Use ET-WV525BWEGCA as a SmartThings hub only vs V3 Hub

Devices & Integrations Connected Things
1

Hello,

I’m looking to setup a SmartThings security system and then expand my smart home from there.
I was planning to get the new V3 hub but then saw that there’s a Router/hub unit.

I don’t need the Wifi part of the router, I already have a solid Amplifi Mesh system in my house.

However, I was wondering if there’s an advantage to getting the ET-WV525 over the V3 even if you aren’t using the Wifi.

So my questions are.

  1. Can I turn off the Wifi completely on the ET-WV525 and have it ONLY has a SmartThings hub?

  2. The ET-WV525 has a faster processor and more ram than the V3 so is it correct to assume that it would preform better/faster than the V3 purely acting as a SmartThings hub?

  3. Since the ET-WV525 is a mesh system. If I purchased a 2nd or 3rd unit. Turned off Wifi on them also so they are a SmartThings hub only (if I can do this from question 1 above),
    Would I theoretically expand my Z-Wave signal better throughout the house if needed by connecting them to my current Amplifi mesh points by ethernet?

  4. Is there any advantages/disadvantages to using the ET-WV525 a purely a SmartThings hub directly connected to my current Amplifi Mesh system? Is it missing things the V3 has hardware or software wise?

Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

2

waste of money. You could buy the v3 hub and 4+ repeating devices for the same amount of money.

2 Likes
3

Thanks for the reply.

I should have mentioned in the first post that the cost difference between them isn’t an issue. It’s only about $80 difference in Canada ($55 usd).

So if the better processor and ram in the WiFi unit will give me a faster system than the $80 is well worth it.
I’m just not sure if there’s another bottleneck somewhere else in the smartthing system that would make it not utilize that extra processor power and ram and end up making no difference speed wise between the 2 (being used stricktly as a SmartThings hud).

I don’t mind paying more if say my smart lock unlocks in 5 seconds instead of 10 seconds. I want things to be fast.

But I don’t want to go to wifi router way and find I can’t turn off WiFi or there’s some other limitation it has over the v3 hub.

Thanks

4

It won’t make anything faster. As @Automated_House said it would be a waste of money.

5

If you want a faster cpu and ram, see if you can find the V2 and buy it. Another concern with the WiFi unit would be the firmware falling behind. The Connect WiFi system was always a couple firmware revisions behind the v2.

6

Perfect. Thank you for the insight. Ordered a V3.

7

According to ST the lower CPU/RAM specs in v3 will not have any performance impact whether they were talking in absolute terms or “perceivable” performance is unclear. I migrated from a v2 to a v3 and have not noticed any slowdown.

The part of the system that causes the long delays in the range of seconds is typically the Cloud and there is little we can do about that other than using devices that run locally. I recently upgraded my Leviton Vizia RF zwave dimmers and switches to HomeSeer’s WD200+/WS200+ dimmers/switches which require a custom DTH and I sadly have noticed the slowdown. Either way the extra features made it worth it regardless but the “cloud delay” is indeed annoying at times.

8

Thanks for letting me know what ST said and that you haven’t noticed a slowdown from v2 to v3.

I’ll be starting off with about 25 things connected to it and then will slowly expand from there which is why I wanted to minimize delays at my end.