I’ve read a number of posts about the USB ports on the Hub, are they enabled or just for show?
If they are working then I assume anything that looks like a COM port when its plugged in will be accessible easily via the API?
Any clarification on the state of this would be great.
Thanks Simon
They don’t do anything yet… well… perhaps provides 5v of power, but I wouldn’t try to draw too much current.
Hub V2 (i.e., the one with USB Ports) is fully firmware upgradable over the internet. Upgrades are pushed automatically and you have no option to defer upgrades. At some time in the future, API methods may become available for these ports for some or all or none of: mobile internet modems, WiFi adaptors, local storage, COM ports, other protocols, …
Some of these protocols will be processed locally, but all of them will require updates to the APIs on the SmartThings Cloud for Device Handlers and/or SmartApps, in the form of “hub methods” or some new programming interface.
It is unlikely we will ever get “root” access to the Hub, and, IMHO, unlikely we will even get a simple incoming serial shell / debugging, SSH or Telnet interface.
NB: SmartThings very seldom pre-announces detailed specifications for any new features and certain never issues firm delivery dates. Any features or dates that you happen to read are likely unofficial and also very likely to slip indefinitely.
I think the option to have a NAS Drive connected instead/alternatively of paying monthly cloud storage fee’s for video storage should realisticly be an option granted by the V2s Hubs USB ports . . . However i have no doubt at all that someone will find a way to do that 
That would be a loss of a significant revenue stream for SmartThings. Why would they make this relatively redundant feature a priority when there are so many other features and bug fixes in the queue?
suppppposeeee so i was however going to add, it would be more of secure solution i guess to have them clips saved off site, because if someone broke in they could essentially steal a nas drive and get away scot free 
What do you have against the Scots? 
Erm erm erm . . . are they still in the Rugby World Cup haha jokes, nothing . . . just British terminology haha
Hmmm I’d bite on home surveillance with that arrangement! My video is my video, there’s no reason to go to the cloud. You could make the slight argument that maybe if it were sent to the cloud advanced facial recognition could be run on the stream for presence that the hub couldn’t handle. But other than that I’d love to hold on to my own video.
NAS through USB? that doesn’t sound like “Network” attached storage at all!
NAS / USB HARDRIVE — You know what i meant haha
i just meant surely there should be a way to be able to hold your own video locally as a pose to HAVING TO PAY to store it . . . its should be an option . . . . your own storage or pay for theres, most would pay no doubt but others who didnt want to would have the option.
lets be fair, it wount be to hard to forward the content to a hard drive when the video/stream functionality is opened up.
Your right, I do. Doesn’t mean I cant mess with you. 
I have Hikvision camera’s (love them), which have the ability to write directly to a NAS/FTP, and in addition, i use my QNAP NAS with the Surveillance Station. I don’t care if SmartThings can write to a USB drive or NAS, I rather do it at the local device and not have a middle man. That being said, I hope for (soon) that SmartThings does do pass-through video for free, and soon. That would be a huge thing for me.
That’s why we don’t send it to the cloud unless there is an event. 
Yeah, So anytime you ask us to save a clip we take video that is buffered locally and send it to the cloud. Then and only then do we save it to the cloud. Second to that you also have full discretion to delete those clips once they are saved via the SHM solution module. You can do that by going to the history page and viewing on of the events in the history, there will be a delete option under the clip.
End thread hijacking
That’s a meaningless observation when it comes to ST. Do not hold your breath waiting for them to support anything connected to the USB ports. I predict you will see hub v3 before you see that. This company cannot even ship working software for their premier SmartApps, let alone keep the basic features of the system working properly (hello, multiple users). Develop a new capability because it “wouldn’t be hard”? Forget it.
To add to the thread the USB ports are there for future expansion. It would really allow for modular upgrade paths should a new protocol come along that would make sense for us to add to the platform among some other things!
Wow, resurrecting an old thread, sorry. Since Smartthings V2 missed the boat and can’t even alert/notify when the Hub goes on and off of battery power, you would think that they would at least enable these USB ports so I could connect a UPS to the Hub and the Hub could then sense if power is out from the connected UPS via the USB port. There are just a few things about Smartthings that just make me think of it as Dumbthings. Really Samsung?
I’ll bump this old thread too. I dont get how smartthings might have the best developer experience for us being able to quickly roll custom smart apps and device handlers, yet refuses to give us access to the built in USB and Bluetooth after so much time has passed since launch. They’ve intentionally made it the ultimate home automation hacker/modder box but have just crippled it over stuff like this.
Prediction: Smartthings Hub v3 will be launched before v2 ever has BT or USB support.
My prefered option for the Usb port would be to add a Usb Cellular Modem. Since ST requires internet access for operation. I would like to see this as a redundant use for internet capabilities. I could tether to my existing data plan when my fiber connection goes down.
Hi! I’m using the USB ports of the Hub to power 2 USB led strips. It seems that is working fine but I want to be able to power on/off the USB ports to remotely control the led strips - is this possible? Regards