I have struggled for 2 years to make the HoneyWell Tuxedo touch Z-wave controller (and security system panel) to work nice with dozens of different z-wave devices. It has become clear that is useless, so I started looking for third party z-wave controllers that could manage the HW Tux Touch when enrolled as a secondary controller. Has anyone successfully done this? OR if you tried and KABOOM, could you please give me a heads-up.
Hi Mark, did you ever figure out a solution to make the Tuxedo Touch a secondary controller?
Do it the other way around. Make the Smartthings hub a secondary controller. On the Tuxedo go to the Z-Wave menu. Push add Z-Wave device. Go to the Smartthings app, Locations, press the gear icon, then select your hub, then select Z-Wave utilities, then select Include/Exclude hub in existing Z-Wave network.
I have been able to do this, however cannot see any of my ZWave devices from my Tuexedo on my SmartThings app. When first I added the SmartThings Hub to the Tuxedo it did show not on a secure network? When I scanned this changed but still cannot see anything from my Tuxedo on my SmartThings hub.
I read that if you make the ST hub the primary and the tuxedo secondary it will work. I haven’t had a chance to try this but would like to know how to know if it works and how to actually set it up.
Issue is the Tuxedo will not allow connectivity to Total connect if used as
a secondary controller…
Does it still work locally for scenes? Have you tried using the web interface that is built in and by pass total connect?
No, I would not bypass total connect as this is vital. All I am really
interested in doing at this point is to be able to integrate the Z-Wave
lighting and accessories. Not too concerned about alarm functions and
would rather keep those separate…
I have used the web service, it looks like you are looking at your tuxedo screen. It actually works better than the TC app as you are accessing it directly. I’m talking with someone about this that seems to know a great deal about the system. I will let you know what they say.
Thanks a lot in advance. I am an alarm dealer and would love to be able to integrate Smart Things, but need to be cautious when added something foreign into alarm control as this could have devastating effects if it does not work correctly.
My preference is to have the Tuxedo as primary, and ST as secondary controller. In all reality I am concerned more about lighting and Z-Wave accessories and would like to be able to control. Tuxedo works pretty well overall for these purposes, with scenes, etc but would like to be able to have additional features that the ST can provide…
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Anyone that may run across this in 2020… You have to use the Smartthings Classic app to connect the Smartthings hub to your Tuxedo. It just won’t connect if you use the new app.
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Can you describe how you use your Tuxedo with ST? How does Tux see ST devices, or does it not? What advantages are there with ST.
I’m looking at zwave shade motors and want to keep them on Tux, but may need another option. ST maybe it. Thanks
ST connects as a secondary hub. The advantage to this is ST integrates with many other things like Google or Alexa for instance while Tuxedo does not. Functionally you’ll be able to control everything through both Tuxedo and ST(and whatever you integrate ST into). The 1 drawback is Tuxedo has to be the primary device so any Zwave you add through Tuxedo you have to do a full refresh on ST for ST to see it which essentially puts you back at square one where you have to set everything back up in ST, it can’t simply pull in the new device.
At this point the ONLY reason I’ve left Tuxedo in the mix is in the event we ever move I want to leave with ST while being able to leave the automation functioning through Tuxedo as a perk to any potential buyer. Personally I despise anything that requires a subscription to utilize it so I’m not a big fan of Tuxedo, obviously you can use it at the panel or backdoor into the web interface but neither is convenient, the good stuff is behind their app that requires a sub to access. The only reason we have 1 is it came with the house, it was a perk to us as buyers initially thought I didn’t know the details on the subscription at the time.
Long story short, I don’t really see any advantage to having Tuxedo WITH ST though there are many advantages to laying a ST Hub down if you have a Tuxedo. The only positive I can think of is ST doesn’t work without an active internet connection, Tuxedo is all local on device control so it never goes down. That said, without Google Home integration the Tuxedo is functionally worthless for us.
Great information.
I primarily use Tux’s web interface locally and remotely (no subscription) using zwave devices; front door lock, lighting and HVAC thermostat. Front door keypad auto disarms Tux upon entry and turns lights on while adjusting temp back to a comfortable level. I use voice to arm it occasionally, but it does lack Alexa type controlling. Tux does have a Sonos music whole house interface, but Ive chosen not to go that route since I’m not a big music junkie. Otherwise I like having the web interface commands to the Tux, but it does lack manufacture support related to current zwave compatibility products, so it then becomes a guessing game if a product works or not.
I think you’ll prefer the ST app over the web interface for Tuxedo in the event you prefer to control devices that way. There are some other things I didn’t touch on, I’m not sure if these are capabilities of Tuxedos app or not, like ST has a very easy way to set up automatic routines(for instance every night at 10pm if my front door is unlocked it locks, you can set outside lights to turn off after x minutes of being on).
ST has really opened the doors for us on home automation, much more than just turning the lights on and off with Google which is what we originally bought it for. There’s an entire homebrew side of ST as well that adds tons of functionality it doesn’t do out of the box. An example of that is the $20 MyQ WiFi garage door controller we added. MyQ integrates directly with Google but doesn’t let you open the garage with voice controls. There’s a custom app for ST though that lets you achieve that.
Circling back the only real complaint that I have with ST is its reliance on the internet to operate. I really think as a Tuxedo owner, especially without a subscription, you’ll be happy with ST for your home automation.
So I finally said screw it man. I was finally faced with having to add a new device to my Tuxedo. We had one of those GE/Jasco light switches fail so I decided to replace it with the one from our bedroom to take the opportunity to put a dimmer in our bedroom. What a nightmare.
First, the important info is using ST as a secondary hub you have to disconnect and reconnect it to Tuxedo to get any device changes. Tuxedo was happy to let it go but the ST Hub refused to recognize that it had been removed. In the end I finally just removed everything from the Tuxedo, factory reset the ST Hub and set everything back up with only the ST Hub. To its credit the setup/removal of a device is super fast and easy on the Tuxedo so if we ever move I’ll just set that back up.
We have quite a few upcoming changes to our Zwave devices anyway so I’m glad to at least know I’m not going to have to setup the ST Hub every time now just for the sake of keeping the Tuxedo we don’t use in play with the Zwave network.