How do I resize my geofence?

[jennifer_e_king (Jennifer King)]

I’m using a Google Nexus 4 phone. I go to “tap to edit your home location on the map” and the map appears with a red circle about 8 blocks in diameter. I’m in a densely populated area, so I’d like to reduce the size of my geofence. When I click on the black dot at the bottom of the circle, I get a message that says, “Geofence Drag handle to resize geofence.” Is there some secret to dragging it? Because touching and holding the black dot and then sliding my finger simple zooms in on the map or zooms out – but the geofence remains the same size. Is there an alternate way to do this via computer desktop?

Thanks.

[JDRoberts]

@jennifer_e_king

I’m using a Google Nexus 4 phone. I go to “tap to edit your home location on the map” and the map appears with a red circle about 8 blocks in diameter. I’m in a densely populated area, so I’d like to reduce the size of my geofence. When I click on the black dot at the bottom of the circle, I get a message that says, “Geofence Drag handle to resize geofence.” Is there some secret to dragging it? Because touching and holding the black dot and then sliding my finger simple zooms in on the map or zooms out – but the geofence remains the same size. Is there an alternate way to do this via computer desktop?

Thanks.

You can ask support@smartthings.com, but you are probably already at the minimum geo-fence size for a cellphone, which is 500 feet radius.

The other alternative is the zigbee presence fob which is sold by smartthings and has a range of about 50 feet maximum, extendable to around 100 feet if you use a repeater.

These work great for some people, while others have problems with them. But it is another option to try if you want to narrow the range.

SmartThings Presence Sensor Device--Working Well for Anyone?

Continuing the discussion from Introduce Yourself!: @camanokid , Welcome to the forums! I pulled out the presence sensor question because I’m sure it will generate a lot of comments. One my favorite sayings is “all home automation is local.” Which means what works at my house might not work at yours and certainly what I would like to see work at my house might not be what you would like to see work at yours. The smart things Zigbee presence sensor works very well for some people, not at all for others, and somewhere in the middle for still others. It’s using a different technology than a phone presence sensor, which can be good or bad depending on the exact set up at your house. RANGE: 500 FEET MINIMUM OR 50 FEET MAXIMUM? The most obvious difference, is range. Because the ph…

[kurtsanders]

I too, wish that the ST geofence was smaller, but agree that the cellular technologies, do not allow. The ST fob can deliver a smaller geofence, as tested when we give it to our neighbors when they watch our house, as opposed to when we go over to their home and ST reports that we never left our home.

I am hoping that the ST Presense configuration options will expand in the future to include detection of wireless AP SSID’s and Bluetooth connectivity. This could help when you are in the car, or at a close neighbors home, etc.

[JDRoberts]

@kurtsanders

I too, wish that the ST geofence was smaller, but agree that the cellular technologies, do not allow. The ST fob can deliver a smaller geofence, as tested when we give it to our neighbors when they watch our house, as opposed to when we go over to their home and ST reports that we never left our home.

I am hoping that the ST Presense configuration options will expand in the future to include detection of wireless AP SSID’s and Bluetooth connectivity. This could help when you are in the car, or at a close neighbors home, etc.

Agreed–microlocation technologies would be great. I initially had a lot of problems because I am in a wheelchair and it can take the bus driver several minutes to unload me from the bus, causing my arrival activities to occur too soon because ST thought I was already home.

Using an idea from another community member, I combined geopresence with another sensor to shrink my geopresence zone down to a few feet. Works quite well for my situation, certainly better than I had before.

A dual device approach to geopresence for smaller areas (sequential detection)

Okay the last couple days it’s been working very well, and it is really nice to have when it is working. So as long as I treat it as a convenience, meaning I always have to have a Plan B available, I like it. Here’s how I have it set up. Everything is done with hello home actions. There is no custom code except for the creation of one virtual switch. And I’m using that switch for some other things in IFTTT, not for the actual arrival events in smartthings. You could leave the virtual switch out, and still get the improvements regarding network drop offs. I usually wear my hat when I go out, so I leave my hat In the cupboard with a motion sensor under it. When I’m ready to go I pick up the hat which triggers the motion sensor. This sets the mode to “JD Leaving.” This motion sensor is onl…

[simoami]

I’m also having the same issue. I live in NY and every evening, while looking for parking around my apt, I get multiple notifications of arriving and leaving as I circle around the nearby streets, even at 3 blocks aways.

To illustrate the problem, see the block density here in NY:
http://www.mapdevelopers.com/draw-circle-tool.php?circles=[[153.3%2C40.7622366%2C-73.9241169%2C"%23AAAAAA"%2C"%23000000"%2C0.4]]

Sometimes I take the nearby train, and while passing by, it again notifies me of arriving home.

I reached out to support@smartthings.com and did not get any response from them. Not even to acknowledge reception of my request.

I really do not understand why it’s an issue to lower the minimum radius.