Sometimes when I read this forum I swear there must be several versions of ST out there. While I, like everyone else here, have experienced many of the same problems described above I have yet to have a problem with sunset/sunrise events. First reaction would be, “Must be a different server” but it is only the sunset/sunrise event problem from which I have been spared.
2 Likes
I read all of these issues and I must admit if it were me I would be mitigating the issues by either not making an (seemingly) unreliable platform responsible for extremely important functions or by doing away with the system entirely.
For me, hot water is not something that I see benefit in automating nor do I care to risk cold showers. Much different outcome than a light bulb not coming on. There isn’t much more miserable than a cold shower and that would sour me too!..hence water heater integration will not be an expectation for me.
Based off my experience with Smartthings I know better than to use it as a home security system (for example) but some light bulb, door lock, thermostat automation it is amazing in my eyes and works as reliably as I expect for the investment. If it doesn’t work I simply use those things as I would normally without smartthings…which I would guess happens 1% of the time. The other 99% isn’t all success rate as sometimes my phone screws up or the power or internet is out. All things I take into account when I laid out my expectations and responsibilities of smartthings. The platform relies on a lot of things out of it’s control to function as (I feel) some users expect.
Best $100 I ever spent because my expectations and asks have been kept minimal / realistic in my eyes. Every product I control w/smartthings can be operated separately if need be. I have had things I spent much more money on that don’t work as well…and I got rid of those things.
It’s pretty simple to me…if it adds value, efficiency, and convenience…than I automate it with smartthings if I’m able to do so…if it already has all of the aforementioned than I leave well enough alone.
To that point…I happily sail on. In reading some of these posts I would certainly suggest abandoning ship and invest substantially in a platform that can meet your needs / expectations reliably.
Sometimes when people get a really good hammer everything begins to look like a nail.
5 Likes
Yeah, it’s not really automation if you’re behind the curtain pulling strings. I had a ST contact sensor stop working with 77% battery remaining, and I was so over trying to solve HA problems that two weeks passed before I bothered to fix it. It was solved by simply reinstalling the battery, but I don’t feel like that’s something that should have been necessary. Too many little issues like that IMO just to turn on some lights (my case) in a basement.
1 Like
To the point of replacing the ST hub/backend/models with whatever @scottinpollock replaced with " the code I have written to replace much of SmartThings runs flawlessly " would have to be something talking to zwave and/or zigbee devices via some gateway (usb dongle on a pc, would be my choice) and then he’d have to create some kind of event system, and device model, and maintain state in some persistent store, etc. There are a few FOSS projects around zwave or zigbee (but not to my knowledge both) but it is sure a whole lot simpler to use the ST platform, IMHO.
I was interested in what he used - What language/framework/platform.
I wrote a simple server app for OS X, that has the ability to execute any of the scripting components available on that system. The server receives events from a number of devices, including SmartApps.
I have not replaced the hub; if I had, I’d no longer be here. I still use it to communicate with sensors and switches, but talk to as much as I can directly over their api. And most scheduled events and timed sequences have been replaced by scenes invoked by various scripts.
It’s a work in progress, and I will wait for what is now a huge amount of dust to settle before deciding how to replace the zwave/ZigBee part. I have already done this twice, and want to make sure my third time through does not result in any unpainted corners.
For an open platform, SmartThings is incredibly closed due to its nature, offering no local api. I won’t be making that mistake again. If that changes with v2 (and the firmware works), I’m happy to use the hardware and handle the logic myself.
1 Like
So the part you replaced was the schedule/timer events? Yeah, I would expect those might be more reliable local vs cloud. Sounds like you’re still using the full stack of ST though. To “replace” ST you’d need to be dealing directly with zwave & zigbee messages, or using some framework (http://www.openzwave.com/dev/, http://www.homegenie.it/, GitHub - whizzosoftware/WZWave: A native Java library for interfacing with Z-Wave PC controllers, etc) which does. The trick there is dealing with both zwave and zigbee (none of those do, btw.)
[quote=“scottinpollock, post:191, topic:11840”]
For an open platform, SmartThings is incredibly closed due to its nature, offering no local api.
[/quote]Yeah - I assume this is either a security or performance concern, or both. I am very interested in what they do for the V2 hub.
No, it was a short sighted design decision to store all device/driver/command interpretation in the cloud. I don’t want or need to talk native ZigBee/zwave, just a gateway with a local api, which I think will be coming down the pipe.
If not, maybe a whole bunch of raspberryPi.
BTW, I could replace much (if not all) of the sensor input to Wireless Sensor Tags, whose tag manager can call a local URL (my server). Just another option I am waiting on.
Exactly. Philips Hue bridge is a perfect example how HA can and should be done. It has an open local API, solid abstraction model, reliable cloud service and a decent mobile app. Adding ZWave to the mix would turn it into an excellent home automation platform. Too bad Philips is only focused on lighting control at the moment.
2 Likes
Don’t hold your breath.
To the best of my knowledge, based mostly upon relevant Developer Calls, the Hub V2 model is essentially just a “caching” mechanism (and maybe “ka-ching 
” too 
).
While Hub V2 can and will store and execute all device handlers and SmartApps locally (if they do not use any cloud services!), out of the gate, there will be no way to connect the mobile app directly to the hub. It will also be impossible to modify code or configuration without going through the cloud… Etc.
Over the past week, I’ve misssed a handful of Sunset events (strangely, Sunrise events were passed as intended).
Today I get a notification that my mode app changed my mode to Home since my wife arrived, only for the alarm to go off 3 minutes later because the mode never actually got changed (even though the command was clearly sent)… frustrating
If it’s like other home automation systems, way more people set up sunset-dependent events then sunrise-dependent events, so it would make sense to run into scheduling overload for sunset more often.
For me, the mode change failures were the ones that broke the camel’s back. If the light fails to go on, I see that it failed to go on. I can take alternate steps.
If a mode change fails to happen, however, there’s nothing to let me know that that happened at the point of failure. And it can be really complicated to track down how many things are affected by the failure. I don’t want to have to look at something, whether it’s the dashboard, or an indicator light, or a widget, every time something might have been supposed to change in order to verify that it actually did change. That would pretty much defeat the whole point of home automation for me.
1 Like
None of my motion-controlled lights are working tonight. I think I may be done trying. I’m so tired of the constant effort to keep this crap working.
This level of instability is to be expected for a product in Beta testing phase. Did we miss the memo?
[quote=“allison, post:199, topic:11840”]
None of my motion-controlled lights are working tonight.
[/quote]And weirdly, mine are. But they didn’t last night, since they didn’t get the sunset event last night. But tonight they are ok. Argh. Really hope this settles down soon!
My water heater schedule has been iffy for a couple of weeks, the app crashes on entering the event history, and new “unexpected errors” starting yesterday. What a mess?
We are facing the same issues. 
I am gradually removing everything from ST platform (love ST and NOT moving to any other platform) but wherever I have a native app available, I am using it more and more these days.
2 Likes
Must be some nation wide rotating energy conservation effort, my motion lights weren’t firing this morning…
The fly probably landed on the sensor.