I agree, there are multiple possible explanations, some good from the customers perspective and some bad, and no real way to tell right now. I would also feel concerned at this moment. 
1 Like
For those wondering if the new ADT command system announced at CES would compete directly against the current ADT/SmartThings offering, HomeAlarmReport.com has an in-depth look at the new system which makes it clear that it’s not a DIY competitor. There’s no self monitoring option and it’s much more expensive. Plus you have to sign a three-year contract. That said, it’s going to look good to a lot of people whose primary interest is monitored security.
So does having this mean ADT will think they don’t need to have a smartthings partnership for a DIY offering? That is, are they going to drop the whole idea of a DIY offering? No way to tell yet, but I am a little concerned that the Command panel has so many more features than the one offered through smartthings.
1 Like
OK, this looks like a completely different direction for ADT, and could mean the end of the ST line :
Is SmartThings ADT dead? (February 2019) (Lifeshield Acquisition)
With these changes it’s actually somewhat doubtful I’m going to want to get involved with smart things. Unless Samsung comes up with a way to provide monitored service for the ADT smart things devices I’m pretty sure I’m going to be looking elsewhere to replace Iris.
I believe they still offer Scout monitoring via Smart Home Monitor in the Classic app.
Scout is much more limited, though. No cellular connection, no smoke detector monitoring, no battery backup operations with the newest hubs.
Its hard to convince anyone to make an investment when you can only do it from their classic app which is going away…
3 Likes
I’m in the exact same boat with BigHoss: Left out in the cold with Iris. I think a lot of Iris users, myself included, took a lot of their service for granted. Iris had a lot of functionality all rolled together into a seamless package with a decent app. Easy to use & understand.
I migrated almost all of my devices to ST, and then started thinking about monitoring. I called ADT, and asked about integration with Smartthings. They had no idea what I was talking about! About 4 back & forth calls later, they finally put me in touch with some local guy who said the ADT/Smartthings package was being used on the east coast, but hardly at all on the west coast. ADT is expensive for what they do: receive notification from an event, call me first, and then call the cops, depending on the event. When I has ADT about 6 years ago, they were charging about $60/month for my Pulse system.
First question(s), and correct me if I’m wrong: the ADT “panel/keypad” is actually a Smartthings hub? Is it the same as the v3 hub? I haven’t seen any comparisons between the two. If I go with ADT, does that render my v3 hub useless (I guess there’s always Craigslist)?
Secondly, is there any reason why ADT/Smartthings wouldn’t work with my Arlo Pro 2 cameras?
Please read this FAQ from the top. The answers to these questions are in the first five posts.
Not specifically. I’ve read & reread the post several times. I’m looking for a concise list of differences between the v3 ST hub and the ADT hub. Your very first post (14d) comes close, but doesn’t specifically address the differences between the two. However, it does appear that the biggest difference is that if you want professional monitoring, the ADT hub has the integraded touchscreen that functions like the traditional keypad, it also means that I’ll have to change out all of my Iris door/window sensors for the ADT type, which appear to NOT be Zigbee or Z-Wave, but something else. Others have panels/keypads, but ADT seems to be the biggest name in the security industry, and as far as I can tell, the only company that’s not “afraid” of ST!
And ADT can’t tell me the differences (aside from the obvious difference of the display), either. Heck, the ADT rep I’ve been working with can’t adequately tell you the difference between Z-Wave and Zigbee, beyond that they’re mesh networks! I don’t expect him to be an expert, but I have requested (numerous times) for somebody at ADT to put me in touch with someone who has technical expertise. So far, nothing. Kind of like calling Microsoft Tech Support: I want to speak to someone who has more knowledge of the product than I do. Usually, I get someone who’s just reading a script!
Folks,
I think at this point, at least for me, I need someone “official” from Samsung, or ADT to come on here and state in writing that the Samsung Smartthings / ADT Smartthings is a worthy investment that it will be there for us when we need it down the road, not just this year, or even next, but for at least the next 5 years or so.
There is no sense in my spending a penny of my money on a system that may just be phasing out in short order like Iris did. If Samsung doesn’t care to be bothered with maintaining backwards compatibility with their own stuff, why should I sink money in with them? This isn’t a tablet, or smart phone that you replace every 2 years or so, this is part of the home systems, which on average get replaced or at least upgraded somewhat every 10 - 15 years or so…
This whole home security / automation space reminds me of the home / personal computer industry of the early 1980s, where we had TI99s, Timex Sinclairs, Atari 800s, Commodore 64s, Apple II, IBM PC AT, Tandy TRS-80 etc… And none of it talked with each other at all well. I couldn’t do my homework on my Atari 800xl and expect my teachers Apple IIc to be able to read the files I created. By the late 1980s the industry more or less standardized on the x86 platform, data formats, ASCII etc… were commonplace, and the computers of that era did a much better job talking with each other.
Nowadays nobody gives much thought about sharing files from their Mac to their colleagues on PC, or Linux, or even Android or IOS tablets… It just works… For the most part…
There really needs to be some firmer set standards that all vendors should (must) comply with, including backards compatibility, talking to each others hardware (I.E. a Dell PC can use an HP printer even though Dell makes and markets printers).
I think until such time as the industry standardizes, and allows the best innovators, and producers of quality hardware and systems at the most competitive prices rise to the top, we are going to see a bevy of failures, and ticked off consumers left in their wake.
With these issues of constant change, lack of backards compatibility, and lack of standards compliance, or even lack of existing standards, I am seriously giving second thoughts to investing in the automation side of things, and simply like I said, going with security / home monitoring, which does not leave Smartthings looking all that good by comparison to the competition…
I would also appreciate an official statement, but judging from the past, I just don’t think we’re going to get one.
Just look at the people who bought the new smartthings-branded button Just a few months ago because it was literally the only device other than a smart phone That could arm or disarm smart home monitor with the V3 or V2 hub through the new app and they wanted either a panic button or maybe a disarm button for a dog walker—and then that capability was removed about a month later. And it doesn’t appear to be coming back, there have been several app updates since then, including the big new one, and the capability is still missing. 
There was never any official explanation on that, nor an apology for changing the features of a brand new device very soon after the return period ended.
My guess is that most of the employees who do occasionally participate in this forum, who are on the smartthings development team, have no idea what the business decisions will be at the Samsung corporate level. And wouldn’t be authorized to discuss them publicly if they did know. 
The only way I know of to ever get an official response at this point is to ask publicly on Facebook or Twitter and then you should at least get an official response from marketing.
3 Likes
This does not speak well for Smartthings. A pity too. On a feature for feature comparison, I really do like smartthings, but I am VERY leery of buying into an unstable platform.
It’s the presence of these additional products to the lineups from the respective partner businesses, and their relative silence on what the plans for the product lines moving forward, combined with flaky availability of the various products gives plenty of pause to potential buyers, which will hurt the bottom line of the products, which of course feeds into the problems and likely business failure of the platform.
It more or less boils down to incompetent management mishandling the PR and misunderstanding the optics of their corporate actions.
Don’t get me wrong, I want to be comfortable with Smartthings, but how can I be?
I just got off the phone with Samsung / ADT Smartthings support. According to what they told me, ADT Smartthings is not going away anytime soon. The aquisitions are additions to ADTs portfolio, and the Samsung / Smartthings partnership, while not performing as well as they had hoped, is an important part of their portfolio.
I suspect ADT isn’t thrilled with the number of folks that have bought the ADT Smarttthings branded equipment, but have opted for self monitoring. I somewhat seriously doubt they are making much from the initial sale of the hardware…
I did advise the telephone rep to let their higher ups know there needs to be a stronger presence on forums like this, and facebook etc… allaying peoples concerns over these issues…
Time will tell… And at least with local / self monitoring it looks like at least the system won’t just stop working entirely like the Iris cloud based solution will…
It should be noted that a sour taste left in consumers mouths by Samsung misstepping something like this, could sour and brand loyalty they may enjoy with consumers…
2 Likes
Doesn’t really matter right? I mean, you can’t even find the stupid thing in stores anymore… can’t improve sales of something you don’t sell
1 Like
Not sure what stores had it before. I can find it on Amazon no problem. B&H Photo Video same thing, plenty in stock. My local Lowes has 5 in stock of the starter kit. Only place I know of that is low, or out of stock is Best Buy, and I rarely, if ever do business with them.
Admittedly the $4.99 price on the door and window sensors was REALLY appealing, but not shocking they are out of stock at that price right?
Plenty of other outlets have them for decent prices.
Not saying go, or no go. Use your own priorities to make your decisions.
I doubt that “Support” has any real insight into Samsung or ADT’s strategy. They may have been given a script, or are speculating.
When a company officially discontinues a product, they do so with a single official announcement; not by leaks. Absent an official announcement one way or the other Consumers need to read between the lines and decide if ADT appears to be a strategic part of the SmartThings family… or not.
Was there ever an official announcement for the Connect Home mesh WiFi?
2 Likes