work reliably so I switched to Osram LEDs. Turns out, they wouldn’t work reliably either. Was told by SmartThings support to get repeaters, so I got some wall plugs, but SmartThings doesn’t detect them at all. Too many promises are made about these systems that turn out not to be true. “All Zigbee devices work as repeaters”. No, they don’t! Bulbs obviously don’t. “SmartThings works with all Zigbee and Z-wave devices”. No, it doesn’t. And these answers one only gets when one digs deeper. By then, technologically challenged people like me, have lost all faith and patience and will eventually just give up.

After almost a year of messing around I’ve given up hope. I’m at the end of my wits. I have the additional handicap that I live in Tenerife and getting hold of smart home devices is difficult on my little island. I’ve got to take what I can get. I don’t have the luxury to just order whatever I need. Most companies won’t even deliver to the Canary Islands, so even the Internet is not much help. I’m also not rich and I can’t afford to just keep throwing good money after bad. I need some economic Zigbee repeaters (wall plugs will do) that work reliably with SmartThings and that I can order from somebody who delivers to the Canary Islands. You guys are really my last hope. If you could recommend anything I’d be eternally grateful.

Cheers!

3

First, is this a UK or US SmartThings hub? Are the devices that you purchased for repeating, devices matching that hub in the UK or US?

1 Like
5

Ups. Never noticed that there were replies to my question. Sorry guys.

OK. First, my SmartThings hub is a UK model. Bought it on amazon. Here the link.

I intend to stick to Zigbee devices for my home automation, so the first set of outlets I bought were from bitron. Here the amazon link (sorry, but it’s in Spanish).

I couldn’t get them to work so I ordered some OSRAM ones from the German amazon (as you can see, I’m trying to get my devices wherever I can). I figured, my LED bulbs are working fine so SmartThings must support OSRAM. No such luck. Here the amazon link (this time in German).

I’ll try to send all of those back. I hope I’ll get my money back. Amazon is usually quite accommodating.

Anyway. I can’t pair any of them with my SmartThings hub. I don’t know what else to do. Thx a bunch for your help. :+1::wink:

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Wow! That was a quick response! Cheers, mate! Appreciate it.

I’m failing to pair them. The ST hub doesn’t seem to find any of them. :confused:

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There are so many different pieces to this question, it’s a little hard to know where to start. So let me just take one piece at a time and forgive me if they don’t quite all fit together.

First, the answer about zigbee is depending on the profiles:

Second, the specific question about zigbee home automation (ZHA) repeaters for the UK is that people were using the Orvibo relay, but now that product has been discontinued. :disappointed_relieved: And the xiaomi pocket socket has turned out not to be a good repeater, not totally surprising because it’s not certified.

And the smart things pocketsocket has turned out to have a fusing problem, and appears to have been withdrawn from sale, but without a replacement device yet. :disappointed_relieved: ( This only affects the UK model)

It should be true that any ZHA pocket socket would work as a repeater and for basic on/off with SmartThings, although it might need custom code if it had other features like energy reporting.

Right now the only one available at Amazon with the right certifications is the following:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01B5P5Y6S/

But I haven’t yet seen any reports in the forums of people actually trying it. Most people seem to have switched to the less expensive Z wave pocket sockets as a substitute for the SmartThings branded device, which work well, but won’t repeat for zigbee.

Securifi makes the zigbee “peanut” pocket socket, but all the listings I’ve seen are for the US model, so it seems to be difficult to find the UK model. :disappointed_relieved:

Develco makes A mini smart plug for the UK which is ZHA and should work, but it’s outrageously expensive at over 60 pounds and you can only buy it as a sample from them, no returns. So I’m not happy with that, but I mention it just for completeness:

So right now, I don’t really have a good answer to this question. You could try the hive and let us know if it works since Amazon should have a decent returns policy if it doesn’t.

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@JDRoberts thank you ever so much for your reply.

I’ll check out the Hive Active Plug, but it’ll only help, if there is a EU version for it, since I live in Tenerife.

[Edit] Nope! No such luck. No EU version. :confused:

Would you know of any way to get the OSRAM plugs working?

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The hive is only manufactured for the UK, I don’t know if that fits your sockets.

I haven’t heard on the Osram, did you try just switching it to the generic zigbe plug type? Assuming it paired, of course.

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Which specific plug format do you need?

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It doesn’t pair. It doesn’t find anything. :confused:

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Yeah, the nice thing about the Orvibo relay was that you wired it into the mains, so the socket format didn’t matter. But they don’t seem to be making it anymore.

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I need the EU socket. Like this:

https://goo.gl/zn2GSR

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There are two that look like that, C and F. But probably F.

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On the Osram, unfortunately it is not going to work with SmartThings. A few people have it working as an on/off switch, but it is not a reliable repeater. See the following discussion:

1 Like
18

Read the thread I just linked to. The outlet won’t. There are some complicated technical reasons for why it won’t, but it won’t act as a repeater, which is what the OP is looking for.

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There are a few resellers in the US who are still selling the Orvibo zigbee relay through Amazon in the US, I don’t know if that helps any. It’s also really expensive in their listings. :disappointed_relieved:

https://www.amazon.com/Bazaar-Multi-functional-Household-Appliances-Control/dp/B071RJNG3J

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Gewiss makes one, but I don’t know where to buy it

So check with them, and also check with Develco to see if they are selling samples of the socket type you need.

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@anon36505037 - Yeah, I know that many OSRAM products work with ST (I have the LED bulbs and the strips). That’s why I assumed that the plugs will work as well. I assumed wrong. :neutral_face:

@JDRoberts - I’ll look into the Gewiss and Develco plugs. Maybe I can get them in Germany. Thx, mate! :+1::wink:

When I go into the ST app and go to Add devices manually > Lights & switches > Outlets a list of manufacturers comes up. Can I assume that they’re all ST compatible or will I have issues again, because the hub is UK and the plugs will be EU?

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The UK and the EU use the same frequencies, so you should be fine. even if the socket type is different, the radio will be the same.

23

Hey Jens,

Could you solve your problem yet?
The Develco and Gewiss plugs look almost identical to me.
Develco is a white label manufacturer, so quite possibly the Gewiss is just a branded version of it.
Their specs look pretty much the same, too.

What I would look out for is the actual Zigbee protocol.
Osram uses Zigbee Light Link (ZLL), so AFAIK it will only act as a repeater for ZLL signals.
The Develco/Gewiss supposedly uses Zigbee Home Automation (ZHA), and in theory should work as a repeater for those signals.
I don’t own any of those so I cannot confirm.

I found this extender which looks perfect on paper:
http://www.zigbee.org/zigbee-products-2/#zigbeecertifiedproducts/productdetails3/5956db4a74976473cd7f5609/
However, I can only find the US version in the shops:
https://www.mouser.de/new/cel/cel-cortet-z10-range-extender/
But should work with an adapter, as it accepts up to 240V.
Haven’t tried either though.

I’m happy to hear about any other alternatives!