GE Link bulbs - I need a beginner How-To

This requires making a major decision. Once you pair the Hue bulbs directly to ST they can no longer (ever?) be controlled by the bridge. And there is a current known problem with uninstalling a hue bridge.

See the Hues discussions for more details.

Then talk to support@smartthings.com There are some changes in flux with Hue right now.

I would just like the GE bulbs connected to ST, but the hue bulbs to hue. It just seems like the zigbee part of ST isnā€™t well-designed.

Is there a way to connect wink to ST? Wink is much more reliable, but it lacks some functionality.

I think the ZHA (zigbee home automation) part isnā€™t bad, but the ZLL (zigbee light link) was added after Hue became popular and does still need a lot of work.

They still donā€™t have official support for all ZLL device types.

Which reminds meā€“definitely contact support to make sure you have the most current zigbee firmware, 1.5.4 . It hasnā€™t been pushed out to all ST hubs, but you need it for the GE bulbs.

It says

zigbeeChannel: 20
zigbeeFirmware: 1.5.4
zigbeeNodeID: 0000
zigbeePanID: 11DE
zigbeePowerLevel: 254

Also, it is odd that 2 GE links work just perfectly, but nothing else works.

Ok, thatā€™s the right firmware. I would definitely contact support, there have been multiple changes to Hue processing in the last few weeks.

And I agree itā€™s totally frustrating when some bulbs work and some fail when they were all working through the bridge. All I know is other people have reported some similar ST issues with other ZLL devices, whether Hue, GE, or Cree, and ST is currently working on the Hue ones.

Interestingly, the working bulbs are the 90W replacements, while the 60W replacements arenā€™t found.
Well, turns out they were just easier to reset. On/Off 6 times, and things work.

Hi Joseph,

I had a hard time pairing them as well. I finally was able to do it I had to do these two steps:

  1. Ask support to upgrade your zigbee firmware to 1.5.something.
  2. I then put smartthings into pairing mode looking for new things.
  3. I would in 2 second intervals turn on and off the ge link. After about 10 seconds it finally paired.

When I use the smartthings app on my phone it tells me that my hub is ā€œup to dateā€. When I visit the api webpage (https://graph.api.smartthings.com ), it tells me that my hub firmware is 000.013.00013 and the zigbee firmware is 1.3.1 . This thread has been going on for a bunch of months now, so why arenā€™t we getting regular roll-outs of the zigbee firmware as the main hub firmware gets updated? After this many months I would expect that the zigbee firmware required for the wink bulbs would have been rolled out to all users just as a matter of course.

Tom

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Iā€™m getting ready to install 45 ge link bulbs in my house. Has anyone else done this amount? Does it work ok? Interference problems?

Thatā€™s ambitious!

18 here working pretty well. Occasional issues, but I havenā€™t had to reset any bulbs. Just give them some time to reconnect themselves.

45 is a lot though. Any chance a couple of smart switches would work better in some places?

It should be no issue for the bulbs themselves. Many zigbee lighting installations in office buildings, hotels, etc have hundreds of bulbs. In fact one of the reasons light bulbs are typically zigbee rather than zwave is that there is a limit on a zwave network of under 250 devices while zigbee can handle thousands.

The one thing to be aware of is that zigbee mesh doesnā€™t have forced sequencing, so you canā€™t guarantee exactly which bulbs will come on first. This can lead to a ā€œpopcornā€ effect in a room with a lot of bulbs where the pattern of change takes a few seconds to propagate to all the devices. You get the most complaints about this when dimming a roomful of lights to, say, 50% as it seems to be harder for the eye to adjust to some on full some at 50% than to just some on and some off. It can take some getting used to.

However, the mesh itself gets stronger as you add more devices, you can often reduce the popcorn effect by adding a few more bulbs so there are more message paths. Sometimes you just have to experiment to get an acceptable effect.

All of that said, I donā€™t know if there are any SmartThings specific issues you might run into.

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Scott, I thought about doing switches but I figured it would be easier to just stick with the same device/platform and I was able to pick them up for $11/each. It may make more sense in some of the rooms with multiple recessed lights. I appreciate the feedback.

I would buy around 5 bulbs and test them first. I have 6 bulbs and the interference in my area is quite bad. I have to reset them quite often and itā€™s a pain.

Just a reminder: most smart bulbs, including the GE link A19s, are not intended to work in enclosed fixtures. They donā€™t dissipate heat in the same pattern as other bulbs, and the antenna will overheat.

So deep can recessed ceiling lights may call for a smart switch, not a smart bulb. But it just depends on the details.

edited to emphasize, as @sticks18 mentions below, that it depends on the specific fixture. So just something to be aware of.

This is a good reminder, but it explicitly mentions ā€œfully enclosed fixtures,ā€ which wouldnā€™t include recessed lighting unless they have some sort of cover after the bulb is inserted. It wouldnā€™t make much sense for GE to produce the PAR versions otherwise as theyā€™re primary use is recessed fixtures.

For the record, 15 of my GE Links are in recessed style fixtures. Close to 9 months now with above average usage and no issues. Itā€™s possible that the lifespan of the bulb will be compromised from not being able to dissipate heat as well, but I doubt anyone really expects to use one of these for 20+ years, especially a ā€œsmartā€ bulb since tech moves so fast.

Good point, depends on how deep the recess is.

Hello All, I just bought a SmartThings Hub v2 and for the life of me I canā€™t get these bulbs to pair with it.

Iā€™ve reset the bulbs, reset the Hub, moved the Bulb to the hub. The Hub will detect it, the bulb will flash a few times but on my mobile app it just stays at ā€œidentifyingā€.

Iā€™ve waited about 10 minutes to no avail. Itā€™s just stuck at ā€œIdentifying.ā€

If I cancel the ā€œIdentifyingā€ it just comes up as ā€œThingā€ in the App.

Iā€™m running an Android phone, stock with MM.

Iā€™m not sure what to do at this point?

If your new bulb comes up as a thing:

Are you familiar with the IDe??? https://graph.api.smartthings.com? Yes

  • Log into the ide
  • Select ā€œMy Devicesā€
  • Select the device named ā€œthingā€
  • Edit the device
  • From the Dropdown labeled ā€œTypeā€, select ā€œGE Link Bulbā€
  • Click the ā€œUpdateā€ button.

You bulb should now be correctly identified/configured. That saidā€¦ These steps should not be required as I have, in the past, added lots of GE bulbs without issue.

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@CoZ
Exact same scenario for 20+ devices with android app. When identifying appears, I hit the back button and immediately see the new device appear as (1) ā€˜connect new deviceā€™. I select that option and immediately configure the new device.

I may need to go in to the IDE for certain device types, but not GE bulbs. Try itā€¦it Iā€™ll work for you.

THAT worked. Thank you