Question

Would you do ST again if you had to start over? We are likely moving soon. I am not going to remove any of the switches/outlets that I have installed when we leave. And my ST hub is 6yrs old. Do I go back to ST and start over or use the opportunity to go a different direction?  

Answer 1

Go with Hubitat so everything runs local and it has backup/restore if a hub fails. I love ST but.  

Answer 2

I’d probably go with Hubitat

Comments

@outroar why?  

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ST has been crap since being bought out by Samsung. Devices constantly going off line, a slow push to a terrible app, even worse customer service.  

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@outroar gotcha. I guess we have had different experiences.  

Answer 3

Yes. Best combination of ease of use and automation power IMO.  

Answer 4

I’m just starting out and have become familiar with ST as it seems to be the bigger name. But I’m quickly moving into the habitat camp though I feel like I’m cheating on a longtime friend.  

Answer 5

I would wait and see what the state of play us when it's time to start over. If ST delivers on local execution I'd stay with ST. They must know it's all but essential. If not then probably one of the other solutions that does run local.  

Comments

@pachton8 I know that but very little, basically Smart Lighting. ST recently announced plans for more local capability.  

Answer 6

Yes without question. Tried home Assistant and absolutely hated every minute of the install, setup and maintenance and Hubitat had a terrible app / web interface. My only complaint is cloud processing and it's not a big deal. It's on the roadmap to bring local but I feel like the map is years not months based on no info from Samsung  

Comments

@elwira I said that wrong. most parts of the platform CAN auto update. and backups do happen regularly. I GET to pick when I upgrade and can revert if I want (VMWare snapshot or copy of VM). The one thing I wish you could do that I haven’t seen a way to do is pick which version you want to install or upgrade to.  

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@convolution85 oh right. Gotcha. Well again, in docker you can pull specific images/versions pretty easily. If I ever need to roll back that's how indo it.  

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@elwira hmm. interesting. I have never used docker, so a VM was the easy way for me as it’s something I’m used to managing.  

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I have a bit of an. obsession with Docker. it's my new thing haha.  

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So i emulated hassio by creating a bunch of containers that speak directly to Home Assistant - node red, adguard home, android debug server, etc

Answer 7

No reason not to. Been using it for 3 years and it's been even better than I ever expected it to be.  

Comments

@facing Feinstein agreed

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Until it dies and you don't have a backup.  

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Samsung seem more focused on smart fridges and washing machines than the smartthings eco system itself. There are never roadmaps or timelines or plans from them on its future so youd wonder do they want it at all.  

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@scranton so if my hub was to break that’s me goosed? I can’t just get another and load it all back again? I’ve never actually thought about this.  

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@plasmagel Nope-you have to redo everything from scratch.  

Answer 8

I'll sell you my Wink for cheap!  

Answer 9

I'd go with Hubitat. Full local control and no Samsung monkeying around with a good thing.  

Answer 10

Personally, I'd stick with Smartthings if I had to start over. Hubitat (to my knowledge) still doesn't have a useful/functional app, and getting access outside of your home network requires exposing it to the internet anyway. Hubitat is getting better every update though, so Samsung better start paying attention of they could be next on the chopping block. As for what I'd do if I started over: 1. No Lutron. Not worth the price considering options available today. 2. Avoid the "cheap" route. I bought a couple xiaomi sensors and they're okay, but not reliable at all. Cheap may work for some people, but for something that's a 1 time expense, I'd rather pay for reliability (within reason). 3. Really plan before buying. I've replaced quite a few components because I had a vision but it wasn't complete. Part of this is changing tech, but part of it was just poor planning. See item #1. My Lutron switches became a total waste when I invested in white spectrum bulbs. I had to change them out for Zooz/Innovelli switches that had more features.  

Answer 11

No backup/restore is a dealbreaker.  

Answer 12

Have ST v2 for nearly 3 years. It has it's small issues but in general it's been reliable. Gripes are 1. Slow progress in dev. 2. This classic / new app bull. Have an app that works. 3. No Backup of config. 3. No automation of mesh rebuild. 4. Devices going offline. 5. Some local operation.  

Answer 13

I like ST. Might look into Hubitat. My concern is the longevity of the Hubitat brand. There is a lot more to keeping a new company going besides the quality of their product. Of course ST is no guarantee.  

Answer 14

Having come from Iris, ST was a relatively easy transition. Many revises were not compatible but Lowes did provide a redemption debit card for all device they knew were not compatible, and in most cases, at full paid price regardless of age. But a back/restore system for ST would be nice, as I have over 100 devices and had a hub go within a year. The hub was under warranty but the pairing and reprogramming time isn't. No, Iris didn't have backup/restore either. And I did 3 different hubs with considerably fewer devices back then (first started up in 1/17. Iris down on 3/31/19). Battery power backup was available with Iris while not for ST, but my router, hub and ethernet wired laptop are on an uninterruptible power supply.  

Answer 15

Nope. Would move to home assistant which is just a tad less complicated then ST at this point in time.  

Answer 16

I've started migrating to Hubitat since it has local controls and doesn't require everything to go through their servers in order to work.  

Answer 17

Couple months ago I took down my smarthings hub and replaced it with Hubitat. Less because of any issues I was having with Smartthings and more to do with a general feeling of being feed up with Samsung.  I had most of my stuff on ST running local so that wasn't a huge change. However the Hubitat intergration with a bond hub is local where the ST intergration is cloud based.  

Answer 18

So here's my issue. Back in the early 2000s for about 5 years I was a certified Crestron and Lutron designer and programmer. The software written to program these devices were written by engineers, not UI/UX designers and were horrible. But they were 1000x easier to program than SmartThings. Writing automations and and getting things to work together was pretty easy. I cannot for the life of me figure out how to program an automation/action in ST. I mean I know how to do it, but every time I want to change something or add something new I have to re-figure it out every time. It is so not intuitive. Other than that, the system has been running fine. Every once in a while we have quirks where things may not work for a bit, but within a reasonable time things are back online and working. So, really no issue there. I just find it is a pain in the butt to setup and maintain.  

Answer 19

SmartThings  

Answer 20

Smart things are still the best.  

Answer 21

Absolutely, I would. It continues to add more devices, functionalities and once I learned Webcore, I am sticking around. I just wish there was a migration tool or backup of the setup.