Does anyone on the forum have their ST hub in a structured media enclosure? I know they make plastic ones to avoid interference with wireless devices.
I’m not quite sure what you mean by “media enclosure”. Can you give an example of what you are talking about?
A structured media enclosure is essentially a big metal box for your communications gear. It’s made of metal and designed to make your utility room look cleaner.
That is what I am referring to. Typically they are a metal enclosure. I have heard that they make some using plastic which helps reduce the interference with wireless frequencies like z-wave and zigbee. Basically the wiring in my house is all in a home run configuration (all ran to the basement). I currently have a metal media enclosure for my Ethernet, telephone, and whole house audio distribution. So placing my smart hubs into a media enclosure in the basement would be a very clean solution. I really have no need to look at my ST hub as the app lets me know if it is operational or not.
Here is a link to a picture of what I am referring to.
It isn’t recommended as oftentimes you’re enclosure is located on one side of the house and most people also place their router in there as well. You should try to keep your hub and router as far away from each other as possible.
I’ve placed my hubs in almost the dead center of the house and mounted them to the ceiling with the cables run through the attic and down to the hubs. They are out of sight (enough) unless you look up and I have the power running to a power strip in my hallway closet. That way, if I need to reset my hub, I just reach into the closet and flip the switch there. Granted, my Hue hub is on that same strip, so they both get a reboot, which isn’t bad, in my opinion.
However, depending on where your media enclosure is, you could put it in there. I would just make sure that if you do, try to have a few z-wave/zigbee repeaters close to it to relay to the devices that might be on the fringe of your hub’s range. Also, if your router is in there as well, expect issues. WiFi and Z-Wave/Zigbee don’t play nicely together.
I have mine in an ikea cabinet. Its wood/cardboard so i dont think it interferes with the wireless to much
Thanks for the feedback. My router will remain in its current location which is the top floor of my house which provides coverage over entire house with no dead spots. Real purpose for this is to clean up the smart hubs that I have. I currently have a ST, wink, BloomSky, hue, and wemo hubs.