Frankly, I have about had it

Interesting that I don’t see any radio spectrum analysis before all the ST pointing. Maybe you are one of the unfortunates who suffers from strong RF interference; most platforms will succumb to this.
Just a suggestion :slight_smile:

[quote=“daven, post:21, topic:84056, full:true”]Interesting that I don’t see any radio spectrum analysis before all the ST pointing. Maybe you are one of the unfortunates who suffers from strong RF interference; most platforms will succumb to this.
Just a suggestion :)[/quote]

In defense of Laura, “radio spectrum analysis” is NOT a part of the day of any ordinary person. If an ST installation requires a radio spectrum analysis, then an ST install is, by definition, NOT a consumer process.

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She didn’t say it sucked. She’s just annoyed and wants possibly try something else. I’m annoyed with the system but still like to use it. Nothing wrong with a little criticism. Is it not jystified in some cases?

[quote=“rontalley, post:8, topic:84056, full:true”]
Don’t get me wrong, I said that I understood the OP’s frustration. I truly do. However, as the tech gets better, the product will get better. [/quote]
Good grief, that is so not true! I’ve been on ST V2 for over 18 months, and it’s no better than in the beginning. Heck, I’m on the forum right now because of an outage. My app was saying my hub was offline… but all my connections were fine and I could ping it. I also, on a whim, tried a support chat. Turns out they’re sending out a firmware update that takes the hub offline.

Now, assume for the moment that you’re a professional and you care about users, at least a little bit. Assume, further, that the app-in-question, by definition, connects to a cloud service - that is, servers that know what’s going on. Further assume, and I realize I’m asking a lot from fan-boys, but join me for this little leap… further assume that the hub also connects to the same cloud services, and in fact probably receives the firmware update from one rather than having surreptitiously sneaked in a covert USB stick via ninja-courier. (Yeah, I know the ninja courier is cooler, and perhaps more likely, but let’s assume these hubs talk to SmartThings to get SmartThings updates.)

Having assumed all this, wouldn’t a rational developer send a status note to any connecting apps that their hub is offline only when it is offline, and that it is “Updating…” when it is receiving said firmware update and unable to process requests?

This isn’t a better “tech” issue; this is asking them to corral their misanthropistic user-antagonistic instincts.

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They did sent out an email yesterday regarding the update today. They stated that hubs would be offline for up to an hour.

Not entirely helpful, in that I didn’t read it (or possibly didn’t receive it), but I did receive an utterly inaccurate message from the app. To whit, the hub was clearly online or it couldn’t have been pinged nor be receiving an update.

Are you defending their app not knowing through their cloud the status of their hubs receiving their firmware update?

Technolgy doubles every 18 months. True
It is my opinion that if I stay with ST, I believe that some of the bugs will be worked out. Maybe it’s unrealistic for everyone to share the same sentiments.

I was more than anything agreeing that the ST platform “requires” a more “hands-on” approach.

I understand the frustration. However, Im willing to deal with the headaches because the good, IMHO, far exceeds the bad.

It is kinda rough at times though but not enough for me to jump ship.

I’m not defending them but they did send out an email saying hubs would be down during the update. Failure to read the email is not their fault.

tpip, you are defending them. Their app did not say, “Hub is receiving an update and cannot response.” It inaccurately stated, “Hub is offline.” And yet it’s their hub receiving from their services that are also communicating to their app.

It really is their fault. The app is giving a false status.

You did not read the email. Simple as that. In today’s society people always want to lay blame elsewhere instead of their own actions or lack thereof. Most of their emails I delete right away but update emails I read so I will know when to expect the hub to be offline.

Actually, the app’s status report was correct. The app knew that the update was coming (which you were notified of via email) but, once the download of the update was complete and the install begun, the app had no way of knowing how long the hub would be out of contact (i.e. offline) and if it was offline due to the update process, or some other incident that happened during that process. Better for it to say “offline” and have you check, that have it say “updating” and have you assume everything is going fine, if slowly, when, in reality, someone pulled the power cord in the middle of the update.

tpip, it’s true that I didn’t read the email, but it’s also true that the status should be in the app, at least instead of an inaccurate one. I did read the status that was provided in the app… and it was wrong. Not sure why you’re so busy defending them that you can’t grasp this simple detail… the app status should supercede an email status.

No, the app’s status was not correct. I would hope that the “armed programmer” would automatically have instead coded up…

void onHubEnteringUpdate(GUID hub) {
setHubStatus(hub, STATUS_UPDATINGFIRMWARE);
}

void onAppConnect(AppConnection app) {
GUID hub = getHubForAccount(app.getAccount());
if (hub.getStatus() == STATUS_UPDATINGFIRMWARE) {
app.sendNotice(STATUS_UPDATINGFIRMWARE);
} else if (hub.getStatus() == STATUS_OFFLINE) {
app.sendNotice(STATUS_OFFLINE);
}
}

And similar code for other status changes. Since they know the hub is starting firmware update, they should set the hub status accordingly.

Don’t forget the hub must have a loader running anyhow, and it was still responding to pings, so it wouldn’t be hard to have a keep-alive message to them so they’d know with great certainty when the hub was updating vs having gone offline during an update.

one would expect that samsung’s own sensors work perfectly with their hub

but tons of people are having problems (disconnects, battery drain, needs constant reset, etc)

it’s the whole reason why “health” was developed, because prior to that we only had IDE to check devices (or by chance when we experience their malfunction)

samsung needs to step up their game as this ecosystem is far from user friendly… i would NOT set this up for my parents

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As much as I may bash Samsung, and it is entirely deserved, on this you are off base. From a functional perspective, the hub was indeed offline… and had you read the email, you would have comprehended that. While the hub is receiving an update, it cannot do with the various devices what it usually does with them.

I’m not understanding the perspective, Glen, that says that even though THEY took it offline, they couldn’t have known WHY it was offline and provide a more accurate message. “Off-base” is in the eye of the beholder. Try looking at this as either an actual programmer or as a consumer, and it won’t seem so off-base. As a fan-boy, sure, but that’s a limited market.

If the one sensor that fails is a smoke detector and your house burns to the ground, then yes, the whole system sucks. If the one sensor that fails is the one that should have notified you that a pipe has burst in your basement, then yes, the whole system sucks. If one thing goes wrong every single day (which it does for me) and you have to take time from your day to fix it, then yes, the whole system sucks.

SmartThings is unreliable, inconsistent, and it does not work as advertised. If they stated on the box, “Guaranteed to work 63% of the time,” I’d blame myself for making the investment I’ve made. It didn’t say that on the box. My “emotional reactivity” is based on frustration, a feeling that my home and family have been left vulnerable even though I bought ST to ensure they weren’t, and the fact that after TWO YEARS the solution is still not working while ST continues to roll out devices, partnerships, and empty promises. And nowhere on the box did is mention “sweat equity” was required but not included. So, yeah, the whole system sucks.

2 Likes

I dunno, maybe it’s because I’m NOT a fanboi that I have a different perspective. Unlike fanbois, I’m not expecting ST, at less than a hundred bucks, to be the be-all and end-all of home automation perfection. I use Alexa for most of my in-the-moment home controls, and I use Tasker for many of my automations. So after some early issues, I’ve experienced a system that works as I would expect and hope. My sensors are all reliable, my automations are all working correctly, I read the emails the past couple times ST sent hub updates so I knew what to expect.

If you have new sensors that aren’t working, contact ST. If they refuse to assist then definitely bash away; lord knows Samsung’s customer service generally svcks. And I agree wholeheartedly that ST is not quite a plug-and-play thing that any housewife can set up in 15 minutes. But manage your own expectations in adult fashion. One defective sensor is one defective sensor; it is not a broken system. One need not be a fanboi to grasp that; only need be a rational adult. There is a responsibility on the part of the ST consumer to regularly test his components, and to replace any that are not functional.

But again, I’m no fanboi. I’m not here to persuade you to keep ST if this system is beyond your scope and abilities, and I agree that Samsung’s marketing could be considered ‘optimistic’ if not downright dishonest and deceptive. By all means, if it’s not working in your life you need to eliminate it from your life. But when ST have been diligent about sending emails alerting us that there will be downtime and why, it’s frankly dishonest of you to slag them for a failure that is wholly on your own shoulders.

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By the sounds of the forum, I am the only one who’s ST has been running without issue for months (aside from having to re-authorize my Honeywell thermostat, which is actually a useless integration anyways)? The only time I ever have to do anything with ST is when I am adding something, which recently was 3 Zooz switches, and they were added in maybe 5 minutes.

Maybe I’m not asking much of it, with like 10 plugs, probably 15 lights, 4 switches, 10 water sensors, and 4 door sensors, but once I set things up, I don’t have to touch it ever.

However, I also only have 4 apps installed; one I created, the Alexa one, Honeywell (this one is pointless), and one for monitoring batteries/reporting status (which should be built in; I mean honestly).

Maybe I just have realistic expectations for a hub I got for free with a promotional kit, but it seems pretty good to me.

1 Like

It is a smartthings sensor, just like the one it replaced on a door. I had ordered the zooz one to try since the other one failed at the same time I ordered the replacement st one that now also says unavailable. Sent the zooz back since it never would connect at all. Interestingly, I put battery back into the first one that failed and it reconnected itself. placed it about half the distance away and it is still working today. So, how can I have 3 of the same sensors within 30 feet of the hub and the one of the 3 that is closest fails twice? What is it about that door that makes the sensors on it not work?