Smartthings Buttons = Very bad first impression of Smartthings

[JDRoberts]

@Sylvain_Lacroix

I’m starting to understand that if you want a reliable network, or reliable home automation, I’m going to have to invest some serious cash in the system

It depends on your definition of serious cash… There are some relatively inexpensive “reliable systems, including Apple HomeKit, the hue bridge on its own, even Amazon echo.

My own reliability requirement is an MFOP (maintenance free operating period) of at least six months and preferably 12, because I have to pay someone else even just to pop the batteries in a device. (I’m quadraparetic.) Smartthings doesn’t meet that, But HomeKit, the Hue bridge, Lutron Caseta, and Echo all have.

Here’s the project report on my home with budget if you’re interested:

Adding Home Automation in Phases: my limited investment strategy

i’ve been working on this over the last year and I’m just finally getting around to writing it up. I’m quadriparetic, use a wheelchair with limited hand function. So home automation isn’t a hobby for me. I want to get maximum return on investment, with a pretty small budget, and I want everything to be working and practical from the beginning. [image] At the same time, my personal belief (and this is just a guess) is that while there will be several good candidates for plug-and-play home automation systems that will do most of what I want for under $5000 by the summer of 2017, The reality is that there is no system yet that will fully meet my requirements. (edited to add we did finally get this by 2019, more details when I get around to updating this for 2020. ) There are ex…