Is it just me... ST just falling apart (April 2018)

General Discussion
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I’m at my wits end with Smart Things. It was working fine for months, now all of a sudden, I have 5 devices that are reporting always on, and can’t be controlled. These are devices listed certified on their site, exact part numbers that were installed.

I contacted support and get the same run around “un-join and try again” every-time I contact them, which now is 5 times this past week i’ve re-joined these devices (simple switches and dimmers), and nothing gets resolved.

So in total of maybe 20 devices… 3 switches always on, and apparently feedback from support – 3 other devices (2 switches and garage door opener) keep trying to re-join the network… but I can control and see them correctly…

I’ve had sensors that needed to be reset to mfg defaults, but ST wouldn’t do it so, I have 2 motion sensors in the garbage. I have a Samsung phone that was used for a presence sensor, was working fine at the beginning, now I get as a solution “don’t use the phone as a sensor not reliable”, but my wife has an iPhone… working 100% perfectly fine since day one, not a single issue, my samsung S7… i had to remove from the system as I was always “present”. but… in the beginning it was working.

Unfortunately, ST has no clue or roadmap for this product, they can’t even fix the fundamental core issues of this product, meanwhile they are more focused on login transfers to samsung logins and further into their ecosystem. Typical Samsung engineering incompetence.
does anyone have any recommendations for alternate solutions - I’m pretty much tired and done with ST, preferably ones that are on-site and not in a hosted environment and not controlled by multi-billion dollar clown conglomerates.

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My system of 200+ devices is working pretty good. Sounds like you have a weak z-wave mesh and need to do a z-wave repair.

I am trying out Hubitat and I’ve had a couple of hiccups but overall it’s been pretty reliable. Rule Machine is nowhere near as flexible as webCoRE but it works.

ST has a lot to offer and for me to move to another system like Hubitat, I would lose too much.

Good Luck.

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Why haven’t you installed WebCORE and tried it?

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Yeah, I’m with ya on everything u r experiencing. In the beginning, my intentions were to use the Smart Home Monitor as a diy security system… seemed a WIDELY supported system with MORE options than most… but like the experienced very smart users here say, it just isn’t reliable for use as a true security system. And I don’t mean not complying with certain standards like say a old school ADT system…and NO I am NOT buying the SmartThings ADT garbage.

When I say NOT reliable, I also mean by Samsung’s very own PRESENCE devices such as a Note 3 I was using and even so a brand new Note 8. This problem may very well be associated with Google location and how it works compares to Apple’s working presence. Biggest problem I feel, as coming and going is NEVER reliable… so now I have to look into a KEYPAD, which sounds great and all… but ultimately, EVERYTHING IS ALWAYS JUST A JIMMY RIGGING OF SOME SORT! Yes, I signed up for DIY, but standard things other security systems have are just very time consuming to implement with SmartThings.

The presence sensor key chain eats batteries and don’t want yet another bulky item on my keychain.

Ultimately I wish Ring’s Security solution wasn’t tied up in the courts with lame ADT. (They r so worried about their DIY and all these new type of security competition) That is the system I will buy if everything is fine and yes, I am at my wits end with SmartThings also… I feel it wasn’t such a “smart” choice after all to choose SmartThings. The WEAK link is the reliance of the internet being up (the very important main things should be 100% local which they are not) and Android Presence not ever working as it should.

Hell, even a OLD ADT Vista type security system accomplishes this basic stuff. Yes. I know (now after the fact) that Samsung doesn’t endorse using Smart Home Monitor as a security system. Again, just a bad choice in the end.

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Sounds like everything works fine for you… but how bout as a “reliable” Security System and with Smart Home Monitor and Android Presence? Yeah, no, not here or never.

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I have but it’s not working right. Also couldn’t pause or delete Pistons.

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Read that post I noted above, there is a solution for that issue

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That issue was resolved in January when Ring reached a settlement with ADT.

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Reliable security system:
I have and DSC Security System that I have professionally monitored. This system also integrates with my ST HA system.

The two work together but I would not recommend ST for a Home Alarm System.

My HA family of 6 all use iPhones but my work phone is a Galaxy. I have had issues with my work phone as a presence sensor. The iPhones acted funky for a while but mostly have been pretty reliable.

Don’t get me wrong, I have my share of frustration with ST but for the most part, I’m happy with overall performance. Even more happy now that I am dumbing some of the local processing off to Hubitat.

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As we’ve mentioned in the forums before, the first rule of SmartThings is that it’s never just you. :scream: Reliability has been and continues to be an ongoing issue. Just search the forums for that term.

That said, they are in the middle of a huge platform change, and it’s hard to tell whether things will be better or worse once we get to the other side. But we’re definitely in a transition period right now.

There are many competing systems that you can look at in the low-cost range. many do have more stability than SmartThings, but they also have much less flexibility in terms of both devices added and the sophistication of the rules that you can set up. So it comes down to what your own priorities are.

Just as one example, HomeKit is intuitive, simple, reliable, and runs locally except for voice processing (which can also run via cellular): but it only runs on Apple devices and there’s a very limited set of home automation accessories currently available. Plus the rules you can set up are much much less powerful than the ones in SmartThings.

A number of People who are power users and either used webcore a lot or did their own coding but who have been frustrated by the lack of local operation have been looking at a brand new product, hubitat elevation, which was created by some former smartthings users. It runs everything locally, but it’s very much an alpha product right now ( their terms of service say as much) and it’s not an easy setup. And they don’t yet have a mobile app. But if you have a strong technical background, you may want to look at it. So it’s sort of at the opposite end of the spectrum from HomeKit

And there are quite a few systems in between. :sunglasses: Abode is worth looking at if your primary interest is security, but their home automation options are much more limited than the ones under smartthings.

Every system has pluses and minuses, if only in the cost. The trick is to be honest with yourself about what is most important to you, and then look for systems that will match those requirements.

Since you’ve already been working with support, I doubt if the problem is just a weak mesh or support would’ve spotted that.

As far as the individual sensors, smartthings can’t do firmware updates for all the devices that can connect to it, but you should be able to “factory reset” pretty much any individual device except Hue bulbs just from the device itself. So if you give us the brand and model numbers of those sensors, we can probably help you figure out how to reset them.

So I’m not sure whether this is good news or bad news. There are indeed a number of alternatives, and quite a few of those do have local operation. Some of the alternatives are more reliable than SmartThings, some are less. You just have to research to see what will be best for you.

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Smartthings has never been a reliable security system and their product usage guidelines have always said as much. :disappointed_relieved:

https://www.smartthings.com/guidelines

That said, the new SmartThings/ADT security panel introduced in the fall of 2017 looks like a decent offering in DIY low-cost security systems. All of the links at smartthings.com for security now take you to that package,

https://www.smartthings.com/adt

ADT required that smartthings include a number of features not available in other model lines, including local operation with cellular backup for anything that can send an alert to the ADT monitoring center, as well as a completely new proprietary point-to-point protocol for those sensors.

The home automation side is the same as the other SmartThings models and has all the same reliability issues. And it won’t use Geopresence to arm or disarm the system because ADT doesn’t like that. But I certainly wouldn’t call it a piece of junk. It’s a reasonable competitor to systems like the new ring security system or the new nest security system. It just doesn’t improve the home automation side over the existing models.

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Ok, resolved… settlement… anyone know when the Ring security system will be selling then if so?

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It’s been priced and you can sign up on their site for notification once it’s available,

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Yeah it’s been like that since the court stuff started.

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My Galaxy has started, randomly, not reporting when I return home. The same phone that I have the app installed on. The same phone I set the automations up on and the same phone that I manually just ran “I’m back” on. It’s especially f’kin annoying when it suddenly remembers I’m home at 3am in in the morning and the bedroom lights up like a f’kin Christmas tree. Currently sat waiting for it to realise I got home 30 minutes ago.

Currently figuring how I can dispense with the whole thing.

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wouldn’t trust it. ST sees me as always at home… with an S7.
A few months back, the alarm would go off in the early mornings 3-4 AM, my garage door opened by itself a few times in the mornings also causing the alarm to go off, and triggering the wife to “snap”.

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Hey,

same issues here, all of a sudden my Android devices can’t be used as presence sensors… which were working fine for quiet a while. The solution I was told was to purchase a proper presence sensor and not use the phone as a reliable source. Buy my wife’s iPhone is working fine for the past year.

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My wife and I also have iPhones that have consistently performed well with ST geo-fencing for a few years. To be fair however, there are iPhone users that have geofence issues too. Even with our iPhone success for things like HVAC control and welcome home lighting, etc., I don’t use SmartThings at all for anything security related. I don’t mind being periodically inconvenienced when ST burps, but safety and security issues aren’t just an inconvenience.

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Exactly. Very funny. No matter how anyone wants to spin all this, this is ultimately the result… so total failure on SmartThings behalf… ST just isn’t any good for even the most minimal security unfortunately… which given the amount of customization and user support… just a shame.

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I have tried the Tasker method, Webcore and Smart things own presence and just went back to life360 because it has been solid since it was updated. Works very well.

1 Like