This has been discussed a lot. I know the answer is frustrating but it is important.
The SmartThings zwave controller in the hub is certified at the “basic” level. That means it can pair with any certified zwave device and send it an on/off command.
Above that functionality There are different zwave “Command sets” and SmartThings does not implement all of them. Some devices will use some. Some devices will use others.
So while it is true that you can pair the GE “remote” to SmartThings, it is not necessarily true that you can get full functionality from them as the manufacturer intended. In particular, SmartThings may not receive individual button presses from a multibutton device.
This is true of the GE remotes whether they are handheld or in the Wall mount format. SmartThings will not see the individual button presses.
Because the GE remotes do use scene replication, it is possible to set them up with a different controller. Which is why people who already have these devices working with Vera or some other controllers can sometimes bring them over to a SmartThings installation and use them to control their other existing Z wave switches.
This tends to completely confuse everybody and a lot of the thread discussions are people trying to figure out why they do exactly the same thing as somebody else but the device doesn’t work for them. And the difference almost always comes down to the person that it does work for initially set the remote up with a different controller. The person that it doesn’t work for brought a brand-new device and tried to set it up with SmartThings.
So…does it “work” was SmartThings? It’s possible to set it up so that a button press on the wall switch will cause a Z wave light in the same room to go on or off. But the hub won’t know that happened. And you won’t be able to have the button change mode or run a routine like you can with devices that can communicate button presses to the hub and consequently can turn a zigbee light on and off or a Wi-Fi light or run a routine.
Does that level of “work” meet your use case? Only you can say that.
Would I buy a brand-new GE remote to use with a SmartThings installation? No. Way too limited in what you can make it do. But there are people who might find it useful. And if you already have one, it might not be worth replacing.
(Note also that all of the previous only applies to GE devices that are called “remotes”. The ones that are just plain wall switches work fine. )
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