What can I do without internet?

So I understand the processing of things is done via the internet so an internet connection is needed. I assume though, I can still use any physical switches and such without internet?

I’m not sure I understand why cloud computing is needed for actions on this - I could see it for setup and such, but seems using the app to turn on a light or something should just be local. I was a little disappointed to see this, but as long as I can still control things directly, it shouldn’t be an issue. I guess the only potential issue is that outlets don’t have switches so if those we’re off when the internet went down, I’d be unable to turn them on?

Thanks in advance!

Smartthings was originally designed as a cloud-based system, and it’s still 95% a cloud-based system. For example, the official mobile app requires the cloud to talk to the hub even if it’s on your home Wi-Fi network. It has to go out to the cloud and come back. It’s just the way they designed it.

The following thread should answer most of the questions you’re just raised:

If you physically operate a smart switch, the light it is attached to will turn on and off as expected, regardless of connectivity. Of course the app won’t update with the current state without an active internet connection. This is one of the main reasons I use smart switches instead of smart bulbs: they work as normal, all of the time, which makes them failsafe for internet outages and easy for guests and children to understand and operate.

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@matt
Some outlets have switches on them.

In wall Ge zwave outlets have a small button on the face.

The worst part of this new life is forgetting how to manually turn on a switch, or using smart bulbs/thermostats/etc that are exclusively controlled by the ST cloud.

I’ve had 2 internet outages in the past month. They were really an annoyance and left me wishing that ST would reconsider their position and give us a hub that can hold the processing code and custom device handlers for local processing for non-Connect() devices at least.

All of my automations have redundancy… If the system goes down life continues as normal, be it a little more effort on our part, but it still goes on.

We just have to actually turn on and off lights… It’s so 20th century!

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My modem is connected to an appliance switch. How come I can’t power cycle the modem without internet? This is ridiculous!