For months I’ve been having issues with my hue motion sensors and some other zigbee devices on Smartthings, but my hue motion sensors are definitely my biggest headache. They drop offline constantly, and when they are online they may not report anything for hours at a time. They used to work perfectly connected to my v2 hub but it seems since the slow rollout to edge they’ve become unreliable.
Does anyone have a Philip’s Hue Hub and Smartthings Hub working together, and do you find this a stable set up? Is it still possible to run smartthings automations for devices connected to a Hue Hub?
I have a both hubs and stability has been great. The custom driver by @blueyetisoftware is superb and allows increased control in ST that you don’t get with the official driver, such as the ability to import accessories e.g. motion sensors, which can then be used in automations.
[ST Edge] Philips Hue LAN [BETA] - Developer Programs / Writing Edge Drivers - SmartThings Community
For best response times you’re best having a sensor and bulbs connected to the same hub however. I’m assuming your bulbs are non-hue and would stay on the Smartthings hub? Unless you intend on expanding on Hue devices it would be worth weighing up the cost of the Hue hub against a new motion sensor.
3 Likes
Thanks for your experience, sounds positive. I use the hue motion sensors directly on my smartthings hub for more than just lights (I use switches rather than bulbs), but to control blinds, curtains etc. Before they became so unreliable all of this was instantaneous. I’d tried some Aeotec Z-wave multi sensors previously, and although reliable were slower to report than the Hue ones. Aeotec have brought out newer versions of their multi sensors since I tried them so may give them a go too. Guess it’s just weighing up costs against reliability. Thanks!
1 Like
Most people run both, and in fact that’s the only setup that’s officially supported by both companies. 
I ran both for about 5 years. The hue hub was much more stable than the SmartThings platform, so it served as a “plan B” for times when ST was being flaky, as it continued to work with Alexa, Apple HomeKit, and its own app.
FAQ: Do I need the Hue Bridge/Hub to Use a Hue Bulb with SmartThings?
1 Like
I’m effectively running the opposite in one of my rooms to what you’re proposing, but with issues due to my choice of motion sensor - I’ve an Aqara sensor connected to ST, which occasional drops offline, and that controls Hue bulbs connected to a Hue bridge, as well as other devices in ST. I’d be better with the Hue motion sensor on the Hue bridge, it’s just annoying that it’s twice the price of the Aqara equivalent…
You can do this with my driver. It exposes the motion sensors to ST and you can setup automations to turn on all sorts of things. I do this with mine as well. Using the sensors through my driver also allows you to have a better cool off period for the sensor as well as being able to enable and disable it through automations. I have found Hue to be much more stable and fast so I tend to set things up over there and then use my driver to expose them to ST.
I have some other features on my roadmap that I plan to add once they are available in the Hue api:
- Mimic presence
- Geofencing for presence
- Hue Cameras
These aren’t possible yet, but when their API catches up, I plan to be an early adopter.
3 Likes
I’ve got a hue hub being delivered today so looking forward to tying this and getting some stability back 
2 Likes
I bought my hue sensors at different times whenever they’d drop down around £27ish, but now they barely go lower than £38. I’ve bought an aeotec multisensor 6 to try, it’s more expensive but has humidity too which will be handy in my showerroom. It’s still not as expensive as the v7.
Unfortunately I can’t seem to get this working. The hub is picked up as a “virtual hub”,
but it connects with a different driver to “philips hue beta”.
All that’s there is a virtual device creator.
I’ve tried to change the edge driver to “philips hue beta”, but then it immediately goes offline.
Tried restarting the smartthings hub at various points but still can’t get it to work.
Ok, first things first, although the smartthings app allows you to change from one LAN edge driver to another, this usually breaks because you don’t get all the security information transferred over. To use a different edge Driver for a Philips hue hub (which is an LAN device) you’ll have to scan nearby to get it to pick up the new driver. And, yes, that may mean that the hub is listed twice as a device in your smartthings app. But that won’t hurt anything.
I’m not 100% sure, but it sounds like you might be trying to use the following custom edge Driver. If so, ask in that thread for help.
1 Like
It was my bad! I assumed that when I got my new router I’d moved all the ethernet cables into that instead of my router/modem…I had not 
after I moved my smartthings hub into the same router as the hue hub it all worked flawlessly.
2 Likes
Ignore this nonsense…should have checked my ethernet cables!
2 Likes
Great news. Glad it is working for you.
2 Likes
Thanks for your time not in only helping me get this up and running but in making a very helpful driver too.
2 Likes