The Wink home automation thread

[brinkbart]

D'oh I actually forgot that even existed. These [Schedules] really should be consolidated into the same area as the robots and such in my opinion.

I wholly agree.

Think of all the people using Robots to schedule because they think it's the only way! That's gotta be adding to the server load unnecessarily.

 

[brinkbart]

Has anyone else noticed condensation inside their GE Link bulbs? I have condensation on the inside of every A19 bulb I have.

Maybe I keep my house too cold (I don't think so), but it still shouldn't happen. I hope it's harmless. It doesn't seem to affect operation. That I know of. Yet.

Will post pics once I get home, if anyone wants to see.

 

[Kaido]

Agree with all Kaido says about Lutron Caseta. Also, even the main wired switch works without a neutral. Faux wall plates for the remote are about $6. By careful shopping, I've found the combo switch + remote (wall plate for switch, no bracket for the remote) for about $48 shipped. Various ebay sellers.

Yeah, iirc mine didn't have neutral.

 

[brinkbart]

What on earth would I do with a Link hub? Does anyone use both the Link and Wink hubs together? Are there any benefits?

There is a starter kit at the Home Depot with two (2) GE bulbs and the Link hub (NOT Wink Hub) for $25. I got a few since it's the first time I've ever seen the bulbs themselves discounted (amounts to $12.50 per bulb even if you never use the included Link hub).

Thanks!

 

[Kaido]

If you're running Chrome, there's an extension called ARC Welder that will allow you to run an Android App(and only one at a time) from Chrome. You need to place the APK file in a folder on the PC and install the extension. Start ARC Welder and select the APK(com.quirky.android.wink.wink-9.apk). You'll then be asked whether you want to run as a phone app, portrait or landscape, etc. Then just click to run the app. The Wink app seems fully functional.

Derp, didn't even think to test Wink in ARC, thanks! Confirmed working on my Mac:

http://i.imgur.com/KBMtnGy.png

Here is a link to the Chrome plugin:

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/arc-welder/emfinbmielocnlhgmfkkmkngdoccbadn

There are a variety of ways to download the APK; here is a simple web downloader: (beware of popups at this particular site!)

http://apps.evozi.com/apk-downloader/

+1 for having a native(ish) way to control Wink on a computer!

 

[Kaido]

What on earth would I do with a Link hub? Does anyone use both the Link and Wink hubs together? Are there any benefits?

There is a starter kit at the Home Depot with two (2) GE bulbs and the Link hub (NOT Wink Hub) for $25. I got a few since it's the first time I've ever seen the bulbs themselves discounted (amounts to $12.50 per bulb even if you never use the included Link hub).

Thanks!

So GE Link Lights have a Zigbee chip in them. You need some way for your cell phone (Wifi) to talk to those lights - a middleman controller such as the Wink Hub, which translates Wifi signals to Zigbee signals. If you don't have a Wink Hub, you can get GE's Link Hub, which simply controls GE Link Lights (Wifi to Zigbee). It's just a more limited hub - instead of doing everything, it just does lights. But it's handy if that's all you want to automate, so someone could walk in, buy a Link Hub & some GE Link lights, and control them from their smartphone with pretty much no hassle.

 

[Kaido]

Has anyone else noticed condensation inside their GE Link bulbs? I have condensation on the inside of every A19 bulb I have.

Maybe I keep my house too cold (I don't think so), but it still shouldn't happen. I hope it's harmless. It doesn't seem to affect operation. That I know of. Yet.

Will post pics once I get home, if anyone wants to see.

Hmm, not yet. I have one bulb on my front porch, no issues yet! (fingers crossed)

 

[Kaido]

For what it's worth, my whole house is filled with Lutrons (like 20 something of them). No issues to report. No failures either. I love them.

Awesome, thanks! I hate the flat buttons, but they're so convenient that I may replace all of them with my upcoming renovation. The Pico remotes are brilliant!

 

[brinkbart]

If you don't have a Wink Hub, you can get GE's Link Hub, which simply controls GE Link Lights (Wifi to Zigbee). It's just a more limited hub - instead of doing everything, it just does lights. But it's handy if that's all you want to automate, so someone could walk in, buy a Link Hub & some GE Link lights, and control them from their smartphone with pretty much no hassle.

Thanks. But if I do have a Wink Hub, this does me absolutely no good at all. Is that what I'm hearing? No benefits? No faster automation, nothing?

 

[Kaido]

Thanks. But if I do have a Wink Hub, this does me absolutely no good at all. Is that what I'm hearing? No benefits? No faster automation, nothing?

Haven't tried it myself, don't know. I'd imagine it'd be good for extending the range of the bulbs, although Zigbee is a mesh protocol, so it wouldn't really matter unless it was really far away & you didn't want to add another bulb inbetween.

I just checked & the Link Hub does show up under HUBS when you go to add a device (Quirky + GE), so it is possible to add it. I don't imagine it would relay faster since the Wink Hub already has a Zigbee chip built-in, so it'd add another hop in the relay chain. Maybe someone else who has linked one in can chime in?

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Interesting, WeMo and Hue are now officially supported by the Amazon Echo.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

So GE Link Lights have a Zigbee chip in them. You need some way for your cell phone (Wifi) to talk to those lights - a middleman controller such as the Wink Hub, which translates Wifi signals to Zigbee signals. If you don't have a Wink Hub, you can get GE's Link Hub, which simply controls GE Link Lights (Wifi to Zigbee). It's just a more limited hub - instead of doing everything, it just does lights. But it's handy if that's all you want to automate, so someone could walk in, buy a Link Hub & some GE Link lights, and control them from their smartphone with pretty much no hassle.

If I drop a Link hub between my main Wink hub and the garage door Trippers, do you know if it would repeat the Zigbee signals to/from the Trippers/Wink Hub?

 

[bigverm24]

Interesting, WeMo and Hue are now officially supported by the Amazon Echo.

An NDA'd individual on the Facebook Wink Users Group has all but confirmed a Wink app integration with Amazon Echo is in the works.

 

[Kaido]

An NDA'd individual on the Facebook Wink Users Group has all but confirmed a Wink app integration with Amazon Echo is in the works.

Between that & iWatch/Android Wear integration, that will do a lot for voice control in the home automation sector :thumbsup:

 

[IndyColtsFan]

An NDA'd individual on the Facebook Wink Users Group has all but confirmed a Wink app integration with Amazon Echo is in the works.

Yeah, this is what I envisioned when I bought the Echo. I was going to eBay it (I still have it sitting on my shelf, unopened) but now that I am seeing progress, it is a keeper. One guy already has some voice commands working with Wink so I'm sure Amazon and Wink can develop a version with specific Alexa feedback (his did not have that; all commands he spoke, even though they worked, had Alexa respond with "I'm not sure I can help.")

 

[Kaido]

If I drop a Link hub between my main Wink hub and the garage door Trippers, do you know if it would repeat the Zigbee signals to/from the Trippers/Wink Hub?

I would imagine yes, since Zigbee is a mesh protocol (repeating). Plus Wink tends to take things over (ex. the Pico remote) rather than let stuff be standalone, so it'd probably make a good repeater. I'd like to see confirmation of that...the combination of search terms isn't yielding much for me on google or youtube.

 

[wagohn]

Haven't tried it myself, don't know. I'd imagine it'd be good for extending the range of the bulbs, although Zigbee is a mesh protocol, so it wouldn't really matter unless it was really far away & you didn't want to add another bulb inbetween.

I just checked & the Link Hub does show up under HUBS when you go to add a device (Quirky + GE), so it is possible to add it. I don't imagine it would relay faster since the Wink Hub already has a Zigbee chip built-in, so it'd add another hop in the relay chain. Maybe someone else who has linked one in can chime in?

I bought the $24 kit from Home Depot on Sunday. So far I like it. The GE bulb color is more 'orange' than I would like but its fine.

Setup was breeze and the Wink app works great with the product. I have the two included bulbs setup on schedules and so far they have been flawless. I ordered two more bulbs.

I believe I can ONLY run bulbs on the included mini-hub but that's OK for now. I read a lot of negative press about the $50 Wink hub so I'm hesitant to switch to something that may work from something that does work.

Whats the average 'must haves' for this new tech? I used to play around with X10 automation so Im happy to see the new advances. Appears to be far more robust.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

I bought the $24 kit from Home Depot on Sunday. So far I like it. The GE bulb color is more 'orange' than I would like but its fine.

Setup was breeze and the Wink app works great with the product. I have the two included bulbs setup on schedules and so far they have been flawless. I ordered two more bulbs.

I believe I can ONLY run bulbs on the included mini-hub but that's OK for now. I read a lot of negative press about the $50 Wink hub so I'm hesitant to switch to something that may work from something that does work.

Whats the average 'must haves' for this new tech? I used to play around with X10 automation so Im happy to see the new advances. Appears to be far more robust.

Home Depot has sales where you can get the Wink hub cheap or free if you buy X number of accessories. The technology is cool and Wink is improving, but it can still be pretty frustrating. The biggest missing pieces IMO are:

1. Lack of timers. Let's say you have a motion sensor and it detects motion and turns on a light. I would love to be able to say "Turn off the lights in 5 minutes if no additional motion is detected." You can't do that now or at least, can't do it easily.
2. Lack of local command caching/execution. Wink needs access to the internet in order to control everything. If your internet connection goes down, you can't control anything from your app. They really need to add some form of local control so devices can still be controlled from your LAN in the event the internet connection goes down. This is definitely possible, as some hackers/devs have shown it working.

My advice is that if you go with Wink, make it a policy to only buy devices which can be used on Wink AND other competitors such as SmartThings. That way, if the SmartThings v2 hub is as good as rumors suggest, you can pick one up and easily use your existing devices.

 

[wagohn]

Thanks for the advice. I only need lights for now so I will stick with GE Link bulbs as they appear to be fairly universal.

Thanks!

Home Depot has sales where you can get the Wink hub cheap or free if you buy X number of accessories. The technology is cool and Wink is improving, but it can still be pretty frustrating. The biggest missing pieces IMO are:

1. Lack of timers. Let's say you have a motion sensor and it detects motion and turns on a light. I would love to be able to say "Turn off the lights in 5 minutes if no additional motion is detected." You can't do that now or at least, can't do it easily.
2. Lack of local command caching/execution. Wink needs access to the internet in order to control everything. If your internet connection goes down, you can control anything from your app. They really need to add some form of local control so devices can still be controlled from your LAN in the event the internet connection goes down. This is definitely possible, as some hackers/devs have shown it working.

My advice is that if you go with Wink, make it a policy to only buy devices which can be used on Wink AND other competitors such as SmartThings. That way, if the SmartThings v2 hub is as good as rumors suggest, you can pick one up and easily use your existing devices.

 

[MjnMixael]

The biggest missing pieces IMO are:

1. Lack of timers. Let's say you have a motion sensor and it detects motion and turns on a light. I would love to be able to say "Turn off the lights in 5 minutes if no additional motion is detected." You can't do that now or at least, can't do it easily.
2. Lack of local command caching/execution. Wink needs access to the internet in order to control everything. If your internet connection goes down, you can control anything from your app. They really need to add some form of local control so devices can still be controlled from your LAN in the event the internet connection goes down. This is definitely possible, as some hackers/devs have shown it working.

It's been interesting having been part of this thread since the beginning, specifically because this "missing pieces" list keeps getting shorter.

Wink absolutely still has drawbacks, but there's no denying that they are moving in the right direction!

 

[bigverm24]

Home Depot has sales where you can get the Wink hub cheap or free if you buy X number of accessories. The technology is cool and Wink is improving, but it can still be pretty frustrating. The biggest missing pieces IMO are:

1. Lack of timers. Let's say you have a motion sensor and it detects motion and turns on a light. I would love to be able to say "Turn off the lights in 5 minutes if no additional motion is detected." You can't do that now or at least, can't do it easily.
2. Lack of local command caching/execution. Wink needs access to the internet in order to control everything. If your internet connection goes down, you can control anything from your app. They really need to add some form of local control so devices can still be controlled from your LAN in the event the internet connection goes down. This is definitely possible, as some hackers/devs have shown it working.

My advice is that if you go with Wink, make it a policy to only buy devices which can be used on Wink AND other competitors such as SmartThings. That way, if the SmartThings v2 hub is as good as rumors suggest, you can pick one up and easily use your existing devices.

Use tasker for timers and complete control

 

[bigverm24]

New android update finally addresses sunrise/sunset and add group control to robots and shortcuts. Still no offset for sunrise sunset BUT you can set times to any city in any country... In my case I'm using NY and Paris to create offsets

 

[ef141]

If you're running Chrome, there's an extension called ARC Welder that will allow you to run an Android App(and only one at a time) from Chrome. You need to place the APK file in a folder on the PC and install the extension. Start ARC Welder and select the APK(com.quirky.android.wink.wink-9.apk). You'll then be asked whether you want to run as a phone app, portrait or landscape, etc. Then just click to run the app. The Wink app seems fully functional.

I've been using it for a while, it's still beta and and a bit unstable. That said I've had it up and running for over a week with out a crash.

 

[ef141]

I am going to order 2 "Sensors" to work with the Wink Hub so that I can integrate them into my Tasker and Web page projects.

Anyone have suggestions on know-working sensors? I'm not really interested on "might theoretically work" at this point, just "It Works With Wink"

I'm thinking a Tripper and an EcoLink Motion Sensor (PIRZWAVE2-ECO).

Obviously the Tripper works, and I've seen numerous reports of the ecolink working.

Has anyone used a "multi-sensor" successfully with wink?

Maybe skip both of those and just go for the GoControl?

I suspect the Tripper and Ecolink are the most widely used at this point in time, may be a good place to start

 

[BillinGlendale]

There are a variety of ways to download the APK; here is a simple web downloader: (beware of popups at this particular site!)

Being that I'm on Android(rooted) and Windoze, I just copy the APK from the /data/apps folder.