Primary and Secondary Controllers with SmartThings and "other"

Devices & Integrations Connected Things
1

I’m curious what others have set ups are like mainly, has anyone paired ST up with another ZWave Controller? If so, have you noticed any way to determine what is now the Primary and/or Secondary Controller? Any issues with devices that have more “smarts” than on/off? I want to add a thermostat to my ST, synch it with my other controller, and have the same functionality…

I have a 2Gig Controller that I had for the past year, for security. I just received my ST last week, unpaired all my devices off the 2Gig, moved them over to SmartThings rather simply. So far so good. I am in some believe that my ST is now the primary based on the last product I added: http://www.amazon.com/HomeSettings-Z-Wave-Screw-in-Module/dp/B007C8TUYA/ref=sr_1_3?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1373476760&sr=1-3 – I added it to my ST, paired no problem. Went over to my 2gig, refreshed the network, device showed up (on Controller and online).

Previously I was able only able to add my device to the Panel, but it was “unsupported” on the control website for my alarm company. The device now shows up with full control on the alarm website, and also works nicely with ST.

Couple things I noticed here with my setup: No ‘stateful’ information is passed along between each Controller. I can issue commands from each Controller, no issues, they work fine. But in most cases when turning on/off lights (installing Thermostat later this weekend) I have to issue the command twice, almost, as if to turn it on via the controller app, then off again. It’s not a problem right now, just something I have to keep aware of.

So yeah, trying to figure out if anyone has paired ST to another Controller, is it now Primary or Secondary, what devices you may have paired, and what your experiences have been.

Oh, couple things I noticed over the last 2-3 days… I now have a “zwave controller” icon on my iPod. It doesnt seem to control anything, just stays green like “ok, i’m connected”. I have a space for the icon on my Android, it’s almost as if it’s there, but, the icon is blank… Kinda cool, kinda weird.

Thanks!

1 Like
2

I recently added one of the GE zwave remotes (http://www.amazon.com/GE-45600-Z-Wave-Handheld-Remote/dp/B0013V6RW0/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1373481631&sr=8-7&keywords=zwave+ge) to my Smartthings setup with basically the same results. I too see the zwave remote tile in the app, showing that it is connected okay.

Smartthings hub is Primary while remote is secondary. Only problem is, the remote does not communicate with the Smartthings hub when controlling devices.

For example, I have an app that will turn all the lights off in the apartment when my bedside lamp is turned off at night. Problem is, when turning the light off via the remote, it doesn’t trigger the app to turn the other lights off.

I’m hoping for a lot more control over the remote and to at least have it report back to the hub what it’s doing. Here’s to hoping we see some zwave upgrades over the next couple of weeks.

3

@Ronny, One thing I noticed (or didnt notice) in the logs and console is that the commands dont seem shared between the 2 controllers. Seems that the action of on/off works, but they dont communicate state between the 2, just the action of turning on/off. No synch via iOS and Android. I guess I assumed that the controllers would at least update each other with status.

Seems like our results are the same. It would be cool to have status update (visually) on the apps when you issue a command from different controllers, not sure how likely. I’d also like to at least see some communication between controllers in the logs at least.

I’m curious how this will work with other devices that are beyond on/off, like the thermostat.

I’m not familiar with the remotes, but, are you adding your devices directly to ST and then synching up with remote? Also, how do you know that the ST is Primary?

Thanks!

4

My set up went like this- I added all of my things via the Smartthings hub, then included the controller using the supplied codes for the remote to discover and connect to an existing network. Really the only way I know that the remote is a secondary is that I cannot add things via it, they must be added through the Smartthings hub.

One thing I was thinking of doing is setting up an app that will poll for a device’s current status every 30 seconds so that the hub always knows what it is. Though, I’m not sure this would really fix any issues with, say, my example in the previous post.

We can only hope that inter-controller communication will eventually make it’s way into the platform.

5

Cool, I’m not doing anything different adding devices, but I’ll try and remember to post back after I add my thermostat and a few of the screw in modules (heck, for $15 USD that’s a deal). I was and still believe you can only add zwave devices to the Primary Controller, I just wanted to be sure since I have relatives using 1 controller, but didnt want them to lose any functionality.

6

That’s my understanding as well on adding or removing devices. Also, those screw-ins are a heck of a deal. Only wish they had a dimmable version and perhaps they were a bit smaller.

7

So its been a year and any updates on this topic by anyone?
I have an enerwave 7 scene zwave controller (wall mounted, controls no load) which when paired to ST show the "zwave controller " device type as you guys did. Pressing the controller buttons shows no activity at all in the log.

In other zwave hubs (ie vera) this controller (and the ones you listed above) can communicate through the hub and run whatever actions are triggered but do not need to pair themselves explicitly to other devices to turn them on.

Any idea on anyone in the ST development team when this basic functionality will be available. Sometimes its nice to not have to carry your phone around all the time and use these remotes.

Thanks

3 Likes
8

I have the same device as @darthvuder and want to add at least 1 more to turn on/off some lights and fans w/out digging for my phone. Being able to use devices like ZWN-SC7 makes the house and automations more friendly for visitors and is some cases easier then getting phone, opening app, opening things issuing commands. At this point I’d be happy to just be able to use it even if commands didn’t update back to ST at the moment.

9

I have two Z-Wave remotes - Intermatic HA07 and GE 45600 both set up as secondary to the ST hub. Yes, you need to assign devices and scenes to each controller button, but to me it’s actually an advantage that they work independently from the hub. I can control my lights and appliances even if the hub is off-line.

10

Johnessey, I also have a 2gig based alarm system and am looking to potentially move ahead with Smartthings. Has there been any progress since you posted last year on multiple controllers sharing state?

A few other questions if you don’t mind…
Do you have door locks integrated with both controllers?
Does Smartthings bridge any non z-wave devices (i.e. hue) to the 2gig or can it only see z-wave?
Can 2gig communicate any sensor or alarm states to smartthings (my thought is no but want to confirm)?

11

@Elliot_Justin

A little progress, but I’m focused on SmartThings more since there’s a ton more integration of other devices in to the platform. But I can tell you where I left off…

As far as door locks go I have the ability to control the lock(s) on both controllers. If you have arming/alarming tied to the state of the lock on the 2gig side, then it will arm/disarm accordingly.

Bridging devices, not so much. I had a dated and wonky z-wave module (for a lamp) that would not show up in my 2gig, but showed up fine in SmartThings. No bridging of say, TCP, or Hue for example.

I have not had any luck getting sensor states to arm/alarm from SmartThings to 2Gig. I havent tried to much, as most of the arm/alarm states from 2gig are done over RF, all my SmartThing sensors are z-wave or zigbee. But, I have not been able to (not sure if you can) get the z-wave sensor (open/close) to arm/alarm the 2Gig.

Once SmartThings drops a hub with cellular connectivity I’m done with my 2Gig. I lose power often enough that having cellular connectivity back to my hub/house has been a life saver. With most of the sensors I have in place running off battery, its been pretty redundant. Frankly, the 2Gig is just limited in what SmartThings hub can do. It’s a good panel, but limited.

Good luck!

1 Like
12

@johnessey
Thank you! That’s extremely helpful.

I went with Alarm.com for security because I wanted the locks and iphone app integrated with monitoring. It’s worked fairly well. I ended up having to add lights because the z-wave signal wasn’t reaching to my back door lock. That got me thinking about other places to put lights specific to security.

I am mainly interested in Smartthings for leak sensors and integrating Nest with my ceiling fans. I figure even if I don’t get a good integration between Smartthings and 2Gig, the smartthings installaiton will increase the reach and stability of Z-wave around the house. I also have Sonos so I like some of the integration ideas around here as well.

13

I have the remote paired. I cannot figure out how to assign things to any of the buttons. I have the GE 45600

1 Like
14

See “ADDING A LIGHT (DEVICE / NODE) TO YOUR REMOTE” and “SETTING UP AND CONTROLLING A GROUP” in the manual: http://www.jascoproducts.com/support/manual-downloads/applications/DocumentLibraryManager/upload/45600-Manual-Eng.pdf

15

Thank you. Finally got it sorted. The instructions could be a lot better with all of the GE Products.

16

Hi

I have a ST hub and a 2gig go panel. Can someone provide step by step instructions on adding the go panel as a secondary controller?

17

Update: I ended up getting a free SmartThings Hub and Motion Sensor from my power company which arrived yesterday. Had some initial bumps and bruises but eventually got the Z-wave network up and running with the ST Hub as Primary and 2Gig as secondary. I think the setup will work great. One of the things I was worried about was having to remove and add the 2Gig controller every time new devices were added. It turns out that you just need to do a network rediscover on the panel and everything comes up.

I really only care about the locks with regards to the security system and they work as they did before. Other than some exterior lights, most will be controlled via smartthings.

Unrelated but I was also pleasantly surprised that the new Smartthings Motion detector also includes temperature readouts.

18

wow, sweet! what power company! i love free… free anything really :smile:

19

Bounce Energy. Are you in Texas?

I got a much lower rate, free Smartthings and get 3% cash back on autopay after 12 months.

20

nah, I’m in PA. good to see some discount and free…especially free tech!