I happy with Aqara being my main smart home hub. I then run Home Assistant to fill in some gaps where I need automations to devices that Aqara don’t currently support, such as a UK power lead, etc. Where possible and after Aqara release a supporting device, I generally replace the HW connected kit with Aqara to keep as much as possible in 1 eco system. However my home doorbell / cameras are all Ring.
I’ve been aware of Hubitat Elevation C-8 Pro for some time and must have signed up to their email updates at some point because I’ve just received news on their new “local” support for Ring Doorbells, Cameras, etc. I’ve tried using the HA integration but because it’s cloud based, everything has a big lag!
Seems an interesting concept but not sure how well Aqara and Hubitat play together for creating automations such as…
When Ring Camera identified movement
Turn on Aqara T2 bulbs in my outdoor lamps 0r increase brightness in the bulbs, etc.
@2SC_UK Thanks for sharing your smart home setup! It’s awesome to see how you’re balancing Aqara as your core hub with Home Assistant for those extra integrations—keeping things streamlined in one ecosystem is totally the way to go.
Hubitat’s new local support for Ring does sound like a game-changer for reducing that cloud lag you mentioned. Since your goal is automations like triggering Aqara T2 bulbs when Ring detects motion, it’s worth noting that Aqara LED Bulb T2 supports Thread and Zigbee protocols and is Matter-certified —these are common standards, so Hubitat (which often prioritizes local control and protocol support) might play nice with them.
Have you checked Hubitat’s official device compatibility list or their community forums? Real-user experiences there could shed light on how smoothly Aqara devices integrate. If you end up testing it out, I’d love to hear how the automation performs—whether the T2 bulbs respond quickly to Ring’s motion triggers!
Hubitat’s Ring integration is cloud-based. I believe their email was intended to convey the fact that the automation engine runs locally on the hub. However, for Ring-connected devices, the Hubitat integration does in fact use the Ring Cloud.
Note: Some Ring Z-Wave devices can be paired directly to the Hubitat Hub, but this means that they are not connected to the Ring system at all.
I saw this email and believe it’s misleading. I’d love a hubitat user to show me otherwise, but the fact they put cameras on the images makes people think that the streaming is local… I just can’t find any evidence or documentation that this is the case.
I believe the new Hubitat Ring integration for Ring cameras allows those devices to generate ‘motion’ events on the Hubitat hub. Someone walks up to a camera, Hubitat is notified via the Ring cloud which then generates a motion event on the Hubitat hub that can be used in Hubitat’s local automation applications to turn on lights, send a notification, etc… Likewise, if a doorbell button is pressed, Hubitat will raise an event for that as well.
I agree that the email is not clear on how Hubitat integrates with an existing Ring system, nor exactly what functionality is available. More details on Hubitat’s Ring Integration can be found in the Hubitat community at Ring Integration Beta - 📰 News and Updates - Hubitat
