Smartthings

[Dolby]

So this is one of the questions that a bit lost in the major thread :

Anyone have a Smartthings Hub?
Anyone know the best price to get one locally?
Does the Vodacom version have its own FW and branding?
Any issues or challenges using it locally?

 

[Dolby]

I gather then that these are very unpopular locally

No one has one at all?

Something tells me they'll be gone in a year if Vodacom don't do something fast. On the face of it, R1,999.00 seems good - but there is a subscription and I'm worried they've tinkered with the FW

EDIT : Subscription is mandatory and won't work without.

V-Home Safety Starter Kit | Vodacom

V-Home Safety Starter Kit

www.vodacom.co.za

 

[maumau]

Don't like subscriptions

 

[Dolby]

Don't like subscriptions

Or me.

I think around the world Smartthings is free.

I can understand why Vodacom have a subscription - but I'd rather pay full price and optionally subscribe to it. I don't like the 'mandatory' bit

 

[maumau]

Or me.

I think around the world Smartthings is free.

I can understand why Vodacom have a subscription - but I'd rather pay full price and optionally subscribe to it. I don't like the 'mandatory' bit

Me too, pay once and own it. They also increase subs as and when they choose.

 

[Greglsh]

I was also looking into getting a Smartthings hub, would need to get from the UK as they have the same Z-Wave frequency as SA. Then I read on a forum (can't remember which) and someone said they bought the new 3rd gen hub and where unable to setup a Smarthings account in SA and he had to ask someone in the UK to create an account for them to load onto the hub? I did not want to take a chance so I am currently running a Hubitat hub (EU version for Z-Wave frequency) and loving it, bit of a steep learning curve but going well.

 

[b1ayd]

Hi, I do have a UK SmartThings starter kit. It includes the hub 3, door sensor, button and motion sensor. I was able to register an account without issues.

I am not using it anymore so would like to sell.

 

[Dolby]

Which generation?

 

[b1ayd]

Which generation?

Gen 3

 

[djmoase]

Hi, I do have a UK SmartThings starter kit. It includes the hub 3, door sensor, button and motion sensor. I was able to register an account without issues.

I am not using it anymore so would like to sell.

Did you find a buyer?

 

[b1ayd]

Not yet

 

[Saba'a]

I was also looking into getting a Smartthings hub, would need to get from the UK as they have the same Z-Wave frequency as SA. Then I read on a forum (can't remember which) and someone said they bought the new 3rd gen hub and where unable to setup a Smarthings account in SA and he had to ask someone in the UK to create an account for them to load onto the hub? I did not want to take a chance so I am currently running a Hubitat hub (EU version for Z-Wave frequency) and loving it, bit of a steep learning curve but going well.

With hindsight, would you choose hubitat or Home Assistant?


Edit
Sorry for resurrecting a 2 year old thread

@Gregish

 

[Greglsh]

Hi

Sorry only saw this now, I have tried Home Assistant and it was a very steep learning curve for me. I am still running my Hubitat and once I had it setup how I wanted (lots of playing around etc) I just leave it and it does it's thing. If doing changes in YAML files is your thing and you willing to tinker then I think Home Assistant is great. I enjoyed learning the Hubitat and had some very helpful people on the forum.

One of the guys has broken away and is developing his own "Home Automation HUB" they tried to launch in Covid times so don;t think that went well. Maybe take a look and see what you think. It's called Core, don't know much about it but worth a look see.

Oh-La LABS Community

Uniting all automations in one location

community.oh-lalabs.com

 

[Saba'a]

Hi

Sorry only saw this now, I have tried Home Assistant and it was a very steep learning curve for me. I am still running my Hubitat and once I had it setup how I wanted (lots of playing around etc) I just leave it and it does it's thing. If doing changes in YAML files is your thing and you willing to tinker then I think Home Assistant is great. I enjoyed learning the Hubitat and had some very helpful people on the forum.

One of the guys has broken away and is developing his own "Home Automation HUB" they tried to launch in Covid times so don;t think that went well. Maybe take a look and see what you think. It's called Core, don't know much about it but worth a look see.

Oh-La LABS Community

Uniting all automations in one location

community.oh-lalabs.com

Not a fan of HA because no knowledge of yaml etc. But it is brand agnostic.

Only issue is Hubitat with smartlife wifi (bulk of my devices).

Thanks

 

[Heisenborg]

Smart life and google home for me. Not as advanced as HA but pretty much plug and play

 

[Saba'a]

Smart life and google home for me. Not as advanced as HA but pretty much plug and play

Yep. Problem is that some things not obtainable as Tuya Smartlife devices eg cannot get soil moisture sensors.

Or too expensive eg s55 Sonoff outdoor plugs. Local tuya price ridiculous (couldn't find overseas) vs Sonoffs that I imported.

 

[Heisenborg]

Yep. Problem is that some things not obtainable as Tuya Smartlife devices eg cannot get soil moisture sensors.

Or too expensive eg s55 Sonoff outdoor plugs. Local tuya price ridiculous (couldn't find overseas) vs Sonoffs that I imported.

Yep. Getting my stuff on Amazon. Will see how it works in longer term...

 

[Greglsh]

I have a lot of Sonoff devices I bought from Banggood. Flashed most of them with Tasmota and have these hooked up to the Hubitat. I then bought Sonoff and Xiaomi motion and door sensors (ZigBee) an then bought 2 x Xbee's and made these (via YouTube) into Zigbee repeaters. I then used some Arduino's flashed these as sonic distance sensors to automate my garage doors (detects if my car is in the garage when I arrive home, if not open the door) works very well as I use Life360 app as a geo fence.

 

[MidnightZA]

Not a fan of HA because no knowledge of yaml etc. But it is brand agnostic.

Only issue is Hubitat with smartlife wifi (bulk of my devices).

Thanks

HA is not as yaml hungry as you think. A lot of it has become UI based. Once you do the setup initially, I think 99% of automations can be done using the UI now with auto complete and dropdown menus etc. Its actually very simple.

 

[Saba'a]

HA is not as yaml hungry as you think. A lot of it has become UI based. Once you do the setup initially, I think 99% of automations can be done using the UI now with auto complete and dropdown menus etc. Its actually very simple.

Might try it out as I am thinking of using Solar Assistant on a raspberry pi. If I do, I'll load up HA.