Samsung Fun or how I found the fatal flaw
After deciding that Home Assistant was too technical for the average human, I decided to try a commercial hub. There are a multitude of choices. Amazon, Google, Brilliant, Samsung, Apple , Wink , Securifi, Home Automation are just some of the hubs you can choose from.
The next question is which one to choose. My primary goal is to create a turnkey product for installation in my flip houses. I had already built two houses with smart home devices.We never interconnected them. The package consisted of Samsung smart appliances, Nest environmental controls, Ring doorbells and floodlights and Leviton switches. I figured the buyer had his/hers/zie/Zim ideas of their own (wrong) about how they wanted them setup.
I used Samsung because they are a known brand that has a complete line of smart appliances that sell well in homes in the $300,000 to $600,000 price range. I looked at LG and GE, but Samsung is all in on smart things and had the most robust offerings. No one is going to raise an objection against Samsung Appliances in that home price range. I chose Ring and Next for similar reasons. We chose Leviton because it was the first smart switch we could find at Home Depot that had Alexa compatible written on the box.
I selected the Samsung Smartthings Hub. It is compatible with all of the Samsung appliances and has a long list of supported devices.Since the Smartthings hub has no voice commands , I added Alexa to the mix.
It is very difficult to set up a lab that includes over $7,000 in appliances, so I decided to use my unsold flipouse in Atlanta. The only problem is that the house did not have its own Internet connection. I had installed a SimpliSafe Security system. I used the neighbors wifi and the cameras worked fine. However, at&t provides 5 G in Atlanta, so I decided I would check out 5G stability and functionality by setting up a house test 5G network.
My first hurdle is that at&t does not have a consumer grade mobile hotspot device for 5G . They said I could dedicate a phone as a hotspot. I upgraded my phone and put a new sim card into my old phone. The old phone was going to begin a new life as a mobile hotspot. So I took my phone , Samsung hub and Alexa echo dot to the house.
The mobile hotspot setup easily (except for at&t hiding the SSID and password in an awkward spot on the phone) . The bandwidth tested at over 30 Meg's up and down. The only issue is that you can only connect ten devices at a time. This would only work for a test.
Before we get started you need to know that you will be downloading an app for each manufacturer you select.Commercial providers require you to use their app to set up their devices. Each of these apps will set up an encrypted connection to each manufacturer's cloud. Even if you have a hub the devices still need cloud connectivity.If you lose Internet Connectivity you will lose complete functionality for some devices and only have limited functionality for other devices. I have at least 7 apps.
The first step in installing the Samsung Smartthings Hub is to download the Smartthings app to your phone. Unfortunately, Samsung has two Smartthings apps. The original , now known as Smartthings Classic , and the new Smartthings app. The two apps have different User Interfaces and different capabilities. This caused confusion later in the process.
The Samsung Hub came up very easily. The trouble began when I tried to connect it to Alexa. Alexa saw the Smartthings Hub, but the Smartthings Hub could not see Alexa. This led to hours of reading documentation, browsing forums and troubleshooting.I finally broke down and called Amazon support . They kindly told me that I had done everything correctly and they had no idea why it would not work. At this point I decided to proceed with other integrations. After connecting a few pieces of advice I called it a day. I finally received a call back 5 days later asking me if I was still having the issue.
The next day I decided to move the hub and devices off the hotspot. It was fairly stable, but the ten simultaneous connection limit was a problem. The neighbors network was giving off three to four bars, so I cut a deal with them to use it. I figured it would be really simple to change wireless networks. I figured wrong.
Here is the process for the hub
In the SmartThings app:
Touch Menu (
)
Touch Settings
Touch Update Wi-Fi Information
Select your SmartThings Hub, then tap Update
Using a pin or a similar tool, press and hold the red, recessed button on the back of the Hub until the LED begins blinking red/green
Touch Next
Using your mobile device's camera, scan the QR code located on the back of the Hub or enter the serial number manually
Select your Wi-Fi network
Enter your Wi-Fi network's password, then tap Connect
Once the Hub is connected, tap Done
The button in step 5 is the factory reset button.
Another method is to factory reset the unit.I figured (wrong again) that there would be a restoral process.After all, it takes an average of 10 minutes to add a device and place it it's proper locations and groups. Sometimes you have to set the device in pairing mode . Sounds simple unless the device is in the basement or outside attached to a second floor balcony column.
I factory reset the device. It never came back completely. I could get to the point of adding it to the wireless network and it would lock up. Or it would tell me the hub could not be added. After a couple of hours of Google searches and troubleshooting, I gave up. I did not have the strength to deal with Samsung customer service.
I figured it would be a good idea to purchase a new hub instead of continually beating my head against the old one. The Samsung Smartthings hub is built like a tinker toy and only costs $69. They are in homes where they can be broken the same way any other fragile item can be broken.
There should be an easy way to restore from backup. It is a cloud edge device. (wrong again).
I brought the new hub up on the neighbors wireless network. It came up easily. I tried to connect it to Alexa and the same problem occurred. I then made a rookie mistake that I had screamed at technicians about for years. I began adding devices without checking the configuration. I spent hours setting up devices.I then connected them to the new hub. The problem was that they did not appear in the location I had set up for this house. The hub decided to create a new default location named my house and place all the newly connected devices in it.
I checked the documentation and there was a simple method to move devices between locations. Sadly, it only worked with the old smartthings app and only for devices supported by the old app. I gathered the courage to call Samsung support and they told me the only way to fix the issue is to delete the devices and add them to the new location.
I had now spent three days on this and I needed to go back to Florida. I set up the ring cameras for security and enabled some Alexa lighting routines. Everything worked fine.I could even view the ring cameras through the Smartthings hub.
Since I am an OCD geek, I had to figure out how to fix the hub issue. I read developer documentation, Zigbee and Zwave protocol documents and anything else related to IOT communications.This process helped me find the fatal flaw in the Smartthings hub. The Samsung Smartthings hub had no backup utility.If it dies you have to rebuild it from scratch. You lose everything including your scripted automations.
The hub connects to the cloud and operates as an edge device. It seemed impossible that there was no cloud stored backup. It takes days to set this thing up and even longer if you did not write down your automations. There is no way I am going to install a cheaply made piece of plastic that has no backup. I searched everywhere to see if there was a back up process. I was unsuccessful.
I decided to stop working with The Smartthings hub. It takes far too long to figure this out just to lose all your work because my dog ate my hub. I spent years of my life forcing engineers to properly back up systems. I suffer from PTSD caused by improper backups and the resultant trauma. I am not being flippant . There were severe consequences for this type of failure I am not going to install anything that leaves me that vulnerable.
I liked the Home Assistant hub, but I thought it was a geek fest. The Samsung Smartthings hub is too unstable not to have a backup. My next blog in my Smart Home Trudge is to check out another commercial hub.