I am getting a little frustrated having to drag a long Ethernet cable to get the SmartThings hub close to new devices for pairing, so I was wondering if I can use my laptop to provide both power and a wireless connection to allow the ST hub access to my router. The power is a non-issue; however, all of my attempts to setup a DHCP bridge between my laptop wired NIC and my wireless NIC have failed. The hub never seems to make a DHCP request against my laptop’s bridge. I have also tried the Windows Internet Connection Sharing (ICS), also without luck.
Has any one been able to successfully bridge a connection between their wired NIC and a wireless NIC to allow the ST hub wireless access to a router? If you have been successful, what are your settings? I am using Windows 7 and 8 by the way.
Believe it or not, I haven’t moved my hub from it’s original installed location for almost a year. I’ve got over 140 devices now, and the only devices I’ve brought to the hub were battery powered devices and my GE bulbs. All my GE switches/outlets, Aeon devices, thermostats, and MIMOLites were all included to ST with the hub never ever moving. In fact, I just installed 2 GE switches last night - the hub was on the exact opposite side of the house as the switches. The inclusion process took less than a minute at that distance (through several walls too).
I did start building my zwave mesh by adding devices closer to the hub first, and then out to edges of the house, including outside. I also repair often to keep routes fresh and optimized.
Depending upon if your devices are Zigbee or Zwave, maybe adding a repeater to your mesh may help you out when you can’t bring a device to the hub for pairing, like battery powered devices.
You can also use the Aeon Minimote as an inclusion device. This makes it easy to walkaround with a lightweight remote and add devices to your network without having to move the hub.
I’ve used that approach quite successfully to move my hub. The only place I actually needed it was for a door lock, and I didn’t want to remove the lock.
Be aware that for some devices, including directly to the hub is required for full functionality. This includes locks, and z-wave dimmers that have instant on reporting (e.g. Leviton VRMX1). Those devices can be included using a Minimote, but won’t function correctly. For other devices, the Minimote works quite well.