I’ve read, re-read, and re-re-read about Hub Replace and Hub Backup. It is thoroughly confusing to me. The Samsung FAQ “SmartThings Hub Groups and Hub Backup Features” dated November 12, 2024 doesn’t help me one bit.
All I want is some simple method to backup my hub or have a failed hub automatically fail-over to a backup hub. I really don’t need a secondary hub (at least to my knowledge I don’t). I just want reliable protection if my current hub croaks.
Right now I’m running a V2 Samsung hub. It’s been running reliably since mid 2018 and I’m scared to death of a failure. I’m so paranoid that I’ve manually put all my Routine logic in a spreadsheet so I have some documentation of the system. But that approach is time consuming and clumsy.
Should I buy another V2 Hub and set that up with Hub Replace?
Should I migrate the entire system to two new Aeotec V3 hubs? (I can’t believe they have half the memory and half the processor speed of the years-prior Samsung V2 hub!)
I feel your pain…I have also read the various threads and with helpful feedback from the experts in this community I have decided on the following approach. Don’t think this is exactly what is needed but hopefully this will at least save some headache in the future.
I have an 8 year old V2 which is still functional but I am scared of it croaking any day. I ordered a new Aeotec V3 hub and I am going to add it to my current system just to ensure that both hubs are active at the same time. I won’t add any devices to the V3 hub. My understanding is that if my V2 hub dies in the future, I can just use hub replace to move everything over to the V3 hub as long as I don’t delete the dead V2 hub.
How did you do that? I’ve done all my programming on my iPhone. I don’t know how to get that programming on my Mac so I can put it into a spreadsheet.
I ordered a new Aeotec V3 hub <<
Why did you choose that instead of a SmartThings V3?
I was flabbergasted when I discovered years ago there was no provisions for backing things up. The reason everyone else on the planet makes provisions for backups is so you will STAY in their ecosystem. Without a back up, you might as well start brand new, fresh with a competitor. It always boggled my mind.
Thanks for your thoughts. Do you have any idea how can you migrate the setup from a dead V2 primary hub to a live secondary V3 hub? I’m confused how a dead V2 could be coaxed back to life to transfer data. Or is all the config data in the cloud?
Samsung really needs to prepare a much better FAQ.
Click the “Export to CSV” button and then open that in Excel. In Excel, I added columns:
IF 1
If 2
Then 1
Then 2
Then 3
Notes
I manually wrote my IF and THEN statements in those spreadsheet cells. Like I said, it’s clunky and time-consuming. If the hub croaked, I’d have to recreate all the Devices and Routines manually, but at least I have my system documented.
I’m wondering if I should get two V3 hubs, migrate the V2 to one of the V3s, add the second V3 and retire the old V2.
It was bubagump who wrote “I ordered a new Aeotec V3 hub,” not me. Isn’t Samsung exiting the SmartThings hardware business? But here’s a comparison from just three months ago…
Periodic configuration backups are saved to the cloud. If your previous device is dead that can be used. You can even see the backup encryption public key in the AWA.
Depends on how many devices you have and Edge drivers you are using. The v3/Aeotec hubs have less memory and less processing power.
Ideally if you did buy two, you could put them in a hub group and have dynamic fail over from the primary to the secondary in the event the primary fails. If you have too many devices or drivers, you might have to split the load between two hubs and Routines that involve devices on both hubs will run in the cloud.
Samsung sorta got out of the hub manufacturing business by handing over production of the v3 to Aeotec where it was rebranded as the “Aeotec Hub”. Not long after that, however, the SmartThings Station was released (not sure who actually manufactures it but it is branded as ST/Samsung device).
There have been quite a few posts from forum members who moved from v2 to v3 successfully. Only driver channel subscriptions are not migrated and the new hub must be re-subscribed to any that the old hub was enrolled.
Thank you very much for doing that! I don’t really have any IF THEN programming. Here’s a sample of my code.
“Turn off 33 Christmas Tree Aeon Outlet at 12:01 AM”
My programming would not be difficult to duplicate. In the event of a failure, though, pairing 62 devices to a new Hub would be the very tedious part.
Of the 62 devices I have paired with my SmartThings V2 Hub, probably 50 of them were a battle. The instructions provided did not work as shown. I had to try various methods and do certain workarounds. Part of my problem was, I was a new adapter. I purchased a V2 unit a few months after it was introduced. Most of my Z wave devices do not have QR codes. Most of them are just simple plug-in switches, some other ones are water leak sensors. Getting them to pair was a battle. I can say that Aerotech has great technical support and would always answer emails in a few hours.
No, SmartThings got out of the hardware sales business as it wasn’t viable. The SmartThings branded products - the V3 hub and a number of devices - were, and still are, being made by Samjin who also make power supplies and remote controls for Samsung. In most regions Aeotec have taken over the range which is now branded under their name, with Samjin handling their own region directly. The products are the same.
SmartThings hub technology has long been available to third-parties to produce their own products but the only company that ever produced anything is SmartThings’ parent company Samsung. They have long taken the approach of combining the SmartThings hub with other products. The Connect Home and the later SmartThings WiFi that combine the hub with Wi-Fi mesh routers were Samsung products. They have moved on to including hubs in other appliances such as TVs, fridges, monitors, soundbars, and wireless chargers (the Station).
That’s complete drivel though. They are the same product.
I have an Aeotec Smart Home Hub with about 100 (mostly Zwave) devices attached. I took me weeks to get all my devices migrated over from my old Axial Control system. I would hate to start over again if/when my hub dies.
I just looked and the “Replace Hub” feature is not listed as described above.
I just got off the phone with SmartThings support, she told me that the only way it works is if I already have an identical secondary hub, then it will automatically migrate to the secondary.
Spending another $130 just for the peace of mind might be worth the trouble.
But I would rather have a backup, as a single lightning strike could take out both hubs at the same time.
The support person is confusing Replace Hub with Hub Backup (which would be better described as Hub Failover). Hub Replace allows you to migrate devices, Routines, etc from one hub to another. They do not have to be the same model of hub. People have successfully migrated from a v2 to a v3 hub for instance.
Hub Backup (or as I prefer, Hub Failover) is supported when your hubs are participating in a Hub Group. In a Hub Group, one of the hubs is the primary and is responsible for all message processing, on-boarding devices, etc. The additional hub(s) are simply radio repeaters for the supported radios of that hub (Zigbee/Z-Wave/Thread). If the primary hub in the Hub Group fails, a secondary hub can be promoted to the primary.
When you say that “Replace Hub feature is not listed”, where are you looking and what do you see. On my ST Station (which supports Hub Replace), “Replace Hub” is greyed out because I don’t have another eligible hub on my network that I could migrate to. There are other reasons as well such as appliance hubs with dongles and hubs that are also mesh Wi-Fi devices.
I selected my Smart Home Hub out of the devices menu and clicked on the three vertical dots to get this menu.
Replace Hub is supposed to be between Driver and Settings.
I have multiple SmartThings V3 Hub in different locations.
My list is in Android phone similar like your list. No greyed “Replace Hub” is visible.
In ST App How to use:
Hub Replacement
It’s easy to replace an outdated or broken hub with a new hub. After replacing the hub, the devices that were connected to the original hub will be reconnected to the replacement hub.
In the Device tab, select the device card for the broken or outdated hub, then select More > Replace hub.
To replace a hub, a new hub should be added to SmartThings that satisfies following conditions:
There should be no connected devices.
It should be connected to SmartThings to same SmartThings location, and its status should be online or connected.
It shouldn’t be set up as part of a multi-hub network.
Edit: to same SmartThings location (addition) is missing from ST App How to use
