Phillips Hue Light Bulbs

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JAGGZ

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#230433 23-Feb-2018 15:58

Hoping some can help, I recently purchased two Phillips hue white light bulbs for main bedroom, which has two light sockets in the ceiling

When add "light bulb 1" into "light socket 1" it works as expected, when I add "light bulb 2" into "light socket 2" "light bulb 2" does not work

If I swap the light bulbs around same thing, it seems to be that only one light bulb works in either socket, even stranger if I put either light bulb in socket in spare room none of the light bulbs work.

I have registered both bulbs in the Phillips Hue App and added them to Smart Home in Alex App

I had to use one light socket adding one bulb at a time to register each of the lights.

Hopefully someone might have had a issue like this and is able to help.

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#1963056 23-Feb-2018 16:02

Do you have dimming on either of the sockets, and do you know they actually work?

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JAGGZ

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#1963070 23-Feb-2018 16:37

Hi there thanks for your reply , the sockets don't have dimming they are just standard ceiling lights, If your question refers to dimming of the light bulbs no I never tried the dimming on the bulbs I just assume they dim

Both bulbs were tested one at a time in both sockets and they work they just don't work together

Dingbatt

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#1963103 23-Feb-2018 17:30

How far away is the hub?

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JAGGZ

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#1963120 23-Feb-2018 18:17

Hi there

The hub is about 8 meters from the room, there is also a bedside lamp with the Phillips Hue bulb in the same room and that works fine so I have no issue with the hub. With one bulb in anyone of the two ceiling sockets the bulb lights up fine and the automation with Alexa works fine it turns off and on as expected.

I just cannot seem get both bulbs to light up at the same time I insert both bulbs turn on the lights and only one bulb lights up.

michaelmurfy

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#1963179 23-Feb-2018 19:56

Have you done the software updates on your bulbs also? Sometimes I've noticed if one of the bulbs is running older software than the rest they don't mesh together correctly. I would also recommend trying to move your hub (however, this shouldn't be an issue).

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JAGGZ

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#1963313 24-Feb-2018 09:46

Thanks for the reply hadn't thought about that it makes sense, I have one of the bulbs currently updating... its been updating since last night taking for ever however I read it can take a while, will update once the bulbs are updated .... fingers crossed

sbiddle

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#1963315 24-Feb-2018 09:50

So both light fittings are on the same circuit and not independently switched (ie they're both on if you put regular lamps in?)

I still really struggle with the concept of smart bulbs and actually think they're the dumbest invention ever. Smart light switches on the other hand are the best invention ever as they don't require a change to habit or training everybody how the lights now work.

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KrazyKid

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#1963332 24-Feb-2018 10:47

Dingbatt: How far away is the hub?

Why does the hub location matter. You connect the hub to your network via ethernet. Then it's WiFi to the bulb from your WiFi network.

If you put the bulbs in different rooms ( on the app) do both work at the same time. Seemed a werid one to me

sbiddle

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#1963356 24-Feb-2018 11:48

KrazyKid:
Dingbatt: How far away is the hub?

Why does the hub location matter. You connect the hub to your network via ethernet. Then it's WiFi to the bulb from your WiFi network.

If you put the bulbs in different rooms ( on the app) do both work at the same time. Seemed a werid one to me

Hue uses ZigBee to communicate with the hub. The hub connects to your network via WiFi.

richms

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#1963359 24-Feb-2018 11:51

sbiddle:

So both light fittings are on the same circuit and not independently switched (ie they're both on if you put regular lamps in?)

I still really struggle with the concept of smart bulbs and actually think they're the dumbest invention ever. Smart light switches on the other hand are the best invention ever as they don't require a change to habit or training everybody how the lights now work.

Problem is LEDs and dimming by phase angle control is a nasty hack which barely works at best, plus many NZ houses have old wiring with no neutral (or earth) at the switches which are needed on smart switches, and none yet seem to have workable multi switch on one plate solutions other than yuccky chinese style glass plates, and none have a 2 way switching option yet.

Best I have found is to swap the switch for a blank plate and stick a mi zigbee button ontop of that blank plate. That goes to smart things which then goes to the lamps.

Richard rich.ms

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#1963374 24-Feb-2018 12:34

richms:

sbiddle:

So both light fittings are on the same circuit and not independently switched (ie they're both on if you put regular lamps in?)

I still really struggle with the concept of smart bulbs and actually think they're the dumbest invention ever. Smart light switches on the other hand are the best invention ever as they don't require a change to habit or training everybody how the lights now work.

Problem is LEDs and dimming by phase angle control is a nasty hack which barely works at best, plus many NZ houses have old wiring with no neutral (or earth) at the switches which are needed on smart switches, and none yet seem to have workable multi switch on one plate solutions other than yuccky chinese style glass plates, and none have a 2 way switching option yet.

Best I have found is to swap the switch for a blank plate and stick a mi zigbee button ontop of that blank plate. That goes to smart things which then goes to the lamps.

I'm ignoring the part of crap wiring in NZ homes due to lazy electricians and poor electrical regulations - mine is one of those with no neutral so I can't put smart switches in my house until I can find time (which will never happen!) to sort the wiring out to the switches.

My point was more along the lines that Hue bulbs require a fundamental change of mind-set and how you operate your lights which is dumb. Being forced to only use an app or remote to turn your lights off is nothing but a PITA, whereas a touch switch gives the best of both worlds.

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#1963375 24-Feb-2018 12:37

sbiddle:

My point was more along the lines that Hue bulbs require a fundamental change of mind-set and how you operate your lights which is dumb. Being forced to only use an app or remote to turn your lights off is nothing but a PITA, whereas a touch switch gives the best of both worlds.

There are a couple of switches from Philips you can use:

You can also use other smart home switches that can talk to Hue or to a smart home system that can talk to Hue.

Or you can use Alexa, works most of the time ;)

andc

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#1963409 24-Feb-2018 13:21

JAGGZ:

Hoping some can help, I recently purchased two Phillips hue white light bulbs for main bedroom, which has two light sockets in the ceiling

When add "light bulb 1" into "light socket 1" it works as expected, when I add "light bulb 2" into "light socket 2" "light bulb 2" does not work

If I swap the light bulbs around same thing, it seems to be that only one light bulb works in either socket, even stranger if I put either light bulb in socket in spare room none of the light bulbs work.

I have registered both bulbs in the Phillips Hue App and added them to Smart Home in Alex App

I had to use one light socket adding one bulb at a time to register each of the lights.

Hopefully someone might have had a issue like this and is able to help.

When you first put the bulb into the socket and turned the light on with the physical wall switch (e.g. what you'd do if it were a normal bulb), did it turn on?

Maybe it's different with the white bulbs, but with the color bulbs I have, when they first gain power they turn on to a bright white color.

It also depends on what you mean by "work" -- does the bulb not turn on at all? Can it not be controlled / seen through the app? Do they both only work in "light socket 1", or does either bulb work in either socket as long as they're not both on at once?

Like sbiddle said, the bulbs use ZigBee to communicate (rather than wifi etc). The bulbs form a mesh network, so it doesn't matter if they can't all reach the hub, as long as they can all reach another light that can reach the hub. This could be why neither works in the spare room (if it's too far away to see the hub or to see other lights). The mesh networking depends on them all being on the same ZigBee channel, which should happen automatically, although one thing you could try would be to switch the channel from the Hue app.

Do you have any spare desk lamps or similar that you could put the bulbs in? If you have the two bulbs each in a desk lamp that you've put roughly below where each light fitting is, and they both work, that suggests that it might be a problem with the light fittings.

Dingbatt

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#1963414 24-Feb-2018 13:31

sbiddle:
KrazyKid:
Dingbatt: How far away is the hub?

Why does the hub location matter. You connect the hub to your network via ethernet. Then it's WiFi to the bulb from your WiFi network.

If you put the bulbs in different rooms ( on the app) do both work at the same time. Seemed a werid one to me

Hue uses ZigBee to communicate with the hub. The hub connects to your network via WiFi.

There hub connects to the network via Ethernet and to the bulbs via a Zigbee mesh. My question about the hub distance was because at least one bulb has to be in range for the mesh to work. The setup instructions also suggest moving the bulb closer to the hub if it can't be discovered.
I do however, think the solution is in the possibility of different firmware not wanting to mesh properly. Are all the bulbs running the same firmware. My bulbs are all running 5.105.0.21169.

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richms

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#1963886 25-Feb-2018 14:28

Be glad theyre not like wemo bulbs off a smart things hub. Power failuer or turn the switch off and they will lose the network more often than not.

And the answer from belkin was since I have the AU/NZ version of the lamps, and smartthings hubs are only made to work with the US versions that they wouldnt do jack about it.

Richard rich.ms

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