As our Hub Everywhere strategy continues to grow and make SmartThings hub technology more available than ever before, the need for customers to use the hub of their choosing is more important than ever. To help with this, we are excited to announce the release of our new Hub Replace feature. Hub Replace enables users to transfer everything from their current hub to a new one without having to manually reconnect each device or recreate Routines.
While we are excited about the increased flexibility this gives users in their hub choice, we are equally excited about the increase in reliability and peace of mind it brings to usersâ smart homes. This is because the Hub Replace feature is also available to transfer device and Routine setups from a currently offline hub to a new hub in a worst case scenario where your current hub is no longer available.
The 50.XX hub firmware will enable the Hub Replace functionality for supported hub models. Many hubs are already updated to this version at the time of this post which means many users can begin taking advantage of the Hub Replace feature today. The Hub Replace process takes just a few minutes and can be easily performed from the SmartThings app.
To get started all you need is:
Two hubs that support the Hub Replace feature. Once both hubs are added and showing on the same location in the app, you can validate if your current hub supports the feature by selecting the hub and choosing (âŽ) More Options. If the Replace Hub option is not available then your hub does not currently support the feature.
An app version of 1.8.09 or newer for Android or 1.7.09 or newer for iOS. This version for Android is rolling out to users right now and iOS will be available in just a few weeks.
The steps to start the Hub Replace process can also be found in the SmartThings Hub section of our support documentation here.
With the release of this feature, it will be easier than ever to continue growing your home into the smart home of your dreams.
in a worst case scenario where your current hub is no longer available.
So⌠Even if a hub is broken/stolen it behaves like a kind of backup, via the cloud?
Just buy a new one, add it to the Location and start?
If that is the case it gives me an extra feeling of being secure.
Maybe in the future also an option to execute something in Location B when condition is valid in Location A? Nopw we use Sharptools. I feel we are getting closer. (Best example: Flicker bulb on Location A when motion detected on B.
One thing is offline as they say here, another is broken, dead, stolen⌠We shall see what this really means. I never understood that there will be a cloud backupâŚ
If a hub is âbroken,â it seems reasonable to assume the cloud has some knowledge of the devices and their configurations, as well as Routines. I also is possible the âbrokenâ hub may have had to be running on the minimum firmware level, e.g., 50.xx or later, for the SmartThings cloud to have âlearnedâ everything it needs for a hub replacement.
Except they havenât said that. Iâm wondering if theyâre going to roll it out slowly, or if itâs going to be region locked, or if there are some other factors. So far theyâre just saying that if you can use it, it will be an option in the smartthings app. But no definitive model list so far.
My point was that it is possibleâand I have no knowledge either wayâthere may be settings not visible to us on the outside that are important in a fully functioning hub. If that were the case and firmware version 50.xx (or later) supplies any of said hidden information as âsomething newâ to the SmartThings Cloud, wellâŚ
Pure speculation, as an experienced firmware engineer with no knowledge of the internal workings of the SmartThings architecture!
No mention of z-wave so I assume itâs not supported. Wonder if that makes a given hub ineligible or if it would just do the migration and ignore anything z-wave.
EDIT: FYI I was referencing the article linked in the announcement. I went back and looked again and it lists Z-Wave, so I must have just missed it before.
Zwave has been included in some of the public mentions of the new hub replace feature. Theyâve given the example of an advisory message that you will get if you are going from a hub that does have zwave to a hub (like station) which does not. Basically, it just tells you that the new hub doesnât support Z wave so those devices will not be transferred.
Official blog post:
Hub Replace enables users to transfer everything from their current hub to a new one while keeping their existing setup intact. With Hub Replace, all devices, the Hubâs Matter fabric, Edge Drivers Data, Routines, and other Hub Settings, along with their Zigbee, Z-Wave, and Thread networks if supported by the receiving hub, will be seamlessly transferred and applied to the new hub with just a few quick taps.
I was referring to the article they linked. I swear it didnât say Z-Wave before, but is there now. I do have a bad habit of skimming so maybe I just missed it.
âWith Hub Replace, all devices, the Hubâs Matter fabric, Edge Drivers Data, Routines, and other Hub Settings, along with their Zigbee, Z-Wave, and Thread networks if supported by the receiving hubâ
It would be easy to miss. All that article wants to talk about is Matter. Zigbee and Z-Wave are pretty much an aside, and the grouping of Thread with them speaks volumes.
Nothing new and integrated supports Zwave, hub replace appears to have been produced to allow for deprecation of v2, v3 hubs, support will stop for them and unless a new Hub is produced which supports current functionaly ⌠i really hope we dont get fully shafted
That would be better than not allowing for the deprecation of them and then deprecating them anyway. I canât see that happening for a few years yet. Obviously the V2 is more vulnerable but it is not like they are falling over left, right and centre. I guess it really depends on how much special handling the V2 needs.
To me the obvious business case for âhub replaceâ is the embedding of hubs in expensive TVs and appliances. You donât want customers to be discouraged from buying more expensive appliances because moving the hub seems like too much of a faff.
