Is there a preferred hub for optimal use with devices? For instance I could use my hue hub to pair with lights or I could pair directly to the smart things hub. it’s not clear which way is best or if it evendors matters.
thanks
SmartThings recommends connecting Hue bulbs to the Hue bridge, not directly to SmartThings. You will find much discussion of this in the forums.
Bulbs from other brands that can be factory reset with a blink method, including Cree and GE Link, can be paired either through the Hue bridge or directly to the SmrtThings hub. There are advantages and disadvantages to both, and some people do some of each.
Again, much discussion already in the forums, just search on the particular bulb brand.
The biggest advantage of connecting nonPhilips bulbs through the Hue bridge is you will also be able to use other control methods for the same bridge, such as Amazon Echo, IFTTT, Beecon+, etc.
Official ST statement:
Additionally, the SmartThings Philips hue integration requires use of the Philips hue Ethernet bridge. Connecting directly to Philips hue lights is not currently supported. Your hue bridge must be updated to firmware version 01006390 or later. To force your hue bridge to update its firmware, close the hue mobile app, unplug the bridge for ten seconds, plug it back in, and then restart the hue app.
https://support.smartthings.com/hc/en-us/articles/200848024-Connecting-Philips-hue-to-SmartThings
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I found that the Hue bridge was problematic, and pulled it out. I replaced the 6 Hue bulbs with Cree connected bulbs controlled by ST directly.
Now i wonder if it was Hue or Smartthings. Every once in a while strange things happen. The other day it was like a disco in one area of the house, lights started flashing on and off for an hour or more. I tried everything, rebooted the ST Hub, flipped the light switch to cut power to the lights. Unplugged the power to the Hub and pulled the internet connection. nothing seemed to work, and it just stopped.
This happened with the Hue lights at one time, i assumed it was the hue bridge, one of the reasons i pulled it.
john
My Hue bridge controls 2 Philips bulbs and 7 GE links.
It works great with IFTTT, Beecon+, the Hue native app, a couple of third party apps, and Amazon Echo.
It fails at least once a day with SmartThings.
Several discussion topics in the forums, most people report the Hue bridge works fine with other systems.
Allright, thanks for the info. I’ll go searching the forums more, I don’t know why it didn’t occur to me to do so last night. That’s what I get for posting right before I go to sleep. 
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It matters. I control over 30 lamps from the Hue Bridge… FLAWLESSLY. From my Mac Mini, numerous apps on iOS and Android, and from the Philips cloud. And the Hue bridge has an awesome API which is constantly being improved.
Lets compare that to SmartThings. No wait… there’s no comparison. My one year experience with SmartThings is that if there are ANY issues with Hue, it is a SmartThings issue and not a Hue one.
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So I take it you do have your huew bridge connected to ST??
Yes. But other than some simple motion based operation, I don’t use SmartThings to control my hues. For schedules, I use the Hue bridge as it is much more reliable than SmartThings. Most of my Hue “scenes” are controlled by sending commands to HAM Bridge from SmartThings, Tasker, and iRule. I love Hue’s flexible transition times, and that feature is not available under direct SmartThings control.