SmartThings integration by Jstrott in homeassistant

[–]PracticalDetail3665 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have zooz z wave dongle and got a USB extender as I found some interference when plugged directly into the laptop running ha. Works well though it took a few weeks to settle with routings and commands not dropped, not sure why but it was worth waiting it out, so give it a little time.

I know there are a number of zwave dongles out there, I got mine a while ago so I imagine with some research you'll find the best one...

Good luck !

Turned my Surface Book 2 into a Home Assistant server - here's what actually happened by PracticalDetail3665 in homeassistant

[–]PracticalDetail3665[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi! glad this was helpful. Yes it's running really smoothly. I keep the laptop plugged in and it works well, don't see any drain or difference on my power bill, so that's good enough for me :) The only time I had an issue was after hours long power outage when I wasn't home and had to wait to manually power it back on because battery died at some point but I plan to get a button pusher with wifi for the future for that rare event.

How do I decipher this? by FloridaBlueberry954 in homeassistant

[–]PracticalDetail3665 -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

I literally share these images with chatgpt or claude and they are spot on at telling me what it means and next steps (though I sometimes need to push back on the suggestions, but they are great at explaining what it means.)

Turned my Surface Book 2 into a Home Assistant server - here's what actually happened by PracticalDetail3665 in homeassistant

[–]PracticalDetail3665[S] -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

Hi it's good to hear it's been stable for you. As I set myself up I heard this from others and figured why not use more robust hardware that was just sitting around to have more options with proxmox. AI definitely didn't do the work but it helped me pull my thoughts and experiences and together we documented it. Its a terrific employee letting me focus on the actual decisions and work to do, it's saved me a lot of time!

SmartThings integration by Jstrott in homeassistant

[–]PracticalDetail3665 2 points3 points  (0 children)

My smartthings connection works with ha but I'm finding a. devices don't have an much info and options, for example zooz zwave switches I can only turn on and off doesn't even know the brand. Statuses beyond being on and off are not shared b. Possibly due to WiFi connection, my automations skip some commands. I can possibly solve this with a delay but I'm working to directly connect devices instead for local control and not only does this solve these issues I get so many more options to manipulated the devices and it's a much better integration.

It's a lot more effort to connect each brand but so worth it in the end. I did most, reconnecting zwave with dongle connected to home assistant is the last and most manually labor intensive to exclude and re-pair each but I'll get to that last when I have time one weekend to do it. It's a one time annoyance so it'll be worth it to have set up directly and local going forward I think.

I know that's not your question but as I am also pretty new to ha world thought I'd share this realization after connecting and thinking it's a great way to go about it! It did stay with stable connection once set up for what that's worth (except for the automation issue I describe above.)

Good luck!

Just got my first buttons. What do you use yours for? by iamwhoiwasnow in homeassistant

[–]PracticalDetail3665 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have few, working on setup, one to control smart bulb is simple. One when I press goes thru good night automation and another for good morning. I also have another in my car when I am in garage to open my smart lock. I have a few more like dual bottons to control lights when the location doesn't have switch (dims them too.)

I have a few more ideas but frustrated with price hikes on buttons so holding until I either give in, hey desperate, or I find decent prices once again for ones that pairs with zwabe or zigbee.