What is the difference between SmartThings power outlet and a WeMo switch? I haven’t got SmartThings yet, but have a couple of WeMo switches, they are cheaper currently than SmartThings do if I was to expand what is the difference?
Thanks
Different communication protocol. Wemo is connected by wifi. The ST plug is zigbee, which is zigbee. It seems to me, and someone let me know if I’m off, that the wifi connected products for ST are the most unreliable. We no seems to have trouble constantly. For the ST plug, it helps to repeat zigbee mesh so in theory it strengthens your signal. I did this (with a securify peanut plug, not ST) but it does the same thing. Since then my presence fob has been nearly perfect.
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On the others end of that, my peanut plug is so big that it interferes with the other plug in the receptacle. It looks like the ST sensor does the same.
So being zigbee it’s more reliable? Does the ST give feedback when switched? My WeMo insight gives my iPhone notifications when switched on/off etc
In my experience any product that has been linked to smartthings by wifi or cloud has been not so great. The zigbee plug they offer communicates directly to the hub so in my opinion, it works better. Here is a good example. I have an exobee3 thermostat. It is a fantastic thermostat but what I really wanted it to do was to react to routines such as raising the temp when I leave and turning it back down when I come home. I believe I should have went with a thermostat that communicates by one of the protocols that ST speaks. I constantly find my thermostat has not adjusted one way or the other. Exobee3 is wifi cloud to cloud and thermostats like Zen and others are Z-wave or zigbee. In my home I want automation. I don’t want to have to fiddle with the app everyday. I want all of this stuff to just work.
Also if you search the forums you will see that many people have had trouble with the Wemo integration. That was enough to keep me from investing in any of those to integrate with ST. They may be fine on their own but I need them to work with the ST hub.
My web based Honeywell’s are very reliable. I’ve been lucky I guess. I do run Pollster, and I have followed the changes to the device when HW made some changes. Within one poll or one minute if a command sent every time. FWIW. Web is almost always going to be slower than a direct protocol the way this system works.
@bridaus that’s great! I’m glad your thermostat is good. I’ve just noticed that most of the way through the day that my house has been cooling all day at 74. Energy conservation is one of the main reasons I got into this stuff.
The other reason I favor the zigbee outlet is that I realized finally that if I was talking on my phone when I got home the hub ( or the other way around) would not pick up that I came home and would always trip the alarm. I bought a presence sensor but it was unreliable at first. Since I put that plug at the front of the house it has been great.
is the plug indoors or outdoors. I just added one inside my garage but has not really improved the sensor picking up that I am home sooner… I don’t think they are rated for outdoor use… in fact I have not found one that is.
Mine is indoors connected to my Dropcam
Operating Temperature: For indoor use
http://support-uk.smartthings.com/hc/en-gb/articles/204778381-Samsung-SmartThings-Outlet-UK-
we should note that the maximum broadcast strength for any radio frequency device in the UK is set by law at a lower ceiling than for the US.
For this reason, the range on any given UK device, particularly zigbee, may be lower than for The same device engineered for US standards. I would expect a typical range in a home to be around 10 m in UK and maybe closer to 15 m in the U.S., assuming the US device is using boosted zigbee. Although there’s always a lot of local variation depending on architecture and furniture.
Garages are particularly problematic for getting signals through, because they typically have a lot of concrete and a lot of metal. And little glass. Brick is also a problem for signal drop off. Tinted glass blocks more signal than clear glass, although clear leaded glass is bad, too.
If you’re in the UK, and you are trying to extend the reach of your arrival sensor, I would probably not take the typical US advice of adding a repeater inside the garage. Instead, I would look at adding one near a clear glass window on the side of the house you are approaching from when you want the arrival to register. Just a thought.
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Just my experience, if you’re looking keep SmartThings in charge of everything, go with z-wave or zigbee switches for fast response and reliability. My wemos used to work for two weeks then stop working for a month. Check the official compatibility list although a lot of unsupported z-wave devices work with a little fanelgaling.