What is the chance of the SmartThings hub replacing the LightwaveRF hub or getting the SmartThings hub to send commands to the LightwaveRF hub so that one way or the other, my LightwaveRF kit works from SmartThings commands?
Just above zero. But not very much above.
The lightwave RF system is quite nice, particularly for lighting control, but they use a proprietary communication protocol in the 433 band. Itās not anything like the bands that smartthings, or for that matter, that anyone else uses.
I realize you probably have a significant investment in equipment but itās a proprietary protocol. There really isnāt likely going to be adoption by another brand.
Smartthings hasnāt even provided support for Lutron clear connect yet, another proprietary lighting control system, and thatās in a lot more homes than lightwave RF.
So while itās not impossible to imagine a bridge someday, itās just very unlikely. From a technical engineering standpoint, itās much more likely that smartthings would be viewed as a potential replacement for lightwave RF (or vice versa) not an add on to it.
Sorry, I know that isnāt what you wanted to hear.
What were you hoping to get from a blended system that youāre not currently getting from the lightwave RF installation?
Hi JDā¦
Youāre right - thatās not the answer I wanted to hear, but itās the answer I expected to hear.
I have invested quite heavily in LightwaveRF mainly because at the time I embarked on it, they had most of the kit in place at a sensible cost - the light switches look pretty good and the relays can be put to all sorts of uses - I have converted everything from my lounge curtains to garden fountain, patio lights to ceiling fans. Iāve even wired in relays so that they work with āold fashionedā light switches operating a two-way or three-way system enabling me to control lights etc remotely or on a timer.
Iām also very keen on IFTTT (IF This Then That) which links in with my Honeywell Evohome CH/Hot Water Controller, Netatmo weather sensor, Nest Smoke/CO2 detectors, etc. If LightwaveRF were compatible with IFTTT, even at itās simplest level I could get the curtains to close at sunset and open at sunrise (there is a Lightwave night/day sensor, but itās not great). There are a whole range of programs that can be easily written if Lightwave was IFTTT compliant - if itās too hot then switch the fan on, if itās too windy then close the sunblind, if itās too bright switch the lights off, etc, etc.
As all of that seems unlikely to happen Iām trying to find a way of integrating Lightwave with something that itself integrates with IFTTT. (IFTTT <<< >>> Something <<< >>> LightwaveRF)
Iām pretty annoyed with Lightwave because right from the outset they said that third party products will be coming along that can be controlled by Lightwave (that never happened) and more recently that they were going to integrate with other standards (that didnāt happen either). Almost weekly, something else comes along (like SmartThings) and I optimistically look down the list of compatible products hoping that Lightwave would feature and it has on just two occasions, but both of these require some very serious low-level programming with almost no support and preciously little instructions.
So, thank you for your reply - if you know of a remote controlled relay that could replace my 20+ Lightwave relays, (that is a similar physical size and power rating) plus plug and play wall adaptors and remote controlled light switches, I might well cut my losses and change.
geoff
Thereās a couple of guys that seem to have figured out a bridge method for Lightwave - one with Raspberry Pi and one with code and IFTTTā¦ threads:
http://lightwaverfcommunity.org.uk/forums/topic/simple-lightwaverf-curtains-blinds/page/2/
donāt know your level of comfort with the programming and all of that, but it does look like you might have a couple options.
Hi Colinā¦ thank you for your reply. Although Iāve heard of it, I havenāt tried the Raspberry Pie solution because even after reading all the stuff people have posted about it, Iām not sure if it will do what I want it to do. I have tried the first method and it wasnāt successful. It took a lot of work to get it to work, and when it finally did work, it didnāt really do what it was billed to do, and in fact it corrupted all the settings in the Lightwave hub. So after that experience I hesitate to invest a lot of time on something else that doesnāt do what I want it to do.
OpenHAB looks promising (itās IFTTT compliant and it lists Lightwave as compatible), but after spending a day plodding through the instructions (which assumes far too much prior knowledge) and a support service that just points you back to their āstep-by-stepā instructions, I gave up.
What is needed is for Lightwave to get their act together and get themselves onto the IFTTT list of channels then we could really get moving.
Hi,
LightwaveRF is a very popular home automation solution in the UK. I canāt find anything here but am interested if anyone is running a project to integrate their devices into smart things.
Any pointers or assistance appreciated.
Thanks
I have just set up my house with the lightwaverf light switches and sockets, these work well and look great, however the extra applications are limited. If the smartthings set up was compatible I would definitely be pushed towards using that as a hub rather than their own, and obviously add more
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I donāt see why this isnāt feasible. You can get a USB device called an RFXTRX. This can be used to communicate with LightwaveRF devices. Other Z-Wave controllers like Vera can already use one of these to communicate over 433Mhz as well as Z-Wave.
That said it would take someone to develop a plugin and in my experience Z-Wave is better than 433Mhz. 433Mhz devices donāt report their status so using them with manual switches isnāt great, e.g. if someone manually presses a light switch it doesnāt get updated to the controller / hub and can end up out of sync.
I use 433Mhz devices for things like temperature sensors where I can live with unreliable communications. For things like heating and appliance control I use Z-Wave as its much more reliable.
RFXtrx Works with Vera or Homeseer as a plug-in, but smartthings does not have the plug-in concept for adding additional antennas. so there isnāt any way to use this directly with SmartThings.
If you want to set up your own server as a āman in the middleā protocol, you could probably do it. Itās the same way people do global cache IR integration with smartthings. But if you know enough to know how to do that, youāve probably already considered it.
http://www.vesternet.com/resources/application-notes/apnt-5#.VfHt5UpHarU
Yes I already have RFXTRX working in Vera and Domoticz.
Iām still looking for my ideal automation controller and using Domoticz for 433Mhz mass monitoring like temperature, humidity, rain, wind, solar generation, power usage, etcā¦ - the sort of things that I can live with not being reliable.
I have started using Vera for Z-wave, was using Domoticz but Open Z-Wave that it uses is not great. But Vera is not great either, could be but its not reached its potential. Z Wave has a higher acceptance factor in my house as its a lot more reliable.
I will have a look at SmartThings but right now there is a lot missing that I would like - GlobalCache that you mention being 1 thing of many
Its a shame there isnāt the plugin option as its seems its off to a good start with Z-Wave, ZigBee and IP connectivity build in and a couple of USB ports that could be used for expansion if they allowed itā¦
I have coded something for RFXTRX433E/Domoticz and Smartthings, just see if you can use itā¦
I too would be very interested in any project to āintegrateā LightwaveRF and SmarthThings. Basically Lightwave is geared up to the UK domestic market (hence it is popular here) but most of the products listed in the Smarthings marketplace are in the US, for the US, which leave the UK with the choice of one power switch, one motion detector, one proximity sensor and a fob ā¦
Here you go - Lightwave RF Integration (UK) - I just did it
@adamclark_dev This a cloud-to-cloud integration effectively?
Iāve read itās possible to talk to the LightwaveRF WiFi link hubs directly over UDP which is apparently pretty fast.
Itās a shame weāre quite limited with our devices in the UK. LightwaveRF is so much more prevalent than Z-Wave or ZigBee and the availability of wall sockets and bigger switch banks makes LightwaveRF a lot more useful.
Since I havenāt invested in any LightwaveRF stuff, Iād sooner avoid having to buy yet another hub to make it work but if no new devices come out for Z-Wave or ZigBee in the UK that offer a better alternative I may explore LightwaveRF further in the future.
This blog defines howto add lightwaveRF to domoticz, which in turn is integrated to smartthings via the smartapp. see the raspberry as a server for all kind of ānot supported by STā devices using old style RF comms.
Hi Chris.
It is a cloud to cloud integration. It connects to the LightwaveRF hub via http requests rather than UDP.
I was having to use my own server to do this, but have now managed to write an application in groovy that runs directly on the smartthings cloud.
Personally I think the LightwaveRF sockets are really good. I am going to stick with these for stuff like table lamps. I then use hue and lightify bulbs for downlights, which connect directly to the smartthings hub.
Am just doing some finesing of the code and will have to write up some documentation, but should be able to put up the guide and code today or tommorow.
Adam
Excellent project! I look forward to the reports.
My feeling is that it may turn out to be similar to the Cloud to Cloud SmartThings/Lutron Caseta integration using IFTTT in the U.S. It will work very well for anything where instant response isnāt required, like turning on lights on a schedule.
It will work fine for some people for the other kinds of use cases, such as lights coming on when someone walks into a room because a motion sensor detected the person. However, other people will find thereās just too much lag between when they expect the light to come on and when it actually comes on. Even if this is only two or three seconds, it can greatly reduce āquality of serviceā experience.
Thereās also the issue that it will never be able to run locally. If the SmartThings cloud is not available, or Internet connection in general is not available, then the SmartThings light automations wonāt work. Again, that wonāt matter at all to some people, but it will to others.
Regardless, itās always good to have choices, and the more integration options available, the better.
@RobDob What are you using for wind monitoring?
Just to let every one know IFTTT now has a LightwaveRF module.