Question

Looking for advice on two separate systems in same building with shared devices and separate Google assistant control. Thank you for putting up with the deluge of us Wink users and our questions! My wife and I live in the second flat of a house with a very good friend in her 70's. I had set her up on her own Wink years ago and since moving in we have been running two Wink systems in the same location. She only has smart lights at the moment and controls them mostly through voice with Google assistant. So here is my wish list. I would like the friend to be able to see just her lights and not ours for simplicity sake. It seems that ActionTiles is the best solution for that, correct? I would like to add outside sensors and controls that we can all see, such as garage door open/closed. Is there any way that I can tell Google "turn off my living room lights" or "turn off all lights" and turn off only my lights and not my friends lights? And allow her to use the same commands on her lights only? Can I do this on one ST hub? Do I need a second hub? Would a second hub under my account (friend would be fine with that) be the best solution? Any thoughts are appreciated. Thanks in advance.  

Answer 1

For what you are doing, I would go with two hubs. You COULD as you guessed use Actiontiles to do what you want - but, it becomes funky when you add in Google assistant and you BOTH want to say "turn off the living room lights". Get one hub for you and call it one location, then add a second hub for her - under your account - as a 2nd location. Exactly what I do now for two homes in opposite parts of the country. If you then want the Ability to have HER control something on YOUR hub or vice versa, you could create custom actiontiles panels as AT can work across multiple locations (although you need a license for each location). The hubs are cheap (at least here in the US) so no big deal.  

Comments

Thank you so much @hinder. Great advice and I appreciate it. I have no problem buying a second hub, I wasn't sure if they would get confused being in the same location.  

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@hinder only problem here is the new google assistant integration brings devices from ALL SmartThings locations.  

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Thanks @crabstick4604. That would cause a problem. Any thoughts on a solution? So if @hinder says "turn on all lights" in his AZ location it will turn on everything in his MN location?  

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I have Alexa . I can't recall exactly all what I did but I use similar commands in each location. I may have modified Alexa to accomplish this it has been awhile. The other thing you MAY wish to consider is just having completely separate accounts. Everything will be isolated then no her controlling your stuff and vice versa but will solve the google assistant issue. If you are merely administering it for her, this might be best.  

Answer 2

Here is a screen shot from the smartthings IDE (you will want to learn about this) showing two locations under one account .  

Comments

I have a lot to learn. lol

Answer 3

And here is a screen shot from one of my MANY AT panels that has elements from each location in it .  

Answer 4

Google & Alexa both have spacial recognition. So if you have it in a room in their respective apps than yes it will turn off the lights only in that room. I live in a duplex and had to get creative with front room, living room, kitchen, bakeshop etc to keep the 2 halves separate for voice control. In that aspect Alexa is better because you can put devices in multiple groups, whereas Google only allows a device to be in 1 room. You won't need 2 hubs/locations to control both apartments as long as you build a good mesh. If she only wants to control lights with voice there are plenty of wifi bulb options that don't even need a hub.  

Answer 5

Update for anyone interested: So here is what appears to be working for the moment. I added all of her bulbs (Link and Sengled) to my ST hub. I created a separate home in Google Home called "Geri's home". I then invited her gmail/google acct to that home (after turning off Advanced Protection on her Google account). I then went on her phone and moved her to two Google/Nest mini devices to "Geri's home". Now she can be in her living room and say "turn all lights off" and only her lights go off and my all lights off command in my house works the same way. Short version: Commands to a google home speaker only control devices in the same Google home.