jfattizzi
June 20, 2017, 8:07pm
1
I am very happy with my SmartThings system, but i cannot trust my iOS phones and the two smartthings presence sensors to consistently detect away and home.
Anyone have a better device or plan?
Different things work for different households. The following should be of interest:
Presence, regardless of the device you use, is one of those features that works great for some people, not at all for other people, and is randomly flaky for still others.
It’s very much affected by local conditions. So some people will find that phone presence works much better than the SmartThings-branded presence sensor. Other people will find the reverse. Still other people, myself included, find that they have to use a combination of two devices in order to get reliable presence indication.
So if this feature tends to work differently for different people, where do you start?
1. Using a Smart Phone as a Presence Indicator
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Well, since most people who have SmartThings have a smart phone, it’s worth starting there.
This method has changed significantly in the change fro…
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pizzinini
June 21, 2017, 4:05pm
3
Just for completeness… here is another way to manage presence. Though I admit it is exotic
I thought I’d share because I found this very useful:
About once per week I had problems with the “Home” mode not set and Smart Home Monitor not disarming on time when I reached my house. I use my iPhone as a presence sensor. Opening the garage door would usually cause an alarm. I tried increasing the radius for the presence but more than 1/2 mile does not seam reasonable to me.
Solution: I have created a virtual switch (momentary contact) that sets “Home” mode and turns off the Smart Home Monitor and send me a notification. I also created a Automation in the Apple Home App to turn on the virtual switch when I arrive (with a much narrower radius!).
I have tested this for ~2 weeks now and had no false alarm anymore. I have received the notification a couple of times from that the virtual…
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