Ive long been delaying adding some kind of monitored security to my smart home setup that relies on ST hub 2.0 and many zwave and zigbee devices including door sensors and motion sensors. I’ve delayed for years in hopes some Matter option would come along and be an obvious choice, but that is still probably years away.
I’d like to use existing sensors or at least have the sensors talk to ST and the security hub both, rather than say have 2 sensors on every door.
What are people’s opinions on best options that integrate well or well enough with ST? And work well?
Honestly, there aren’t really any at this time. SmartThings is still (even with edge drivers) too cloud-dependent to be a reliable part of a security system. Not to mention the fact that the company can, and does, push out updates that you can neither defer nor deny, leading to instability issues. I think most people use a separate security system.
Konnected.io remains a popular choice for connecting hardwired sensors to a smartthings account, usually because you move into a house which has a hardwired system already in place and you don’t want to pay the subscription fees. But under the 2023 architecture, that’s now cloud-based. So it’s fine for an extra layer of notifications, but not really for a primary security system. I believe they still recommend Noom for monitoring.
As far as inexpensive DIY monitored security systems. It’s hard to beat ring security. It’s a Z wave system, but it won’t integrate with smartthings, you’ll run it standalone. You can get some partial integration through Alexa routines, but like most UL listed security systems you can’t use third-party sensors to trigger its alarms. (For alarm system companies, reliability is their top priority, so they tend to take a walled garden approach.)
You can use some of the Ring video devices with both smartthings and ring security at the same time, if that’s of any use.
Another option, which has been popular in the past is Abode because they have a pretty good Ifttt channel. Again, though, it’s just partial integration.
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Using their Ifttt channel, you can arm and disarm the abode system, which is unusual, and you can get a trigger if the Abode alarm goes off. But it’s not full integration.
You may be able to avoid the “two sensors on one door” issue by proxying the security system’s sensors into smartthings via Alexa routines, but you have to be using sensors that the security system will recognize and you are introducing additional complexity and potential lag. So that will work for some people, but not others, and it doesn’t usually let you reuse your existing sensors.
Maybe there’s something better, hopefully someone will post if they are using one.
Thank you @JDRoberts as always! Too bad it remains so segregated. Ive avoided Alexa devices because I dont like the idea of microphones in my home… too 1984 for me. Im going to have to reread your post and do some homework. Thank you again!
