The Wink home automation thread

[IndyColtsFan]

The big deal to me in this announcement is the ability to transfer from your old hub. Did Smartthings V2 allow that?

A utility has been promised but has not yet been delivered. I'll likely buy Wink 2, but I may wait to see if they deliver on their promises on this transfer piece and local robots/schedules. It definitely isn't going to replace ST for me until they get more sensor availability and more powerful rules engines.

I haven't had issues with my Wink setup in longer than I can remember. Occasionally I have to reset my Outlink plugs.. but those are terrible, awful Quirky "inventions". Schedules have been working. Robots have been workings. Delay is generally about 1 second.

I have issues with the app not showing correct status for my Hue lights and have had some lights turning on by themselves but otherwise it has been solid. But ST has been rock solid for me too. I'd love to be able to use just one product but no single product has everything I need right now. Wink could get there the fastest, but we'll have to wait and see.

I'm just waiting for new product integrations. WHAT DO I HAVE TO PAY TO GET LOGITECH HARMONY INTEGRATED?! I really just want Wink to be able to switch my TV systems off when I set the mode to "away". There's no IFTTT way to do this either.

ST can do this.

 

[Kaido]

A utility has been promised but has not yet been delivered. I'll likely buy Wink 2, but I may wait to see if they deliver on their promises on this transfer piece and local robots/schedules. It definitely isn't going to replace ST for me until they get more sensor availability and more powerful rules engines.

Personally, I'm not too worried about Wink's transfer utility. Even with all my gadges & software settings, it shouldn't take more than an hour to re-program everything. Minor hassle, but only have to do it once from a clean slate, and it's a good opportunity to review everything anyway.

I'll either keep the Wink v1 as a backup unit, or setup my parents with it & some basic HA stuff.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

When I asked the Wink spokeswoman about new device availability, she claimed they have some announcements in the works. Really, if they could just partner with Aeon and support their products natively, that's all they would need to do.

 

[Kaido]

When I asked the Wink spokeswoman about new device availability, she claimed they have some announcements in the works. Really, if they could just partner with Aeon and support their products natively, that's all they would need to do.

Aeon support would be amazing.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Aeon support would be amazing.

All they really have to do is add support for the Aeon multi or if that isn't possible, maybe someone like Zooz for their multi. That would considerably close the sensor gap with other platforms.

I've got the Zooz 4-1 multi on my ST hub with a community driver. It is a nice device but so far, not impressed with the battery life. I was playing with the polling interval so that may have done it, though I was sure I reset it back to defaults.

 

[lsd]

I have pretty much done everything in my current place, except for my blinds (WAY too much money to do on my budget). 100% LED now (including 12.5-watt can lights!), Lutron Caseta switches (love the functionality, but hate the flat-button design for usability because dangit, I want a flip switch! lol), Schlage lock, Kidde fire alarms, etc. It hasn't been cheap, but it's nice to be as "done" as I'm going to get for now. It does make things a lot more convenient (especially the Lutron Pico remotes, which can easily be wall-mounted).

Honestly, I haven't had a desire to try SmartThings v2 because I don't want to tinker. It's the same reason I have iOS instead of Android on my smartphone...I don't want to tweak it, I just want to use it. As much as I enjoy doing smarthouse stuff, I also have a family to deal with in terms of providing usable functionality, and after all the hiccups I've had with Wink, we've kind of settled things down to the point where everyone is OK with everything as it is now (aka it's time to mess with the config & install a NEW hub! lol).

I'm curious why you think you need to tinker with smartthings (or andriod) . As long as you use ST as you would with wink there is no tinkering involved. Stuff just works, like my Harmony hub setup ( and like andriod..)

 

[IndyColtsFan]

I'm curious why you think you need to tinker with smartthings (or andriod) . As long as you use ST as you would with wink there is no tinkering involved. Stuff just works, like my Harmony hub setup ( and like andriod..)

In fairness, to get the most from ST, you do have to install custom apps and device handlers through the IDE, but I agree that the actual tweaking is minimal. But for that minimal inconvenience, you DO get a lot more power. As impressive as the new Wink 2's hardware is, it will be wasted without added device support and a more complex rules engine IMO. It's true that ST has no real rules engine out of the box, but we don't have to rely on ST as the community provided Rule Machine and now CoRE. We won't have that luxury with Wink.

 

[MjnMixael]

Yeah.. I know Smartthings works with Harmony. I'd be willing to bet Samsung paid for that exclusive privilege. To do like to copy Apple!

 

[Aikouka]

I'm not sure what happened, and I'm not complaining, but my SmartThings has been working fine for the last few weeks. I don't know if it was the Hub firmware upgrade, an iOS upgrade, a phone reboot, or something else, but I've been able to turn my pool pump off without any sort of issues in turning it on/off or reporting its status.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

I'm not sure what happened, and I'm not complaining, but my SmartThings has been working fine for the last few weeks. I don't know if it was the Hub firmware upgrade, an iOS upgrade, a phone reboot, or something else, but I've been able to turn my pool pump off without any sort of issues in turning it on/off or reporting its status.

ST has been rock solid for me from the beginning and my Wink hub has been pretty solid too. I'm interested in Wink 2 because of the Lutron support and the local robots/schedules. I was planning on going the Vera Plus route but since I already have one foot in the Wink ecosystem and Wink 2 is cheaper, I think I'll go that route. I have a robot which operates two of my Lutron switches and it will greatly benefit from Wink 2 if Wink is being accurate with their local robot/schedule talk.

 

[Kaido]

I'm curious why you think you need to tinker with smartthings (or andriod) . As long as you use ST as you would with wink there is no tinkering involved. Stuff just works, like my Harmony hub setup ( and like andriod..)

In fairness, to get the most from ST, you do have to install custom apps and device handlers through the IDE, but I agree that the actual tweaking is minimal. But for that minimal inconvenience, you DO get a lot more power. As impressive as the new Wink 2's hardware is, it will be wasted without added device support and a more complex rules engine IMO. It's true that ST has no real rules engine out of the box, but we don't have to rely on ST as the community provided Rule Machine and now CoRE. We won't have that luxury with Wink.

That's what I meant. Not that you have to tinker, just that it has more power & flexibility for doing so. Whereas iOS & Wink are kind of OOTB solutions and are set & forget.

 

[Kneedragger]

Wow I'm pretty surprised they have a new product. I was starting to thing that was it for Wink.

Im also hoping this has local scheduling or can run without internet.

 

[MjnMixael]

says it can do local schedules and local robots...

"Local control for Schedules and Robots: With a faster processor and 8x more memory, Wink Hub 2 runs advanced automations like Schedules (which prompt certain actions to take place at certain times of the day) and Robots (through which one product can trigger a series of actions in other products) locally for increased speed and reliability. "

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Wow I'm pretty surprised they have a new product. I was starting to thing that was it for Wink.

Im also hoping this has local scheduling or can run without internet.

It will support local robots and scheduling. The hub is impressive but honestly, Wink's first gen hub was also impressive in terms of radios, etc. If they can get some sensors onboard, they may do very, very well. Pushing into Walmart is a very, very good idea. I'd also like to see a really advanced rules engine, even if it is introduced in a premium tier.

Their timing is perfect - if they can get sufficient stock to the stores, they've made it in time for the holiday season. SmartThings is bogged down with the Extend project and Vera Plus is still having some growing pains. I went ahead and preordered it from Amazon - let's hope my faith isn't misplaced.

 

[Kaido]

It will support local robots and scheduling. The hub is impressive but honestly, Wink's first gen hub was also impressive in terms of radios, etc. If they can get some sensors onboard, they may do very, very well. Pushing into Walmart is a very, very good idea. I'd also like to see a really advanced rules engine, even if it is introduced in a premium tier.

Their timing is perfect - if they can get sufficient stock to the stores, they've made it in time for the holiday season. SmartThings is bogged down with the Extend project and Vera Plus is still having some growing pains. I went ahead and preordered it from Amazon - let's hope my faith isn't misplaced.

Yeah, the first gen had tons of radios + a great price + a really simple interface. The first-gen product had its share of hiccups & the company underwent some turmoil, but it seems like things are full-steam ahead now, which is awesome.

I think you'll be fine with a pre-order. $99 is probably the cheapest thing in a modern smarthome arsenal anyway haha. It looks like it addresses nearly all of my issues with V1 too...has an Ethernet port, supports Thread, runs robots & schedules locally so you're not dependent on the cloud...now all we need is some additional support for hardware from Logitech, Aeon, etc.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Yeah, the first gen had tons of radios + a great price + a really simple interface. The first-gen product had its share of hiccups & the company underwent some turmoil, but it seems like things are full-steam ahead now, which is awesome.

I think you'll be fine with a pre-order. $99 is probably the cheapest thing in a modern smarthome arsenal anyway haha. It looks like it addresses nearly all of my issues with V1 too...has an Ethernet port, supports Thread, runs robots & schedules locally so you're not dependent on the cloud...now all we need is some additional support for hardware from Logitech, Aeon, etc.

I'd love to be able to consolidate on one hub, but as it stands now, I have 20 devices on Wink and 72 on SmartThings. Some of those SmartThings devices are virtual - for example, when you add a Logitech hub to SmartThings, it imports each activity as a virtual switch for control purposes. I also have a virtual switch on SmartThings which powers on my PC by sending a WoL packet through EventGhost and have it linked to Amazon Echo as well. At any rate, my point is that I think I'm still going to be using ST even if Wink hits a home run with V2. I have too much money invested in the excellent Iris sensors (I'd be shocked if Wink supported them) and time invested in excellent smartapps (such as the keypad manager for my Iris keypad). At some point, someone is going to come along and create a single software package which integrates all these ecosystems into one environment and you won't care which hub the device resides on, as it will just work. Home Assistant is pretty close as a central management piece but the ST integration with it is pretty clumsy from my research. Stringify is another great app that can allow you to apply logic between environments, but I ran into some issues with it not supporting certain devices I need (my dual in-wall relays from Monoprice, for example).

If you think about my last couple of sentences, I overlooked something - Amazon Echo can be the glue that binds these things together. Right now, I have both Wink and ST connected and I don't need to know where each device resides - I just shout a command to Echo and it knows what to do. The missing piece is still the cross-platform rules engine. For simple on/off things, it can already control both environments simultaneously - I have an Echo group called "Office" which has all my office ST and Wink devices and if I say "Alexa, turn office on," it will turn on my Hue lights (Wink), Osram/GE lights (Wink), PC (ST), and ceiling fan (ST).

 

[MjnMixael]

I can't seem to find the Wink Hub 2 on Amazon...

Also, I just happened to randomly notice today that my GoControl motion sensors are reporting the room temp to the Wink App. So that was a nice surprise!

 

[Kaido]

I can't seem to find the Wink Hub 2 on Amazon...

Also, I just happened to randomly notice today that my GoControl motion sensors are reporting the room temp to the Wink App. So that was a nice surprise!

It's available for pre-order at Home Depot's site, says it's shipping out November 4th:

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Wink-Hub-2-WNKHUB-2US/300241294

I haven't seen it available on Wink.com or Amazon for pre-order yet tho.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

I can't seem to find the Wink Hub 2 on Amazon...

Also, I just happened to randomly notice today that my GoControl motion sensors are reporting the room temp to the Wink App. So that was a nice surprise!

Yeah, they implemented the temp sensor on the GoControl motion sensors a couple of weeks ago.

Here is the Amazon link for Wink 2:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01KW8WGZQ/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

 

[MjnMixael]

Now it might be worth it to grab a few more GoControl sensors to place in a couple rooms without temp sensors. $30 a pop on amazon.. not bad.

 

[Aikouka]

In fairness, to get the most from ST, you do have to install custom apps and device handlers through the IDE, but I agree that the actual tweaking is minimal. But for that minimal inconvenience, you DO get a lot more power. As impressive as the new Wink 2's hardware is, it will be wasted without added device support and a more complex rules engine IMO. It's true that ST has no real rules engine out of the box, but we don't have to rely on ST as the community provided Rule Machine and now CoRE. We won't have that luxury with Wink.

Hm... just reading this makes it seem like I need to do a lot to get more out of my SmartThings hub. I'm pretty much just using it out of the box with the iOS app. Are there recommended tutorials for dipping your toe into the extended functionality?

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Hm... just reading this makes it seem like I need to do a lot to get more out of my SmartThings hub. I'm pretty much just using it out of the box with the iOS app. Are there recommended tutorials for dipping your toe into the extended functionality?

Try here:

https://community.smartthings.com/t/faq-an-overview-of-using-custom-code-in-smartthings/16772

Not sure if it is the most up-to-date source, but it should get you started.

 

[59ona64]

So stoked about GoControl Motion Sensors reporting temperature!!! What else don't we know about the GoControl trio? Any other sensors built in to the Motion Sensor, Door/Window Sensor, and Strobe/Alarm module?

 

[IndyColtsFan]

So stoked about GoControl Motion Sensors reporting temperature!!! What else don't we know about the GoControl trio? Any other sensors built in to the Motion Sensor, Door/Window Sensor, and Strobe/Alarm module?

The big one, which I am not sure if Wink has yet enabled, is the external terminals on the GoControl door/window sensors. That sensor is a Linear sensor IIRC and the external contacts are enabled in SmartThings - it opens up a ton of possibilities.

 

[59ona64]

The big one, which I am not sure if Wink has yet enabled, is the external terminals on the GoControl door/window sensors. That sensor is a Linear sensor IIRC and the external contacts are enabled in SmartThings - it opens up a ton of possibilities.

Are external contacts just what I'm thinking--screw lugs to add something onto it? Or...? What sorts of possibilities? Thanks, I'm a newbie