Offline Hub Vs Online(Cloud Hub)

General Discussion
1

Hi Guys,

I am new to the forum.
I am thinking of getting the SmartThings hub for myself.
I have looked on some other topics here in the forum and did not get a a full answer.
Can the Smartthings hub work without an internet connection at the first place?
From security reasons as I want to have smart locks on my door I would prefer to get the system to work only on the internal network (i.e. a router which does not have an internet connection)
Can this be done ?
Thanks!

2

Nope. Hub is integrated to cloud at this time. The v2 hub has the potential to do more offline w/o cloud, but does not provide this functionality at this time.

I do believe that some local processing occurs for lighting… but to what extent, people are not fully sure.

3

This is not completely true, Smart Lighting is currently the only offline app and it supports the offline control of most officially supported zwave and zigbee devices with their default devicetype (driver). Custom devices and cloud to cloud devices are not supported for offline control.

4

Hah, fair enough–but you say that, but I recall multiple statements from people stating that it seems to be limited to Lighting only. It’s been a while though—so I very well may be wrong. Or not have the (latest) update.

5

That all depends on how you use it, case in point is the SmartThings outlet is supported by smart lighting for offline use. So you could use smart lighting to reboot (power off/on) your wifi router every night at 2am. Also there are plenty of zwave and zigbee sensors that can be used as triggers as well and not just time. Basically anything sold on SmartThings.com can be used as a trigger for offline actions but due to smart lighting being to only app that is supported for offline use only outlets and switches can be controlled, you are not limited to only plugging in lights into those outlets :wink:

6

No. Though Hub V2 introduced minimal “local” and offline functionality, and it is the basis for more, we have been told explicitly that SmartThings Cloud will always have an essential role in the product.

Of course strategy can change, but if you are looking for a no-internet-required solution, SmartThings is not that product.

7

Thank you all!
I just want to clarify the answer for myself.
if my internet connection goes down while I am at home but my router is still running (just not synced with the ISP ADSL exchange) and my Android device can still communicate with the Smartthings HUB,
I WILL NOT BE able to turn off and on 90% of my smart products…Is that correct?

If that true, Can u guys direct me to a local hub that is consider to be good as the smartthings?

Thanks again.

8

You would likely have alternative control methods other than your phone, such as various Z-Wave or ZigBee switches and remotes.

But, yes, the SmartThings App does not work against the LAN.

Look at Staples Connect.

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9

Thanks.
Had a look on the Staples Connect.
It does serves the solution I am after (having an local solution rather then a cloud base solution.
Read a bit about it on the reviews.
It looks good but still ain’t perfect.
Any other ideas for offline products?

Thanks again

10

I am not sure that is completely true. I just tested “what-if” and unplugged my router from the modem - the only thing that works in my house are wemo switches using wemo app (only). I tried to use z-wave switch (aeon) to turn lights on/off, door lock/unlock - nothing work. The smartthing hub is like refused to do anything. I am using ST V2 with only z-wave and wemo switches. Even my harmony cannot instruct the ST v2 hub (on the same network) to turn lights on/off when the internet is out. But my harmony can still send IR to my AV.

Am I missing something? Otherwise, I might need to setup a backup bridge from my WIFI to ATT mobile hot spot in case of my home internet goes down, which happens a lot with Comcast.

Thanks.

11

Well, while i was searching for my HUE blink latency problem (terrible !!!), I saw this discussion. If a Samsung Smartthings hub can’t control my house without internet, it is completely useless for security and other presence guarding. I do have a pretty solid internet provider but i just don’t want have my house dependant on that. Too bad. In the trash with it. I should have studied it better before buying.

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