Smartthings Hub V3 does not work in Canada

Smartthings customer services response:

Hello,

Thank you for contacting SmartThings. I’m sorry about the confusion and frustration with the supported release of the SmartThings Hub v3 in Canada.

We are tracking this interest, and I have linked our conversation and this correspondence to the tracking of this feature request. You mentioned that you had purchased it via Samsung.com. As it is not yet available in Canada, and there is not an estimated time frame, you will want to contact our Samsung Customer Services Team to return your order by visiting this [link}(https://www.samsung.com/us/support/customer-services/) , sending an email or by calling: 1-855-726-8721. They should be able to help with the return process. Unfortunately, I am not able to initiate a refund or a return for the SmartThings v3 Hub.

Again, I apologize for the trouble. Please keep me posted with how it goes, or if you have other questions or suggestions. I’m here to help!

Kind regards,

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I’m not 100% sure if your response is snark or sarcasm, because, kid you not, I can dish it out, but I frequently don’t recognize it in return.

My intention was not to disparage your genuine desire for answers, but to save you time and emotional energy by sharing that you’re not likely to get a trustworthy answer.

Hub V2 is nearly as powerful as V3, and possibly less expensive, and it works in Canada :maple_leaf: (so far…), so that may be worth considering.

Meanwhile, Hub V3 can (I hear) be successfully initiated in Canada via establishing a US based Samsung Account and/or possibly some other GPS or VPN workaround - we’re waiting for one of our ActionTiles Customers to share the details of the workaround he came up with.

Meanwhile, I’m glad to see that SmartThings Support has given an unambiguous answer as to the current situation and their recommendation of a return…

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I’m not here for a fight. just frustrated at this point that Samsung allows these devices to be sold to locations where they aren’t supported currently and aren’t being forthcoming towards what it is they are working on.

My apologies if I took my frustrations out on you. It’s certainly not your fault.

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A completely understandable frustration. But the situation is not unusual for Samsung and, in variations, other corporations.


Nothing personal - but the simple solution for consumers is to curb their urge to be early adopters. It’s inefficient use of time. Everyone seems to assume that the “latest” = “greatest”… When this is typically very untrue in practice.

Latest = incomplete rollout, slower support (both official support and customer peer support) due to lack of experience, undiscovered and unresolved bugs, Features that only exist in specification (e.g., Bluetooth, migration), but not in reality, higher price (prices tend to drop after the initial demand decreases), low supply and backorders, … etc.

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Hi Alex… I got a SmartThings Hub 2018 too and would like to know how to get it to work in Canada. Thanks

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I will get this information from my client and will share here. Meanwhile, I also have a Hub v3 on order.

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Thanks so much…this would be great if it worked. I was waiting for it to arrive and then finding out it did not work sucked.

The process to get SmartThings Hub V3 in Canada is roughly this:

Good luck!

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Looks good. Except you can’t setup a V3 hub with the Classic app. Have to use STSC.

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There is no “yes / no” branch labels on this part of the Flowchart.

I presume down = “Yes”. But what to do if “No”?

image

I understand your position here but if being an early adopter means that it won’t work at all then Samsung shouldn’t be selling devices such as these to consumers in the first place and should only be making them available to developers.

To capitalize on selling these devices, taking my and others money, providing an unusable product and then essentially hide and not provide any updates or information for that matter to their paying consumers is just unacceptable in this day and age.

I did my research, have friends using smartthings who recommend it and it looked to me like the best option for what I was looking to do. My friend suggested the V3 version because of the wireless option not realising that it wouldn’t work outside of the US region because him like everyone else here has been mislead by Samsung imho. They should be making that very clear that but haven’t, not that I can find anyways.

I will continue to play the wait and see game but if this lasts more than a few more weeks I will most likely be contacting them to return it for a full refund especially if they stay silent like they are.

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I got a ver3 the other day before knowing it wouldn’t work yet… :frowning_face: I tried to hook it up to no avail … Found this post and tried the “call in to change my region route with my account” … First called smarthings cs and they transferred me to another department to make the change… First tech wasn’t sure it would work …2nd CS agent didn’t ask why other than to ask where I was… Can/Us… I replied Can and he just said “and your moving to the US” I replied "yes: … :slight_smile: …He Told me it would take or day or 2 to be processed and too watch for an email from tech department that change had been done!

We will see how this method works out…

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Did you purchase it from an authorized retailer outside of the USA?

Samsung has no responsibility to purchasers who self-import to other countries.

yes I got it off ebay delivered to a friend i was visiting last week in the US…

So you self-imported the US Hub into Canada, right?

Samsung has no responsibility to people assuming that electronics sold in the USA will work internationally. Not sure if the packaging mentions this… It would be polite to.

Has the Canadian equivalent of the FCC (the IC), certified Hub V3? If not, then import and operation is actually, possibly illegal.

This article isn’t as clear as it could be, due to confusing product names…
https://support.smartthings.com/hc/en-us/articles/200880104-Does-SmartThings-work-in-my-country-

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The flowchart mentions paying for NordVPN in order to remote into the USA to create a Samsung login.

You might try using one of many available “free” VPN services first.

I did not create this flow chart. It’s provided as a guideline. YMMV.

What is STSC???

OK.

My assumptions based on this (and hope some folks will test / verify):

  1. If you already have a non-USA Samsung Login Account, then you cannot move it to the USA without assistance of Support.

  2. You might be able to follow the VPN steps and create a different Samsung Login though (e.g., use a gmail or hotmail “alias”… terry+sammy@gmail.com).

  3. The login creation process uses IP based geolocation (not GPS or other “location services”) to determine where the Samsung Account should reside. This means you can use a VPN or even a friend in the USA to create a US resident login.

  4. That login can then be used to connect / register the Hub V3.

  5. I assume that Hub V3 does not, itself, use geolocation to confirm that it is connecting from a US location. Therefore, the Hub V3 does not need to be on the VPN (or be configured by a US based friend, etc.).

Item #5 is rather critical. If it is not true, then this method of activating the Hub isn’t very practical. If #5 is true, then this method is, relatively, trivial, and could satisfy the participants of this Topic, including @William_Poznansky - I hope.


BTW:
A search for certified SmartThings products on the Canadian IC website (our “FCC”) does NOT seem to list Hub V3.

The closest match is the Samsung Connect Mesh WiFi System (which includes SmartThings Hub functionality internal) i.e., Hardware Version ID = “ET-WV525”.

https://sms-sgs.ic.gc.ca/equipmentSearch/searchRadioEquipments?execution=e1s1&lang=en

Et-wv525 is SmartThings WiFi, their WiFi mesh system with hub

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