Philips hue, no bridge, connected to smarthings directly

Devices & Integrations
1

I know i know, i shouldn’t have done it. Now that’s out the way…

I accidentally hard reset my hub, can I reconnect my hue bulbs? I have found the zigbee device ID from before of the bulbs, not sure if I can use this information to link them back up, or are they now just dumb bulbs?

If there is any way i can fix it, even with a hue bridge I am all ears.

Many thanks :slight_smile:
P.s these are old bulbs without bluetooth, and a V2 hub

2

do you have a hue dimmer? or able to borrow one?

3

No i don’t and don’t know anyone that does…

4

amazon echo?

5

I might be able to borrow my works echo, but I’m new there haha. Im guessing the 2 options i found online are the only one’s? Can i fix it if i buy a bridge? As ive got 4 bulbs and a lamp… so ill probaby buy a bridge as they werent cheap lol

6

let’s ask Dr. @JDRoberts . I am sure he will ask you some questions and provide you with the best solution :slight_smile:

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7

They are better with the bridge anyway. Faster response and more configuration options with dynamic lights scenes and media synchronization.

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8

Since you have the bulb model that doesn’t have Bluetooth, you will need to have a device other than the smartthings hub that can tell the bulb to reset.

You only need this device for long enough to do the reset, so if you can find one to borrow, that should work.

The first four options will work without a huge bridge, so they are for people who had the bulbs connected directly to a smart things hub and now want to reset them and connect them again to a smartthings hub without a hue bridge.

The fifth option is for people who are used to have the bulbs connected directly to a smartthings hub but now want to connect them to a hue bridge.

  1. Hue battery-powered dimmer switch. I did the first or second generation will work for this. Note that neither dimmer model works directly with smartthings, so you may not have any use for it after you’ve done the reset.
  1. Echo Device that has a built-in Zigbee hub like the Echo Plus. (At the time of this writing, no echo dots had this, and only some of the others.)

Here’s the list of models as of this writing that can act as a Zigbee hub:

  1. Lutron Zigbee controller LZL-4B. No longer made, but you might know someone who has it. This looks just like a Lutron pico, but it is using a different radio inside, so make sure you have the right model.
  1. Raspberry Pi with Zigbee stick (or something similar) and Hue Thief.

If you had to buy something, the hue dimmer switch would probably be the least expensive. Only you can decide if that would be worth it to you.

  1. If you are going to go ahead and get a hue bridge, there is one more method that you can use from a computer. But it will only work if your bulbs were on a ZLL channel. There’s a how to article in the community – created wiki on this process. Basically you’re going to tell the hue bridge how to find the bulbs so it can tell them to reset even though they have never been previously connected to each other. So with this method you don’t need any of the other devices, just the hue bridge.

https://thingsthataresmart.wiki/index.php?title=How_to_Reset_Philips_Hue_Bulbs

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BTW, in addition to the advantages of having a hue bridge that @blueyetisoftware mentioned, One of the biggest advantages is that hue bulbs are very unreliable Zigbee repeaters when they are connected without a bridge. So that’s just something to be aware of.

FAQ: Do I need the Hue Bridge/Hub to Use a Hue Bulb with SmartThings?

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10

Thanks for all your help, i decided to buy a hue bridge, only £30. Worth the cash i think as I can sync my hue go lamp to spotify, that is fun! Haha

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