SmartThings Community

SmartThings global roll out

(Jimmy) #1

I’ve been catching up on the SmartThings related sessions from SDC and this slide from the What’s New With SmartThings session caught my attention.

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I think it was obvious when Samsung aquired SmartThings and kept the branding around that the plan would be to eventually to go global. (V2 was only supported for USA and the UK. Not sure where all the Connect Home was available). So it’s good to see a short term plan for the countries they will be supporting. It’s hard to see the flags, and I’m horrible at geography, but from left to right I believe the flags are: USA, UK, Canada, Mexico, Chile, Spain, Italy, Germany, Netherlands, Singapore, UAE, China + 10 new. A couple things I find interesting/important:

  1. I think this is the first time there has been a hub for South America, the Middle East and Asia. Somewhat significant since they use unique zwave radio frequencies from the USA and UK.
  2. the new app is region locked for devices you can setup and add (including hubs). So this provides some clarity on countries that should support it.
  3. partnerships countinue to grow. It looks like most of them are based on the new SmartThings WiFi system for the hardware.
  4. still no indication of Australia support :confused:

Anyway, though some of us might find this interesting.

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Help! I live in Brazil and I already bought Samsung SmartThings Hub (2018) and my cell phone does not locate it
Bought a US device to the EU (Sweden) - Problems ofc. Need to sell
#2

South America is a big continent with many countries. There are three different Z wave frequencies commonly used there, but they vary by country. Some have adopted the same frequency as the US, some the same frequency as the UK, and Brazil uses yet a different frequency, which has also been adopted by Chile, Paraguay and Peru.

https://www.silabs.com/products/wireless/mesh-networking/z-wave/benefits/technology/global-regions

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#3

There have previously been hubs for Singapore and Korea, but they were closed pilots.

http://thingsthataresmart.wiki/index.php?title=Hubs

There was also a kickstarter hub for Australia that some people have.

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#4

Oh, and Australia uses the same Z wave frequency as Chile. :wink:

As for why different countries have different frequencies, it’s all about interference, particularly interference with (not from) mobile phones and first responder communications systems. Since different countries have adopted different restricted frequencies for ambulance and fire communications, local Z wave has to stay out of those bands. :fire_engine::ambulance::rotating_light:

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(Jimmy) #5

well that’s not confusing at all! Looks like Chile uses the same frequency as Australia.

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(Jimmy) #6

And here’s the Australia SmartThings wifi. Interestingly not listed under Chile or Brazil?

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#7

To be honest, it’s not unusual for companies to submit for countries that share a language with models that were previously certified before they get to the ones that will require translations.

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(Paul) #8

I have given up hope that they will ever launch in Australia. If they were going to then they would have done it by now… SDC was my last hope. It makes no sense given how easy it is but it’s been coming for 3 years now and still nothing.

And it looks like even if it did come it would be the wifi system in partnership with Vodafone, neither of which I want.

I will stick with my US v2 hub until the classic app stops working and then move to Hubitat I expect. I don’t own any other Samsung appliances so it’s not like I’m going to miss out on starting my washing machine remotely or anything :roll_eyes:

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(ActionTiles.com co-founder Terry @ActionTiles; GitHub: @cosmicpuppy) #9

Are other recent Samsung products sold in Australia? Then Samsung very, very likely will bring SmartThings to Australia.

They absolutely are a global company and intent SmartThings to be equally global. Over 22 countries currently rolled out.

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(Paul) #10

Well, look what just happened!:

Australian Samsung accounts can now add all the expected device types in the “new” app’s Add devices page. Obviously it’s not the hardware I was hoping for but I’m glad it’s a start and glad to be proven wrong :slight_smile:

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Is there money in Smart Home consulting?
(Jimmy) #11

cool! which hubs are available under the Wi-Fi/Hub category?

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(Paul) #12

It doesn’t list any types, as soon as you tap the Wifi/Hub icon it goes to a searching/setup page.

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(ActionTiles.com co-founder Terry @ActionTiles; GitHub: @cosmicpuppy) #13

RACV?

These partnerships in the international rollouts … are weird.

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(Jimmy) #14

I thought the same! But then thought of Canadian Tire and how they sell a hell of a lot more than tires…

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(Paul) #15

Yeah, weird. The Royal Automobile Club of Victoria! But I guess that long term they can see the decline in private car ownership and are looking to enter more markets. They recently started selling solar PV systems, previously they were basically just car/home insurance and breakdown cover.

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(Paul) #16

…Goes looking for the SmartThings Alexa skill for Australian accounts… :crossed_fingers:

Edit: nope, nothing there yet.

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#17

For those unfamiliar with RACV, it’s not just an auto club. In particular, it sells homeowners insurance and it sells home security systems already. It also sells solar energy systems in a couple of areas, I’m not quite sure how that one folded in. But the SmartThings partnership came in through the home security system side, which makes sense.

The kit is based on the SmartThings Wi-Fi hub model.

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