Free SmartThings V2 (2015) Hub

Devices & Integrations Deals
1

Hello All,

We have a brand new, factory sealed SmartThings V2 hub that we’d like to give away if someone could find a use for it?

We purchased this new as we were going to test it out, but decided to not use the SmartThings platform. So it sat on our inventory shelves all this time. We’re cleaning out the shelving and will happily give this to the first person that wants it - just pay shipping.

Perhaps it’s too old to be useful? Quickly browsing this forum and google, it appears that it still works.

Let me know if you want it, otherwise it’s headed for e-waste recycling.

Cheers,
Ethan
The WiFi Guys.

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2

I could really use it as my v2 seems to be on its last leg. What’s the catch?

I sent you a DM.

3

Model number? (It should be on a label on the underside of the hub or on the box).

It matters because zwave varies from region to region, so a hub intended for sale in the UK could not be used with zwave devices for the US and vice versa.

4

Out of curiousity - when did you purchase the hub? If you purchased it before 2018 then it is a brick and no one can use it. :slight_smile: There was a firmware update that changed the server addresses the hub will contact when it boots up. If it did not get that update, there is no way to update at this point as the old servers are no longer available.

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5

Is this a 100% certainty? Can anyone else corroborate this? If true, then I don’t want anyone to spend money on shipping for a brick.

It was purchased in late 2015, and is factory sealed… it’s definitely never been updated.

6

You can reach out to ST support. Hopefully they will be able to give you a definitive answer. But we have seen this before and always the same ending. There is no avenue for the hub to communicate with ST to update to a working hub.

here is the same issue in May: https://community.smartthings.com/t/help-with-setup-smartthings-v2/281707/16

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7

Well, I guess it might be possible to redirect network traffic from an old update server address to a new one using local network hardware, but it requires some technical steps and understanding of networking concepts. This is a really tall order, though. Here’s a general outline I found of how one could achieve this:

  1. Identify the Old and New Server Addresses: You need to find the IP addresses or domain names of the old and new update servers. This information might be available in SmartThings support documentation or forums.

  2. Set Up a Local DNS Server: Use a local DNS server to resolve the old server address to the new one. This can be done with software like Pi-hole, dnsmasq, or similar.

  3. Modify DNS Configuration: Configure your local DNS server to redirect requests from the old update server address to the new update server address.

  4. Connect the Hub to Your Network: Ensure that the SmartThings hub is connected to your local network and that it uses the local DNS server you’ve set up.

Here’s a step-by-step outline of the process:

Step 1: Identify Server Addresses

You need to determine the old update server address and the new one. This information might be found in SmartThings documentation or by contacting SmartThings support.

Step 2: Set Up a Local DNS Server

  1. Pi-hole Installation (Example):

    • Install Pi-hole on a Raspberry Pi or any other Linux machine.
    • During setup, Pi-hole will ask about upstream DNS providers; you can choose any, as you will add custom DNS records later.

  2. dnsmasq Installation (Example):

    • Install dnsmasq on a Linux machine.
    • Configure dnsmasq by editing its configuration file (usually located at /etc/dnsmasq.conf).

Step 3: Modify DNS Configuration

  1. Add Custom DNS Record:

    • For Pi-hole:
      • Go to the Pi-hole admin interface.
      • Navigate to “Local DNS Records.”
      • Add a record that maps the old server address to the new server address.
    • For dnsmasq:
      • Add a line in the configuration file: address=/oldserver.com/newserver.com.

  2. Restart DNS Server:

    • Restart the DNS server to apply changes. For Pi-hole, you can do this via the admin interface. For dnsmasq, you can use a command like sudo systemctl restart dnsmasq.

Step 4: Connect the Hub

  1. Set Hub to Use Local DNS:

    • Ensure your SmartThings hub is connected to your network.
    • Configure your router to use the local DNS server (Pi-hole or dnsmasq) as the primary DNS server.

  2. Power on the Hub:

    • Turn on the SmartThings hub and let it connect to the network.
    • The hub should now attempt to connect to the old update server address, which will be redirected to the new update server address by your local DNS server.

If all goes well, the hub should receive the update from the new server location. If you encounter issues, you might need to review the DNS logs on your local server to troubleshoot the connection attempts.

This all assumes SmartThings support is willing to share the old update server and new update server addresses.

Not really worth the trouble for me, and probably not something most people can handle.

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8

It might also be different by region, which again brings us back to the first rule of home automation: “The model number matters.” :wink:

9

He let me know separately that it’s the North American (US) model. There’s no model number on the box, and he preferred to keep it factory sealed if he was going to give it away. He bought it in 2015, so definitely the old “brick” version. E-waste headed to the landfill/recycler. :disappointed:

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10

Apologies for the delay in responding; I had hit the daily maximum post/replies as a newbie. I was forced to wait 20 hours before permitted to reply.

Sincere thanks to jkp for catching the pre-2018 issue. I would have felt terrible if we had shipped this - even as a freebie.

Seems like a great community here… wishing you all the best through the summer and beyond.

Cheers,
E

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