Questions about SmartThings

General Discussion
1

Hello everyone!,

I have been doing a lot of research on Zigby and Z-Wave over the last 6-9 months, and wasnt overly impressed with a lot of the products on the market such as Mi Casa Verde. After reviewing SmartThings, im walking the line of biting the bullet and buying a package. But I had a few questions that I cant quite fully figure out:

  1. If Internet drops off, will the SmartThings hub still provide device functionality within the ‘z-wave/zigby network’?

  2. On normal pre-orders (non-kickstarter) what is the estimated shipping? Early next month? end of next month?

  3. Does anyone know of development going into supporting IP based Thermostats and Webcam’s? I intend to by a Venstar T5800 thermostat (x2) and already have wifi webcams. Also though not as important, my irrigation is controlled by a QuickSmart EtherRain IP device.

That covers my biggest concern/thoughts.

Thanks!

2

Hey Darryl,

  1. Not at the moment. There is discussion around bringing very basic functionality down from the cloud, but its not happening in the immediate future. More info here http://build.smartthings.com/the-cloud-first-approach/

 

  1. For pre-orders we’re looking around May

  2. Lots of development around IP devices. UDP for device discovery and TCP/IP for control. Big question for these devices is if the individual devices allow for 3rd party control and don’t use some sort of proprietary system.

3

  1. I had seen this, and I have mixed feelings. I hope that specific types of devices/profiles are considered being local. Most importantly door locks. I guess time will tell. I just know that sometimes cable modems go out!.

  2. Ok, that’s fine.

  3. I am happy to hear this. Luckily, all devices I am looking at are either standardized, or have an open 3rd party control mechanism.  All 3 types of devices are able to be connected to Mi Casa Verde, so it definitely shows its ‘doable’.

Thanks!

4

Well, I decided to buy in. #2/#3 dont bother me, and based on a reddit post about SmartThings, it does seem they are looking into keeping some basic functionality within the device if internet goes out. I figure either way, I should be fine. :slight_smile:

Thanks. Look forward to this new toy!

5

If you have no internet connection than you wouldn’t be able to control your locks from anywhere from your house anyway :stuck_out_tongue:

6

Hi Andrew,

#1) I can control my locks when I have no internet connection. You don’t need internet for it to work when I’m within range of my driveway… it works like this…
iphone 2.4Ghz wifi G -> wifi router in my hall cupboard -> 8 port hub -> smartthings hub -> z-wave controlled door lock.

#3)
Can you send straight UDP commands to an ip address on a particular port#, I don’t need UDP discovery.
Can you send TCP/IP commands without having to do the UDP discovery part? i.e. type in the ip address and command.

Thanks,
Hamish.
-LimitlessLED.

7

Hey Thanks LimitlessLED. I was pretty sure that many of those lock controls didn’t require internet. At least, lets be more specific and state that you can use the keypad without the internet being up.

8

Simple answer is no, for now. If you had the means of sending information to a device without UDP you wouldn’t be able to hear information from it. The UDP discovery is needed for the security handshake as a device could easily be spoofed without it. We’re working on means of accepting manual commands from the cloud and local network but there are open port issues that create security risks.