I am on a mission to automate my house with SmartThings. I have a total of 11 GE/Jasco switches installed in my house (8 on/off; 3 dimmer). I have noticed that when I install them, it takes anywhere from “immediately” to 30 min for the app to be able to discover the new switch to add it. It’s extremely frustrating. I turn the lights on/off, let the app sit there for 15 min in “discovery” mode. So I give up, go do something else for a bit, come back try again… still nothing. Then on say the 3rd or 4th try, the switch shows up immediately upon entering the “add new device” screen.
Is there something I’m not doing or doing incorrectly? I turn of the breaker for the room, install the switch, turn the breaker on (see the blue light on the switch - so I know it’s powered), then the insanity starts.
Is there a sequence of taps or something to get the switch to do something to pair/join?
In one case that took over 30 min, the switch was in the same room (about 5 feet away) as the hub.
I noticed the same thing. It seemed completely random. One was picked up immediately, and one that I installed closer to the hub took five or six tries to add.
I have 11 of the on/off switches, 1 dimmer, and 3 outlets and they have all added pretty easily. In a few cases if the switch didn’t add immediatly the first time, i just hit the switch again (on or off doesn’t seem to matter) and it adds immediately the second time. I generally don’t wait more than 30 seconds before hitting the swtich again.
I have 16 zwave switches. I didn’t have issues with any of them. I did have issues with some older outlets they require being very close to the hub to pair though.
I wonder why @Gray and I seem to have this issue. Once they are paired, everything works great - I was just wondering if there was a trick to getting it to show up right away. I started to think that maybe the larger the mesh network, the longer it takes to “find its place.”
After I install the switches I have waiting this week I’ll have:
Once I’m confident I can depend on the system, I want to add some of the locks but I want to make sure I pick ones that are super reliable - so I’m watching the forums closely for experiences.
Yeah, I wonder too, @stevesell. I’m also getting a GE/Jasco outlet to try in a week or two. I’ll see how that goes.
I finally took the plunge and ordered two Kwikset Z-wave deadbolts. Here’s hoping those work well! Otherwise my wife might remember that I said they were totally worth $175 each because of the extra features.
Tell me about it… I now have: 14 swtiches, 10 outlets, 2 motion sensors, 5 Multis, 2 Presence, a Kwikset lever lock and a themostat.
As for the delay in getting switches to add… where are they located? Distant from the Hub during the initial pairing can make a big difference. Generally SmartThings recommends you get withing 15 feet of the Hub for initial pairing. You don’t always have to be (I just added some outlets last weekend that were 30+ feet away, and through walls and floors), but it does help.
I’ve also found that starting and stopping the pairing sequence can sort of kick start things. What I typically do is turn on pairing on my Mobile App, then click the switch on and off a bunch of times. If it does show up, I’ll end pairing, then restart pairing and click it again a bunch of times.
I’m getting ready to purchase my first two Jasco/GE switches from Lowe’s. I’m thinking of moving the hub as close to the switch as possible during the install, since my hub is not in a permanent spot for now.