What Smart Home Hub options are available to use in NZ and what are you using?

Forums › Gadgets, robotics, home automation, electronics (including wearables) › What Smart Home Hub options are available to use in NZ and what are you using?

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34 posts

Geek
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Fusion Automation

#1965153 27-Feb-2018 14:51

Thanks for the feedback guys. Password text issue is now sorted :). As for the prices, some of my suppliers are channel only and will not allow us to advertise pricing. Apologies for the inconvenience.

ald

172 posts

Master Geek
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SimWorks

#2143714 11-Dec-2018 23:48

Good news for anyone that's been looking with green eyes at the availability of Samsung's Smartthings Hub elsewhere. Samsung have now launched their Smartthings hub in Aus: https://www.gadgetguy.com.au/samsung-smartthings-finally-in-australia-well-for-victorians-anyway/

Fairly limited distribution there at the moment it appears. However, it bodes well for an eventual launch of the product here, or at least giving us the option of bringing it in from Aus supporting the correct z-wave frequency.

davidcole

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Trusted

#2143737 12-Dec-2018 06:25

The Xiaomi Gateway works pretty well in both openHAB and home assistant also. Unfortunately not certified yet, but the gateway is about $50nzd and battery sensors start at $12.

I probably wouldn’t want to wire these in behind light switches, but for surface/mounted stuff it’s pretty good.

Previously known as psycik

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karni

50 posts

Geek
+1 received by user: 10

#2143750 12-Dec-2018 07:27

I'm waiting on new stock of the Vera Plus to arrive Active Automation as it supports Z Wave, ZigBee, Blutooth & WiFi.

edit: And importantly for me, won't require a lot of time to get it up and running

karni

50 posts

Geek
+1 received by user: 10

#2146347 17-Dec-2018 07:13

Got my Vera Edge on Friday.

As advertised it was quick and easy to set up and configure, I was easily able to add my light switches and sensors. Took a bit of faffing around to get the sensors (Aeotec MultiSensor 6) however I got the eventually. Only issue (and something I assumed but should have researched better) is the Google Home support isn't native, you need third party software running on an always on PC or Pi.

Antzzz

190 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 12

#2146735 17-Dec-2018 22:35

I came across a solution to get Home Assistant (running on a Pi) connecting directly to Xiaomi Zigbee devices, avoiding the need for the Xiaomi hub: https://community.home-assistant.io/t/zigbee2mqtt-getting-rid-of-your-proprietary-zigbee-bridges-xiaomi-hue-tradfri/52108/2

Haven't yet tried it myself tho...

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geekiegeek

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Inactive user

#2146806 18-Dec-2018 05:50

I have just ordered a Vera Plus. Only started my smart home journey a few weeks a go with Hue and Alexa and now I've got the bug and want to voice control all the things. I purchased a Pi with Z-wave stick to try OpenHab but I just don't have the time of patience for it hence the Vera Plus.

If anyone is after a brand new Pi 3 with 16GB SD and Z-wave stick, shoot me a PM.

Disrespective

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#2147949 19-Dec-2018 16:17

I use OpenHAB on a Pi but do have an old Vera Plus here that is gathering dust if someone wants it. I bought it direct from the UK when they were first released from memory. This was a few years ago now and I recall having trouble with NZ z-wave dongles but a firmware fix was in the works (sounds like it might be done).

Whatever anyone uses, a serious investment in time should be expected to set everything up.

I have a combination of Xiaomi zigbee sensors, Aeon labs z-wave sensors, Wireless sensor tag things, IP cameras, Flic buttons, Harmony remote, Sonos, json site scraping/parsing etc etc stuff all working and talking to each other quite nicely now. I can only imagine how many hours i've spent on my setup and don't even want to calculate my lost productivity from thinking about why something wasn't working properly but as of now (touch wood) it seems pretty rock solid.

geekiegeek

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Inactive user

#2175149 8-Feb-2019 18:05

Thought I'd report back on the Vera Plus. So far its excellent and is doing everything I want. I have it integrated with Alexa, Hue and just today and RTS controller for my Somfy blinds. My next project is to integrate Apple HomeKit via a RPi Homebridge so I can use Siri on my Apple Watch for control plus I quite like the HomeKit UI on IOS.

Device wise I have some z-wave lights (installing a motion sensor in the next week or so), some hue bulbs and my blinds all up and running. Still fairly basic but as the last post eluded to, home automation can be a bit of a time sucker.

mmeredith

4 posts

Wannabe Geek

#2218196 16-Apr-2019 14:10

Hi

I'm new to GeekZone, and to the world of home smartifying, but this thread has been very helpful and saved me a heap of disappointment.

I was recently in the US and saw all the cool gadgets available off the shelf at the local Home Depot or Best Buy. I very nearly brought a Smartthing hub, until I did some research and found this thread and decided to hold off based on the Z-wave compatibility/issues.

I have subsequently ordered a Aus/NZ approved Smartthings starter kit from RACV. I had to provide an Australian address to ship to, but other than that, it's pretty easy.

Not terribly priced either at AU$299 for the kit and AU$13.50 shipping to anywhere in Aus. That's for the hub, 3x motion sensors and 2x multi-purpose sensors.

Additional items are priced at:

AU$34 per motion sensor
AU$29 per multi-purpose sensor
AU$199 per Wifi hub (which can be meshed with other Smartthings wifi units)

The push button and leak detector are on the cards.

So yeah, if one wants to go the Smartthings route and they have an Aussie friend/family member they can send to, then give RACV a call on +61 132 756 (option 3), and they should be able to help out.

EDIT: In my inexperience I only realized now that what RACV is selling is the Smartthings Wifi hub, not just the regular Smartthings Hub v3.

ald

172 posts

Master Geek
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SimWorks

#2218258 16-Apr-2019 14:37

Thanks for the update, this looks like a great option.

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PANiCnz

999 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 161

#2220380 18-Apr-2019 09:11

Antzzz:

I came across a solution to get Home Assistant (running on a Pi) connecting directly to Xiaomi Zigbee devices, avoiding the need for the Xiaomi hub: https://community.home-assistant.io/t/zigbee2mqtt-getting-rid-of-your-proprietary-zigbee-bridges-xiaomi-hue-tradfri/52108/2

Haven't yet tried it myself tho...

I just ordered a CC2531 USB stick off Aliexpress and the accessories needed to flash it. It'll likely take a month or so to arrive but if there's anyone in Auckland that wants to borrow the debugger and cables just flick me a PM.

The Zigbee2mqtt documentation looks pretty comprehensive.

gcorgnet

1098 posts

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ID Verified

#2220381 18-Apr-2019 09:14

I can confirm the zigbee2mqtt stuff works really well (using it with Xiaomi aqara temp and door sensors)

Reactivity is impressive for the door sensor and it was easy to set up

PANiCnz

999 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 161

#2220383 18-Apr-2019 09:17

gcorgnet:

I can confirm the zigbee2mqtt stuff works really well (using it with Xiaomi aqara temp and door sensors)

Reactivity is impressive for the door sensor and it was easy to set up

That's great to hear, my main use would be with the Xiaomi aqara temp sensors also. Removing the need for the gateway and plugging the USB stick directly into a rPI running Hass feels a like a win.

chevrolux

4962 posts

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Inactive user

#2220396 18-Apr-2019 09:30

Chiming in late to the party...but...

MQTT + Node-RED to form the core of your home automation. Add openHAB/homeassistant/whatever on top for pretty dashboards etc.

No need for additional radio networks, just build a beefy wifi network and good to go.

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