[OBSOLETE] Device Monitor - Get Notified if Devices Stop Reporting

@erocm1231 Do you have advice for the setting of how long a device should be considered inactive? I’m not familiar enough with all the devices to make this determination. Many of my devices don’t do much for many hours.

Well, personally I have a couple instances of the app installed. One of them I set up for 12 hours. In that one’s config I added devices that communicate frequently and are pretty important. For example, I have smart vents that adjust throughout the day based on the temperature in each room. If a temperature isn’t being reported, it could cause problems.

The other instance is just set for 48 hours and it has devices that report less frequently and aren’t as critical.

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I constantly get random devices reporting that it’s not reporting events even when they’re fine. Anyone else?

FYI:

@krlaframboise I don’t mind you pointing people in this thread to other Apps, but that doesn’t answer his question. If there is a bug in this app, I would like to know about it.

As for me, I do not have this problem. The app only has the ability to look at the events a device creates. So, if the device is not sending events, or it’s events are not getting recorded by the SmartThings system (SmartThings no longer takes record of repeat events by the majority of devices), then it will think the device is offline. So, you could have a device that is working perfectly fine that the app believes isn’t.

Anyway, for the devices you are having issues with, can you look in the events list for the device and see if anything is showing there?

I see, thanks for pointing that out.

That’s not quite what I’m seeing. It seems that it randomly selects devices as not responding. If I refresh it will choose some devices, if I hit refresh again it’ll be others. Seems I might have some issues with my system rather than your app.

Would this app work well for open close sensors on windows that are not often used. I am look for a deterrent to prevent certain young inhabitants in my house from leaving undetected. Unfortunately, he is smart enough to pop the battery on an open close sensor.

Ah! That’s what “Tamper Alerts” are for!

My Garage Door tilt sensor has a tamper detect (a little spring that flics and sends a tamper event when the battery cover is taken off)… I think one of my Z-Wave modules does too.

While it still is a good idea to track for inactive devices, it’s important to have the right solution to the particular problem. Gotta wonder if the Centralite contact sensors (etc) have tamper detection, but just not written into the DTH. Look for a little button that is depressed by the battery cover? I recall one in the motion sensor, but ought to look…

What would you recommend as a solution for a window/door that would sense it being open but also alert me if the unit is tampered with (battery removed). As I am relatively new to smart things, how do I automate tamper alerts?

I currently own the hub and a few of the Samsung motion sensors and open/close sensors but I am open to other ideas.

I just checked 2 of my Contact sensors, and they both have a “tamper detect” (battery cover removed) in the hardware.

This is Z-Wave:
https://www.amazon.com/Ecolink-Z-Wave-Window-Sensor-DWZWAVE2-ECO/dp/B00HPIYJWU/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1466541628&sr=8-2&keywords=z-wave+contact+sensor

The other is the standard SmartThings Centralite Contact Sensor.


As for getting it reported, the DTH and/or related SmartApps have to be modified or written to properly report and act on the Event.

####In the case of the first device (Z-Wave), for example, SmartThings definitely is capturing the Event:

####In the case of the SmartThings ZigBee:
No Event is shown in the Event log in the IDE! (Though I didn’t check “Live Logging” to be sure, nor have I looked at the source code).

So… as far as a starting point is concerned, the Z-Wave device is closer to being able to report the “Tamper Event”; and, if you wanted to be really lazy, so that it would work with any normal Contact Sensor SmartApp, we could modify the DTH to just report a “Tamper Event” as an “open” Event.

Otherwise, you have to add Capability Tamper Alert to both the DTH and any SmartApp(s) that you need to detect that Event. Really, we could do both (i.e., report Tamper and also claim the contact is “open” just to be sure!).

Using my DTH, the GoControl/Linear Door/Window Sensors can notify you if the cover is removed. The kits are on clearance at Home Depot, but most places are probably already sold out.

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The modification required to the Ecolink Z-Wave contact sensor (and tilt sensor, …) is pretty small, but again, SmartThings doesn’t offer Community Developers any incentive to make the change and submit for publication.

It’s not like SmartThings would actually publish it anyways.

I’ve had a couple of things waiting to be published for over 3 months and they haven’t even been looked at. I know there are a lot of other developers that have been waiting a lot longer than I have.

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They are on lock down until the platform is stable. There are many official ‘devices’ on hold too. When was the last time they announced a new integration? Ages ago. I could appreciate that they hold off on expansions while they work on platform issues, but one would think that they had enough time to patch the wholes already!

So it’s going to be an even longer wait than I originally thought…

The only way ST will ever be completely reliable is if they eliminate cloud dependence and I don’t see that happening. Although if Animus Home can deliver what they promised, the reduction in ST customers should make things more stable for the customers that stay.

The Animus Home website hasn’t been updated since the project became fully funded so it’s not looking good, but the first batch of Animus Hearts are supposed to be sent to the developers next month so we should know more soon.

I personally don’t subscribe to that philosophy. Cloud and local can coexist and both have their advantages. Mixing them in an efficient and effective way is the way to go. Throw in a mobile back up and you’re all set. Properly scaling your infrastructure is the problem, which I hope ST will be able to master, or else someone else will…

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I agree 100% and that’s how version 2 of their hub was supposed to work, but it doesn’t and they haven’t made any steps towards changing that.

Technically, ST doesn’t completely depend on the cloud because of Smart Lighting and SHM, but those SmartApps are extremely limited and the community can’t create SmartApps or DTHs that run locally.

If they could solve that problem, I wouldn’t care if the cloud occasionally went down or the mobile app stopped working because at least the automations would still work and I’d be able to control things manually using button devices.

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I agree with what you said, except for not giving ST credit for their efforts towards stability. Comparing to October the progress is huge. Do they have a long way to reach their goal, absolutely. But you cannot really fault them for not trying their best with what they have.

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I agree that besides for the last week, things have become a lot more reliable than they were a few months ago.

What they haven’t done is taken any steps towards reducing cloud dependence and I haven’t seen anything from them stating that they are planning on doing that.

If the hub is essentially a paperweight every time their cloud goes down or you lose internet, you can’t call it a reliable system.

The other reason I’m frustrated with ST is that they don’t warn developers of upcoming changes to the mobile apps and every single update breaks something new or something they had already fixed.

Sorry about hijacking this topic…

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