Is it possible for me to add a plug device remotely if I have someone plug it in to my home? Since I can connect remotely to my network.
The ST mobile app always connects through the ST cloud regardless of whether you are at your house or away, so yes, you can do that for certain devices. The person at your home would need to know how to put the device in setup mode.
Some devices might not be able to included if they don’t directly integrate with ST (cloud->cloud) and require you to use a vendor’s app to connect to the device so that it can be added to the vendor’s cloud first.
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As with most things, the first rule of Home Automation applies: “the model number matters.”
For a Wi-fi or matter over WiFi plug, Probably not, because you will have to Add the device to your account when your phone with the SmartThings app is pretty close to the new plug. Or possibly on the same Wi-Fi branch. It just depends how it gets “commissioned.”
For Z wave or Zigbee smart plugs, maybe. That’s because the hub is going to talk to the device and the app is going to use the Internet to talk to the hub even if they’re in the same room. But the person can’t just plug in the smart plug: typically they will also have to do a particular tap pattern to get the smart plug to add to your hub.
For a thread smart plug, it gets really complicated. So again depends on the model, but typically again they will use Bluetooth to commission so you would have to have your phone nearby the plug for the initial installation.
Which smartplug were you thinking about?
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Any zwave plug unless you can recommend one. I have 14 WEMO (WiFi) plugs and was sorely disappointed when I went away that all were listed as unavailable! I have never had any problem with any zwave device!
I was looking at this plug on Amazon:
Zwave Plug with Energy Monitor 700 Series, Z-Wave Outlet with Overcurrent Protection, Z-Wave Hub Required Work with Wink, SmartThings, Vera, Fibaro & More, FCC & ETL Listed, 1800W
I presume you were managing those Wemo plugs in the Wemo app? If so, yeah, I think you need to be on the local Wi-Fi to manage them if I remember correctly.
Hard to tell if that device is supported by the stock Z-Wave switch Edge driver or not. Without specific model information or knowing the fingerprint for the device, it may or may not be supported.
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For the WEMO (WiFi) plugs, you add the device through the WEMO app. But you can control them through Smartthings also.
Did you check to see that the Linked Services is still active? I’ve seen credentials expire and need to be reauthenticated. Go to Menu->Gear Icon->Linked Services and click on Wemo (or whatever it’s called) and try doing a Refresh and enter your credentials if necessary.
Only linked services are Nest (for thermostat) and Alexa, both are which are ok. In the WEMO app, all devices which ate plugs are showing as not detected. In the smartthings the plugs are showing as offline. Hence my desire to replace them with Zwave plugs!
I wonder if Wemo discontinued their cloud->cloud integration? I don’t see an option in the ST app to add anything except a couple of Wemo bulbs and in the Wemo app I only see Alexa, Google Home, and IFTTT in “Connect to Other Services”.
You could proxy through one of those services using virtual devices in ST so you don’t need to buy all new devices. I do that for my Wi-Fi lock in a location that doesn’t have a hub with a lock that doesn’t have a cloud->cloud integration with ST.
Thinking about this a little more, there is a Wemo Edge driver that can support the Wemo Wi-Fi mini-plugs since you have a hub. How long ago did you start using these with ST? Wondering if you simply need to re-pair your plugs with ST so it picks up the Edge driver? To do that, you’d need to put the device into pairing mode and do a “Scan Nearby” in the ST app.
Also, since your devices were in the app at one point, I’d login to the ST Advanced Web App to get the platform view of your account vs the mobile app view. There you can see if the devices are still associated with your account and if so, what location they are in. There was another person in the forum the other day who had inadvertantly switched their mobile app to a different location and thought all their devices had been deleted.
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Well I just read the WEMO plugs have a buffer overflow issue!
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I’ve decided to order the zooz 800 smart plug to replace the WEMO WiFi plugs here:
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I’m trying to add two wifi devices that are managed by an edge driver and it appears I have to be on the local network to find them. It seems the only way is if I can connect to my home network with a VPN