Hello everyone,
in the picture below you can see my initial situation. Unfortunately, I don’t really know how best to connect the garden. The aim is to be able to monitor and control all the lights, irrigation, door sensors, etc. that are (or will be) in the garden from the house. It should also be possible to control these directly in the garden. However, everything in the house should not be accessible/controllable from the garden.
I see 4 possibilities so far, but I have no idea whether they will work or not.
connect all devices in the garden to an NSPanel pro and connect this to the iHost via Paral-Sync.
connect all devices in the garden to a zigbee bridge pro and assign it to the iHost.
Is that possible? Could I then, for example, use an NSPanel (not pro) for local control (via local cast of the iHost)?
use a second iHost in the garden house and process the scenes there locally, which saves delays as the information does not have to be sent via NSPanel pro → AP → WiFi bridge → house network → iHost (house) and back. In addition, a failure of the WiFi bridge would have no effect on the control system in the garden. BUT: Can I still establish a connection between the two iHosts? Would I still be able to receive a notification in the house if the fire alarm or a door contact connected to the iHost in the garden shed is triggered?
Sell the iHost in the house again, connect both locations via NSPanel pro and manage online via the eWeLink app. Problem: I don’t want to do without local control and would have a problem as soon as the internet goes down (or even just my WiFi bridge).
I hope everything is understandable (I translated the text via DeepL) and thank you in advance for your tips and advice. I would also like to hear about possible sources of error in the different variants.
Best regards!
Nspanel pro is not suitable for control because it depends on the internet. The Paral-Sync plugin has very limited functions, and is not stable.
I use this solution.
My two IHOSTs connect via matter bridge to HUB Matter Smartthings. Zigbee devices are added to ihost wifi devices are added to ihost via ewelink smart home add-on. I use phone and smartthings apps for remote control. Everything works locally.
I think that is the same issue I am having right now… I cannot connect iHost to Alexa via Matter any more. That’s a big issue. Do you know if resetting iHost could help?
this is an Alexa problem. there is currently no solution to the problem. write to Alexa support. maybe they will help you. restarting ihost will not help.
So, I thought about your configuration and found out about the Aeotec SmartThings Hub. The main question for me now is why I should continue to use the iHost (or in this case 2 of them) at all.
What are the advantages?
The Aeotec Hub also works locally as far as scene control etc. is concerned and therefore continues to function even if there is a problem with the Internet connection. There is also the additional option of being able to use Z-Wave.
Only the app control no longer works offline, which is why it would no longer be possible to teach new devices or change assignments and automations. However, what already exists would continue to work.
Only when it comes to configuration via the local network do I currently see the iHost as having an advantage. I would only have to operate 2 and not 3 devices to have the same success.
Or have I overlooked something?
It all depends on what you expect from your smart home.
What devices you have and what you will buy in the future. As you write, you can do all this in the Aeotec Smartthings Hub, but if there is no internet, you cannot manage it from the application. That is why Ihost provides an emergency exit, in case of no internet, you can control devices via the IHOST/CAST panel. You can do this using these two devices.
Another solution is to set up a Home Assistant server and then you will not need devices such as the Aeotec smartthings Hub and Ihost.
The Smartthings hub needs to connect to the cloud regularly (every 24hours?) to backup and maintain its synchronisation - both firmware and timing - with the cloud based app, it cannot function perpetually offline. That is the way the Smartthings architecture is designed. I use the Aeotec V3 hub with 100% local rules but I have to be aware that there are limits.
Also a subject not commented here as this is a eWelink forum, not Smartthing, is that the pairing of devices with the Smartthings hub require a specific (often community developed) Edge driver, with the device specific “footprint”. The iHost, as far as I have seen is better here and I am keeping both (iHost and Smartthings) hub options and would recommend anybody to do the same.
I would use LoRa. so that you get range up to several kilometers. Means buying a LoRa hub. I have sensors easily connected to iHost (NR and virtual device) because any hub running Chirpstack V4 locally has automatically MQTT, which can run on iHost. Effector devices isn’t as straightforward as you have to use the GRPC interface on the Chirpstack. Probably simple but hard to find as Chirpstack v3 and v4 are very different and if you look for instructions how to do this it often is for v3.
An alternative is to use meshtasticbut my trial device didn’t have a working wifi radio and I had to get a refund. Should be easy though with several of these devices
Okay…
First of all, thanks for your suggestion!
Unfortunately These options are a bit too complicated for me.I’m a family man with 2 children and these 2 properties, which are a lot of work, and my wife and I both work full-time. I simply don’t have the time to run the whole thing on a nerdy level, which is why things without a simple/halfway intuitive user interface are out of the question for me.
Hi John, thanks for your advice.
I still only have the iHost in my house. I have now ordered an Aeotec Hub and will connect it directly to a few components and later also test the variant via the iHost Matter bridge.
This way I can leave the Aeotec Hub offline for a few days and see how the system behaves in such a case and then test the functionality with iHost+Aeotec Hub. Then I will decide how to actually implement my target scenario.
Do you currently have any devices in mind that are relevant to my case and are likely to require edge drivers under Aeotec/Smartthings? Does this also apply to switches etc. that run via Zigbee 3.0?
You’ll probably find that most Sonoff devices are handled on the Smartthings hub by standard Edge drivers, the problem may be in the future if you buy other devices, especially Tuya. From what I have seen the iHost pairs well with most Zigbee 3.0 devices while with the ST hub there is always the doubt.
Also the Turbo Mode on the iHost gives a good range on the Zigbee mesh.
As you say, if you have both you will be able to test, and as suggested by @ociepa.ekotox the Matter bridge to the Smartthings hub is probably the best of both worlds. The routine interface on the ST app is one of easiest to use you can find, while the iHost gives you local operation.
Fortunately, I seem to be surrounded by knowledgeable users here, so I would like to ask another question, I unfortunately couldn’t find the answer by using the search function in the forum…
Is it possible to use a NSPanel (not pro) as a control screen for local cast (iHost)? This should work with the NSPanel pro, but the “simple” NSPanel is much cheaper and I also find the physical buttons quite practical.
You mentioned Tuya… I tried to add Tuya WiFi smart plugs to the iHost, but failed. There was also little positive feedback on this and other forums. Do you have any other experience, or did you only refer to Tuya Zigbee devices?
Do you have two identical iHosts or can you tell me something about the difference in performance between the two versions? I currently have the 4 GB version. For the second site, I’m considering whether the cheaper one might be sufficient.
I have two 4GB versions. I think the second location may have a weaker version. It all depends on how many devices you want to connect to ihost_2, whether you will have a lot of scenes on the second ihost and whether you will install dockers.
Another INFORMATION.
You will not see zigbee devices from ihost_1 directly in ihost_2.
And you will not see zigbee devices from ihost_2 directly in ihost_1.
In the second ihost, you will not be able to log in to the ewelink smart home add-on at the moment, because there is a limit on logging in to the server.
You can see all zigbee devices from ihost_1 and ihost_2 in Node-red or in the smartthings Application if you have the Hub Matter Smartthings Aeotec
Thanks for the hint. The whole thing actually suits me, as I didn’t want to be able to access location 1 from location 2 and I could still access both via the Aeotec Hub. However, since both iHosts are located in the same LAN, the local cast of both iHosts should also be available at both locations! So I would have to set up a protective measure (PIN) for the cast of iHost_1 so that it cannot be accessed at location 2.
If I have understood correctly, it should then be possible to use the Aeotec Smartthings (Matter) hub to create scenes/automations that include devices from both iHosts.
What actually happens if a scene created at Aeotec (Matter) level conflicts with one created in the iHost? Which then has priority?
