Hi everyone , I have a broadlink rm pro currently which is working well so far to control the window blind, fan , aircon, sound system, led light, computer . All this is in my room. I can remotely control this items too But i’m still trying to find a solid reason for me to switch over to ST.
If i were to switch over to ST, i will need to purchase a separate harmony hub in order to control my ir devices. The led light and switch is in rf(which i doubt the harmony supports). So i’m trying to find or figure out what more i could do with ST compared to broadlink…
One thing i know the broadlink can’t do it show the status of the device if it’s switched on or off but if i used the sp2 plug from broadlink , it shows the status.
P.s: i have also configured the amazon echo to work with broadlink using a raspberry pi bridge
Good question… I just wanted to make sure i’m not missing out on anything. And i also learned that ST uses z-wave and zigbee while the broadlink uses ir and rf. And so far from reading around , z-wave and zigbee seems to be more reliable and stable… correct me if i’m wrong.
And as i had mentioned, one issue i see with broadlink is that it does not show the status of a device if it’s on or off… but at the same time… to set this up with ST… i’ll have to get a ST hub, harmony hub and maybe also a plug or switch and it’s expensive compared to broadlink.
So i wanted to know what more could ST do compared to broadlink… Also, i need to place broadlink device in line of sight on the devices i want to control… not sure if that’s how it works with ST.
One other thing i know ST can do it control locks which i doubt the broadlink can do…
Z wave and zigbee are reliable protocols when run locally , but the smartthings implementation of them depends on a cloud-based architecture which so far has not been very reliable. Since last November I have yet to go 10 days without an impactful SmartThings failure. The company is very well of the issue and has committed to improving things but we’re not there yet. So that’s just something to keep in mind.
As far as IR versus zwave or zigbee, IR has two big disadvantages. First, as you mentioned, you must be direct line of sight to the device. Both zwave and Zigbee can go through walls, although the specific architecture matters. Foil wallpaper or wire scaffolding inside the wall might prevent signal from getting through.
The second is that IR is a one-way protocol. You can’t get a status from the device. You can keep track of the status based on what you did with the controller, but if you have multiple controllers then you can easily get out of sync.
But I would say if you are happy with Broadlink, stay with Broadlink. Every system has pros and cons, so it’s just a matter of finding one that has a balance that you like.
IKEA just released their Smart Lights over here in sweden and I’ve been running with Broadlink for quite a while, which means that pretty much everything is controlled by the Broadlink hub. I’m thinking of trying out the IKEA bulbs which are controlled with Zigbee HA1.2. The thing is that Broadlink has no support for Zigbee HA1.2, so I’m wondering if you know of any tested transmitters that works similar to Broadlink but has support for Zigbee HA1.2.
And one other thing. It would be great if that transmitter works with Tasker (Andriod), that would be awesome since I pretty much do everything through Tasker. Great app.
Today I have a SmartThings Hub in my home but I needed to buy a Broadlink 4 Mini to control a specific model of air conditioner.
My question is: Is there some way to make my SmartThings recognize this Broadlink, and be able to use it to include “Automation”?
Thanks !!
There is no direct integration for Broadlink. Are you sure you need a broadlink 4 mini? What is the brand and model of air conditioner? You might look to see if it can be controlled by a Switchbot mini as that does have a direct SmartThings integration.
Every system has pros and cons, so it’s just a matter of finding one that has a balance that you like.