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#20

Hello All!

I am a user of the technology, definitely not an innovator/coder. I have purchased the Smartthings hub and currently have 17 “things” connected, mostly lighting. I am a heavy IFTTTT user and have a few recipes that are working nicely for my needs.

I have a couple issues that I am trying to make work and really don’t know if this is the place to ask for help. If someone would be willing to steer me in the right direction for that, it would certainly be appreciated.

I’ve had the hub for about a month now and have been adding new “things” on a steady basis. I am a committed Smartthings user and am looking forward to automating as much of my life as possible. Two Roomba 770s and a Litter Robot got me started down this path of putting as much workload on technology as I can.

3 Likes
#21

Hello all-

Wow
 Just WOW
 got my first SmarrThings kit after following many reviews over the past year. I did not want to get stuck in something that would be limited to one protocol and specific to one manufacturer. The only thing that threw me off was there not being some direct guidance on setting it all up. The hub et al but under the product itself there was nothing and finally I found some short videos. “There is no way it can be that easy” I thought. Well holy cow - it IS that easy to pair a device.

I got the kit with the presence detector and had no clue that I would need it. In fact, I did not want it. I figured I would put in on the kid’s book bag. Then I realized the thing beeps via the app. Sweet
 I lose my keys all the time.

I’ve got a bunch of stuff I want to do and look forward to making my home smarter than me.

1 Like
#22

Enjoy your kit and welcome to this madhouse! :wink: Typically a newcomer here has to buy us all beer.

3 Likes
#23

Hi,

I’ve been into automation for around 15-20 years now, ever since dad picked up some of the first x10 stuff at CES back in the day for use in studios. Family home was x10, my first house after moving out was x10/insteon, current home is all Z-wave. In college I used to install Elk, Elan, Crestron, Control4, ect, whatever the client wanted so I’m pretty familiar with most variations of HA. Currently my day gig is a database admin at a local medical center and transplant preservationist.

Current house so far has an eclectic assortment of gear.
Elk M1g- alarm /access control
Abloy locks- physical security
Synology NAS- security cam / Plex storage.
Nests- thermostats
Sonos- whole house audio
AppleTVs- front end for video via Plex, HBOnow, Netflix, MLB.tv
Ubiquity router- internet
Smartthings- soon to automate the pool, theater, drapes, ect and hopefully eventually tie the rest of it all together.

Glad to be here,
Erik

3 Likes
#24

Hello,

I have had my ST Hub up and running for about 5 days now. I have come from other automation protocols and control software, such as X10, in the past and moved into Z-Wave when I got a 2GIG alarm system about a year ago. I was finding the Z-Wave functionality of the 2GIG controller limiting and wanted more. Please excuse me if I mix old terms in here as I am not yet used to all of the ST lingo.

I am a technical person that installs enterprise level computer solutions. I generally stay in the virtualization realm, focused on server, desktop and application virtualization. I generally install and configure any of the supporting hardware that goes along with the environment. I do not have a background in programming but I have always been intrigued by it. I have written a few little things in Java, but only when I was forced to.

I am currently controlling different lights around the house, managing my Ecobee thermostat and trying to have it manage the Sonos system throughout the house. I have started playing with IFTTT integration and I am finding it to be a little more limited than I had hoped. I am used to the 2GIG panel having a rule that will turn on the porch light randomly within a 45 minute window of sunset. I have yet been able to duplicate that rule outside of the 2GIG controller. I suppose I can use the 2GIG controller to continue with that rule, but I would like to consolidate and not have rules spread out everywhere if possible. I am experiencing an issue with Sonos playlists and Sonos Mood Music. One example of this is I would like the lullaby playlist to start in the kids rooms when my wife pushes the “Kids to bed” button on the minimote. Currently I can only get it to work if it is already queued for that zone.

After seeing how the ST can be more pro-active than anything I have used, I don’t think I will ever be able to go back. I really like that my wife doesn’t have to remember to push any buttons or change a setting when she leaves to “shutdown” the house. I now need to become more proficient in ST.

I have been searching the Community for posts and finding all sorts of information that has helped. I am still looking for something that can maybe act as a quick start guide for someone that is used to home automation. In the past I had some very elaborate IF THEN statements created. I would like to recreate some of those, but I am a bit lost. I am also used to having software create virtual switches that could be used as a sort of variable that could be queried for actions.

Any direction is greatly appreciated. I am excited to see how technology continues to mature and the home is getting smarter.

2 Likes
#25

Try this: :blush:

3 Likes
#27

Thank you for directing me to your post. I am finding it to be a great help in the couple of minutes I looked at it. Just the idea of shaking the device while on the tile screen for labels is wonderful. It is disappointing that it is not easier to find these things out. Maybe again, I am missing something


Is there anyway to get your intro post stickied for a newb like me trying to drink from fire hose?

2 Likes
#28

@kaminskico. I am also a newbie drinking from the fire hose with a “learn from mistakes” attitude. It would be good to have a Newbie section somewhere so we can read up and learn from those more experienced ones!

#29

Each section’s faq is a great place to start!

1 Like
#30

Also : This is one of my all time favorite links :

1 Like
#31

Hello, Tim here.

Interested in adding support for GE Link bulbs to my ST hub and controlling them with MiniMote button.

#34

Hey, Tim, just wanted to make sure that you’ve gotten the specific information to do this. If not, take a look at the following overview, and if that still doesn’t help, visit the New Apps topic listed at the very end of the following post, and someone will help you there.

The one cautionary note to keep in mind is that you can assign individual devices or Hello Home Actions to a minimote button, but not Shortcut Groups. So it all depends on exactly what you want to do when.

1 Like
#35

Hello my name is Bill. I am new to home automation but, have been doing automation at work for 13 years or so. I guess I wasn’t getting enough of it at work. So, I decided to start doing it at home as well. I bought an iris and am in the middle of boxing it back up to return and ordering the smartthings product. Based on what I have read it seems this product will be more to my liking.

4 Likes
#38

Hello, I just joined this community, I was about to buy a hub and some sensors to improve security of my new home but then read about the V2 hub so I will be waiting for it in order to buy it.
Meanwhile I will install some standalone motion activated sirens.
Glad to be part of this community.

2 Likes
#39

Hello, my name is Evan and I’m just getting started with this home automation thing. I currently have a D-Link Dcs933L camera, a Chamberlain garage door opener with MyQ, a thermostat for an American Standard HVAC system with a built-in Nexia bridge and a ZWave on-off sw for my outside lights. As you can see, my devices are all over the map brand-wise and it has become difficult to find a system that will integrate them all. Wink looks like it might be the closest for what I need because it will integrate Chameelain and Zwave. Then, I came across SmartThings and it looks as thought it may be possible to integrate all but the thermostat (I know that this will have to stay with Nexia because of it’s firmware). However, I want something simple, but smartthings it seems, has to have custom code developed here in the community added to get integrations withe my D-Link and MyQ devices. This makes me a bit apprehensive esp since, despite what’s been said on these forums, those integrations will not happen on the v2 hub due to business hurdles as stated by smartthings themselves (I inquired separately). So, my question is, how easy is it to add code developed here in the coomunity to the hub?

1 Like
#40

I can code, but I don’t want to. (I’m quadriparetic.) Even cut and paste is tough. So I prefer built in solutions whenever possible.

That said, using custom code in SmartThings is easy. Various community members will write code for themselves and then offer to share it. If you see something you can use, you copy and paste it under your own account on the developer website, hit a button to publish it to yourself, and it shows up ready to use under “My SmartApps” in the official mobile app.

The problem is because these custom Smartapps aren’t officially supported by ST, at any time ST might make a backend change that breaks the custom code. So what works on Monday doesn’t always work on Tuesday. It usually all gets straightened out again eventually, but it can be frustrating.

The community is great, many talented and generous developers, but I personally have a bias towards the built in functionality because of the unpredictability.

But different people have different levels of tolerance for this kind of issue. :blush:

You’ll find the most popular community created code in the following section of the forum:

http://community.smartthings.com/c/smartapps/created-smart-apps
2 Likes
#41

Hello all,

I have been involved in IoT for a while, both hobby and professionally. However now mostly hobby. I have made a number of Arduino solutions for my home, looking to integrate into SmartThings and use off the shelf solutions.

I must say the navigating both the iOS app and the community has been more difficult that I imagined. I was looking a Casa Verde and SmartThings. Decided to go all in with SmartThings.

Cheers!

1 Like
#42

Welcome aboard! Glad you are coming to SmartThings!

#43

Hello everyone, I thought i would make my first post an introduction. I look forward to frequenting this site looking for answers to questions and possibly being able to lend a hand if i can. I started my journey into home automation with Philips Hue and since then i have been going hard core
well as much as i can on a limited budget. lol. I was looking for something to bring all the stuff i have together and decided on ST. I am having my fair share of issues but I like to try to figure stuff out and learn.

Anyways, I wish everyone the best, and Happy Automating to us all

Have a great weekend!!

Inocent3

2 Likes
#44

hello ST folks; newbie here. can’t wait to start tinkering.
community created smartapps
I saw the link above and decided that is a great place to start. thanks in advance for the welcome.

4 Likes

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