Hello everyone, I’m currently in the process of migrating from Vera Lite to SmartThings, and I wanted to share my experiences and ask for some advice. Moving from Vera to SmartThings has been an interesting journey, and I’m excited to see how much more I can do with my smart home setup. However, there are a few challenges I’ve encountered along the way, and I’m hoping the community can help me out.
One of the main issues I’m facing is integrating my existing Z-Wave wall switches into the SmartThings ecosystem. These switches are located all over the house, and unfortunately, many of them are more than 15 feet away from the hub. I remember with Vera Lite, I could use the hub’s battery power to walk around and include these switches manually. But with SmartThings, I’m not entirely sure if this is possible. Does anyone have experience with this? Is there a way to include these switches without having to run new wires or move the hub?
Another thing I’m curious about is the battery-powered operation of the SmartThings hub. I noticed some batteries in the box when I received the hub, and I’m wondering if I can use them to power the hub temporarily while I include these switches. With Vera Lite, this was a breeze, but I’m not sure how SmartThings handles this. Does the hub still need to be connected via Ethernet, or can I manage everything wirelessly?
I’ve also been experimenting with some new devices, like the Zipato Bulb 2, both in Z-Wave and Zigbee versions. While they work, there are some bugs that are a bit frustrating. For example, the Z-Wave version doesn’t automatically refresh its status in the SmartThings app, which can be problematic when trying to use it with routines or smart apps. On the other hand, the Zigbee version works better but lacks some features like fade-in/fade-out transitions. It’s a bit of a trade-off, but I’m leaning towards the Zigbee version for reliability.
If anyone has tips on troubleshooting these issues or has successfully integrated a lot of Z-Wave devices into SmartThings, I’d love to hear about your experiences. Also, if there are any best practices for setting up a hub-powered network without relying on Ethernet, that would be incredibly helpful.
Thanks in advance for any advice or insights you can share! I’m really looking forward to getting everything up and running smoothly.