Virtually all of the devices I’m controlling are Z-Wave. I see that the V3 Hub has been discontinued. (Although some remain in the supply chain.) I’ve always found Z-Wave to be more reliable. Because Z-Wave operates in the sub 1 GHz band they avoid the ultra crowded Wi-Fi area. Typically the Z-Wave range is about double what I see with other systems.
I don’t think it will be too long before Samsung decides to abandon Z-Wave support entirely. I’m curious about people’s opinions on alternatives. SI seems to think that Hubitat is similar in nature to SmartThings, but with a strong commitment to Z-Wave.
I am interested in opinions about how someone who is completely committed to Z-Wave could plan for the future. 12 years ago I started home automation using Revolv, SmartThings is my 4th system, the previous automation systems were bought out, or otherwise discontinued.
ST has discontinued manufacturing the V3 hub but it is still supported on the ST platform. Aeotec still has new V3 hubs on sale at smartmatters.co but supply is expected to run out before the end of this year. I don’t expect ST to stop supporting z-wave on hubs that support it for many years to come.
Thank you for your knowledgeable advice. In my research, you’re right, Home Assistant seems like an excellent system. However, I do NOT want a project, I want an appliance, that is not ditching Z-Wave.
I’m with @jkp in expecting that Samsung will continue support for existing hubs for a few years at least. They’re still updating the 11 year old V2/2015 hub.
I started my deployment in our new home in 2018 with Z-Wave light switches and dimmers, mostly from Zooz. At some point I hit strange Z-Wave networking issues that went away when I swapped out some devices for Zigbee versions. I’ve currently got about 1/3 Z-Wave, 1/3 Zigbee and 1/3 other.
I never see it mentioned here and don’t know anything about its capabilities but the Zooz folks sell a Z-Wave hub. The company was recently acquired by Jasco, fwiw.
No need to panic yet. Your V3 keeps working with Z-Wave, so you have time to plan instead of rushing.
If you want an appliance that stays committed to Z-Wave, Hubitat is the one I’d look at. It has Z-Wave and Zigbee radios built in and runs rules on the hub. I moved my own house from SmartThings to Hubitat.
Honest heads-up, it’s still a move:
Every device has to be re-paired and renamed.
Every routine has to be rebuilt and tested.
Check that each device you care about has a driver before you switch.
Great minds think alike! A little while ago I ordered a Hubitat Pro. 90% of my items are simple plug-in switches (this allows me to reboot Wi-Fi cameras remotely). Some of them are pushing over 10 years old. I’ve decided not to use them again, I’m just going to buy new Z-Wave switches. Not having to un-pair the old ones will save countless hours. I have a few water sensors and a “Leak Gopher” valve on my main water supply that I will have to un-pair and reconnect to Hubitat.
I’ve been a happy camper with SmartThings for many years. SmartThings could keep Z-Wave going for 10 more years, or they could turn it off TOMORROW.
Hubitat has a solid commitment to Z-Wave and that’s what I need.
It is not my plan to “rip everything out”. I will have the Hubitat hub running with the SmartThings V3 initially. I don’t have a lot of programming. But I do have about 60 devices.
Thank you for your comments. I’ve always enjoyed the good advice I received on this website. You people have been very generous, and courteous to me.
My GE/Jasco Z-Wave outlets and switches have been in service for nearly eight years and the switched port on quite a few of my outlets have failed and are longer covered by Jasco’s 5-year warranty. I made the decision to start transitioning to Thread as a replacement for my Z-Wave outlets as they fail or when I find that I need two switched outlets at single outlet location. I tried out and have been very happy with the Eve Energy dual-switched in-wall outlet. They are well made, include the no-screw/snap-on switchplate and wire nuts. Eve decided to provide pigtails for each of the connection wires vs connection terminals so the wire nuts being included is appreciated.
At regular retail prices, they are quite a bit more than Z-Wave replacements, however, I’ve been picking up a few during Prime days where a three pack is generally 30-35% off retail price. I also recently decided to try their dimmer switch. Again, well built and the on/off switch is capacitive, requiring just a touch to activate. There is a rocker to the side of the on/off to adjust the dim level. I’m liking this design as guests in my house get confused with the existing Z-Wave mechanical dimmer switches where they are not sure whether to push and hold the switch or just push it once.
My ST hub is the Wi-Fi (Plume) hub and is getting quite long in the tooth. There hasn’t been a firmware update in a few years now and I’ve actually moved off the Wi-Fi mesh when the issues with the Plume integration surfaced last year. I also decided to get a backup v3 hub just in case my Wi-Fi hub fails or becomes completely unsupported. Turns out I also needed it for some driver work I’ve been doing due to the differences in the Lua libraries after 59.x was released. My Matter devices are using a ST Station since the Thread stack on my Samsung Fridge hub isn’t reliable enough (hangs periodically).
So, long story short, my long term plan is Matter for all my smart home devices with Thread for my outlets and switches to form a strong mesh and Wi-Fi when the device I like supports that (seems like the lock vendors are leaning that direction). And by standardizing on Matter, I can support multiple ecosystems through multi-admin and transition to one of those should I tire of ST’s bugs and lack of decent support.