The Wink home automation thread

Page 156 - Seeking answers? Join the AnandTech community: where nearly half-a-million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.

Kaido

Elite Member & Kitchen Overlord
Feb 14, 2004
48,387
5,255
136
They’re seriously hamstringing themselves by not supporting Zwave. It also remains to be seen how their Zigbee device support is, how you build rules, etc.

imo it's because they are only looking forward, not backwards. They want stuff that is branded "Works with Alexa" from today on. Pocket Lint has a really excellent writeup on the Zigbee choice here:

http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/129857-what-is-zigbee-and-why-is-it-important-for-your-smart-home

While I like Wink's approach better in theory (as far as a reasonably large supported device list due to Zwave, Zigbee, etc.), after reading that article, I do think that Amazon has the right idea going forward. Plus you can always just interface in your Wink or STv2 with Echo if you want non-Echo-native smarthome device support. I think Amazon is just streamlining their own future in-house support structure.
 

IndyColtsFan

Lifer
Sep 22, 2007
33,656
687
126
imo it's because they are only looking forward, not backwards. They want stuff that is branded "Works with Alexa" from today on. Pocket Lint has a really excellent writeup on the Zigbee choice here:

http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/129857-what-is-zigbee-and-why-is-it-important-for-your-smart-home

While I like Wink's approach better in theory (as far as a reasonably large supported device list due to Zwave, Zigbee, etc.), after reading that article, I do think that Amazon has the right idea going forward. Plus you can always just interface in your Wink or STv2 with Echo if you want non-Echo-native smarthome device support. I think Amazon is just streamlining their own future in-house support structure.

I skimmed the article and it doesn’t seem to mention Zwave Plus. However, you might be right and I won’t be surprised if Amazon has a complete line of Zigbee accessories soon. Without something like ST’s webCoRE, though, it is a no go for any power user.
 

gorcorps

aka Brandon
Jul 18, 2004
30,736
447
126
I skimmed the article and it doesn’t seem to mention Zwave Plus. However, you might be right and I won’t be surprised if Amazon has a complete line of Zigbee accessories soon. Without something like ST’s webCoRE, though, it is a no go for any power user.

True, but power users can get the newer echo without the hub built in and use their hub of choice as always. I think Amazon did something smart by offering something with a built in hub, while also updating their old product to still be a part of that userbase as well.
 

IndyColtsFan

Lifer
Sep 22, 2007
33,656
687
126
True, but power users can get the newer echo without the hub built in and use their hub of choice as always. I think Amazon did something smart by offering something with a built in hub, while also updating their old product to still be a part of that userbase as well.

Yep. I mentioned to my wife that I might buy some of the new models, and in return, I got: “What are you going to do with the other 8 you already have?” :D
 

gorcorps

aka Brandon
Jul 18, 2004
30,736
447
126
Yep. I mentioned to my wife that I might buy some of the new models, and in return, I got: “What are you going to do with the other 8 you already have?” :D

I'm just curious, how old are the ones you have... and are they all still working fine? I was going to jump on an echo when they went on sale recently, but a lot of recent reviews were claiming wifi connection problems after a year and a half or so. I didn't know how common of an issue it was, which kind of makes me 2nd guess getting even the new ones.
 

IndyColtsFan

Lifer
Sep 22, 2007
33,656
687
126
I'm just curious, how old are the ones you have... and are they all still working fine? I was going to jump on an echo when they went on sale recently, but a lot of recent reviews were claiming wifi connection problems after a year and a half or so. I didn't know how common of an issue it was, which kind of makes me 2nd guess getting even the new ones.

All work fine and my first Echo was during the initial launch for Prime users (late 2014/early 2015). I have 2 of the original Echos, 2 of the first gen Dots, and 4 of the second gen Dots.

I had WiFi issues with one Dot but moving my AP to a higher spot fixed it.
 

gorcorps

aka Brandon
Jul 18, 2004
30,736
447
126
All work fine and my first Echo was during the initial launch for Prime users (late 2014/early 2015). I have 2 of the original Echos, 2 of the first gen Dots, and 4 of the second gen Dots.

I had WiFi issues with one Dot but moving my AP to a higher spot fixed it.

That's good to know. I think I can see myself asking for an echo pro for christmas, if I don't end up buying one before then.
 

Kaido

Elite Member & Kitchen Overlord
Feb 14, 2004
48,387
5,255
136
True, but power users can get the newer echo without the hub built in and use their hub of choice as always. I think Amazon did something smart by offering something with a built in hub, while also updating their old product to still be a part of that userbase as well.

Exactly. 99% of users are just going to use the stuff they buy off Amazon with it. The rest of the tinkerers can get a Smart Things Hub or maybe use an API.

I would be willing to donate a Dot to @Red Squirrel to see if he could integrate his electronic mouse trap notification system into the Echo universe. It would be hilarious to have the Echo announce "another one bites the dust" whenever it catches a mouse :D
 

Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
67,195
12,025
126
www.anyf.ca
Exactly. 99% of users are just going to use the stuff they buy off Amazon with it. The rest of the tinkerers can get a Smart Things Hub or maybe use an API.

I would be willing to donate a Dot to @Red Squirrel to see if he could integrate his electronic mouse trap notification system into the Echo universe. It would be hilarious to have the Echo announce "another one bites the dust" whenever it catches a mouse :D

Haha my system works on principle of dry contacts, so probably would be fairly easy to do. Not familiar with these consumer systems but anything such as a water sensor should be fairly easy to integrate as a mouse trap sensor. :D
 

Kaido

Elite Member & Kitchen Overlord
Feb 14, 2004
48,387
5,255
136
I installed my Lutron Hub today: ($80 shipped)

https://www.amazon.com/Caseta-Wireless-Smart-Bridge-L-BDG2-WH/dp/B00XPW67ZM

I thought it was going to be Wink-sized, but the entire hub fits in the palm of your hand, super tiny! Note that it is Ethernet-only (they do sell range extenders, if needed, although I didn't have any problems getting it to talk to anything in my house). It supports up to 50 Caseta devices (Caseta in-wall dimmer/switch, Pico remote, Pico Remote for Audio, Caseta Plug-in Dimmer, Shade, plus Honeywell Thermostat, Works with Nest, Carrier Cor/Wi-Fi Thermostat, ecobee3/Smart Si Thermostat, Sonos, and Shade Remote). It has broad integration as well (Amazon Alexa, Apple HomeKit, Google Assistant, etc.). I specifically bought it to use with my Amazon Echo system & to break away from Nest. Setup was super easy:

1. Plug Hub into Ethernet into router's switch ports
2. Plug Hub into Power
3. Download Lutron Caseta app & sign up for an online account
4. Auto-scan, auto-find, auto-update the hub (~5 minutes) & also press the button on the Hub to pair
5. Authorize location access (for time-of-day scheduling & geofencing)
6. Add devices by holding the off switch for 10 seconds (until all of the LED's rapidly blink), then give them a name/location. Their list is quite extensive & also offers customization.

Response time is excellent, roughly half a second. It's almost realtime to the point where it's not annoying at all. Next was to integrate Alexa:

1. Add Lutron Caseta smarthome skill & link your account
2. Scan for devices (~20 seconds)
3. Rename as necessary
4. Create groups as necessary

Alexa integration bumps response time up to a full second. Still feels faster than Wink, regardless. Also, the 1-second response time not annoying, because you're not pressing a button & expecting an instantaneous response, you're verbalizing it, so you speak, then it does its thing, and then Alexa says "okay", so it's very fluid. btw, I LOVE controlling groups verbally...it's amazing walking into or out of a floor of the house and having all of the lights on that floor turn on with a simple verbal command.

I will probably add some Alexa-friendly motion sensors for the hallways/stairs at some point. At this point, the only thing I have left on my Wink is my Schlage Century (Zwave) deadbolt (it's either that, or use a SmartThings Hub). I'm not taking the Century when I move, so I'll put a Schlage Sense (Bluetooth) in my new door, which has their own brand of Wi-fi adapter (which natively works with Alexa & can support 2 locks, if you want one on your back door or wherever). The only other thing I really want to add is shades, but those are waiting until I move (been putting them off successfully for years, lol).
 

poofyhairguy

Lifer
Nov 20, 2005
14,612
318
126
Just got a new house this year and I have been going all out with home automation.

My core is still my Smarthings hub, and my voice assistant of choice is Google. Every non bedroom or bathroom has either a real Google home, a mini Google home, or a third party Google home device (like the Tichome mini I use for music in the shower or my Insignia alarm clock with Google built in). Also in every room I have a (sometimes hidden) bluetooth speaker connected to a Google Chromecast audio for sound.

Almost all of my downstairs lights are canned LEDs, and when combined with Z Wave Plus GE dimmers they have this cool fade out effect that my wife loves. My garage is hooked in via MyQ, and I have a Ring Doorbell Pro and a smart Kevo doorlock (that isn't smart anymore because I took its batteries out when it locked me out of the house the other day).
 

IndyColtsFan

Lifer
Sep 22, 2007
33,656
687
126
I bought a Ring Pro in December and haven’t deployed it yet. I was debating selling it and looking at the Nest Hello but haven’t decided yet. Otherwise, I’ve got about 170-180 devices on SmartThings so far and am still deploying more Blink cameras and other devices.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Kaido

poofyhairguy

Lifer
Nov 20, 2005
14,612
318
126
I bought a Ring Pro in December and haven’t deployed it yet. I was debating selling it and looking at the Nest Hello but haven’t decided yet. Otherwise, I’ve got about 170-180 devices on SmartThings so far and am still deploying more Blink cameras and other devices.

You 100% on Smarthings now?

I have liked the Ring, I have it set to turn on the lights outside if someone is at the door at night. The service is a little pricey but nice.

I wanted to ask: any advice for Smarthing compatible smoke and carbon monoxide detectors? I had some battery operated First Alert ones in the old house and I hated them so much I left them behind. I wanted something that doesn't need batteries.
 

IndyColtsFan

Lifer
Sep 22, 2007
33,656
687
126
I am 100% SmartThings with Hubitat waiting in the wings.

You can use Nest with SmartThings - I have 2 Nest Protects and they integrate fine with the NST Manager smartapp.
 

CAL7

Member
Sep 29, 2014
108
2
81
I'm 75/20/5 Hubitat/ST/Wink. When I can get the Lutron Bridge Pro to connect (refuses to talk to the Lutron servers), I'll move everything, but a Power Pivot, off Wink to Hubitat.

Sent from my SM-T820 using Tapatalk
 

IndyColtsFan

Lifer
Sep 22, 2007
33,656
687
126
I'm 75/20/5 Hubitat/ST/Wink. When I can get the Lutron Bridge Pro to connect (refuses to talk to the Lutron servers), I'll move everything, but a Power Pivot, off Wink to Hubitat.

Sent from my SM-T820 using Tapatalk

I really need to get going with Hubitat. I bought it a few months ago and have no devices on it yet - I just keep updating firmware.

BTW guys, a few things:

1. I'm not sure if you've seen it yet, but apparently Samsung will be releasing SmartThings V3. If I get time later, I'll see if I can find the docs on it.

2. I believe Amazon will buy Wink before the end of the year. Amazon has some home security bundles and most, if not all, use Wink. It might be a bit more interesting with Amazon in the driver's seat.
 

MjnMixael

Senior member
Aug 17, 2014
316
4
81
It's been a long time since I posted in this thread...

Wink seems dead. Maybe Amazon will buy them. I.Am seems to be doing ****all with Wink. The Wink store shows all hardware including hubs and Wink branded sensors as unavailable. Beta activity has slowed to a crawl. It was a good run, folks.
 

IndyColtsFan

Lifer
Sep 22, 2007
33,656
687
126
It's been a long time since I posted in this thread...

Wink seems dead. Maybe Amazon will buy them. I.Am seems to be doing ****all with Wink. The Wink store shows all hardware including hubs and Wink branded sensors as unavailable. Beta activity has slowed to a crawl. It was a good run, folks.

Did you jump over to ST?
 

Kaido

Elite Member & Kitchen Overlord
Feb 14, 2004
48,387
5,255
136
It's been a long time since I posted in this thread...

Wink seems dead. Maybe Amazon will buy them. I.Am seems to be doing ****all with Wink. The Wink store shows all hardware including hubs and Wink branded sensors as unavailable. Beta activity has slowed to a crawl. It was a good run, folks.

Loved the idea when it started 4 years ago. Initial execution was promising. It's been a winding road since then.

I moved not too long ago & no longer use Wink. At the moment, I am solely on Alexa with a Lutron Hub for my Caseta switches. I don't have my Schlage deadbolt interfaced at all at the moment. I am only in this place for a year & then I want to build a home, so I'll re-asses the situation when I get to that point. For that project, I'm considering migrating to Philips Hue (indoor lighting + under-counter lighting + outdoor lighting), Somfy or Serena shades, Haiku fans, sticking with Schlage (it's been awesome since day one), etc.
 

IndyColtsFan

Lifer
Sep 22, 2007
33,656
687
126
I'm 70% on Smartthings right now. We'll move the last 3 rooms over after I install the set of zigbee repeaters I ordered.

Everything is working so far except my lutron connected bulb remote.

The Lutron Remote is a tough one. I have 5 or 6 and when they stop working, it is a real chore to get them going again. It isn’t even a true integration; it just lets you connect the remote to both ST and directly to a bulb (GE or Cree) and reflect the correct status (in theory).
 

IndyColtsFan

Lifer
Sep 22, 2007
33,656
687
126
Loved the idea when it started 4 years ago. Initial execution was promising. It's been a winding road since then.

I moved not too long ago & no longer use Wink. At the moment, I am solely on Alexa with a Lutron Hub for my Caseta switches. I don't have my Schlage deadbolt interfaced at all at the moment. I am only in this place for a year & then I want to build a home, so I'll re-asses the situation when I get to that point. For that project, I'm considering migrating to Philips Hue (indoor lighting + under-counter lighting + outdoor lighting), Somfy or Serena shades, Haiku fans, sticking with Schlage (it's been awesome since day one), etc.

I need to post my Wink hub and some unopened Quirky sensors on eBay. If I can clear $50, I’ll be happy.
 

MjnMixael

Senior member
Aug 17, 2014
316
4
81
Yeah, with Wink I had the Lutron remote controlling a Sylvania color changing bulb on the porch. We don't use it that much... for now it's just being turned on at sunset and off at sunrise. I'm going to try and hack the sylvania device handler into the LCBR's zigbee group this weekend to see if I can get the remote working. Otherwise I may go back to a non-color-changing bulb on the porch and a caseta switch. (I change the color for holidays and keep it deep orange the rest of the time because it attracts fewer moths.)

I just installed a Keen Home vent. Those things are sliiiiiiick. Definitely gonna add those to every room in the house over the next few months.

I've got my Hampton Bay fans (2/5 so far) working flawlessly on Smartthings. The key seems to be having a lot of zigbee repeaters. Those fans have horrible wireless range.

Let's see what else... Lutron cloud control via Smartthings is somehow faster than Wink's local. Figure that one out. Trippers are working perfectly on Smartthings including battery and tamper. Overall I'm very impressed with the DTH and SmartApp system in Smartthings. The X factor is this new Samsung account and new app. Hopefully they don't kill custom handlers with that switch. I feel like they won't because that would kill what makes Smartthings stand out... but I've seen companies make stupider decisions before. I've got my eye on Hubitat, but for now I'll be entirely on Smartthings by the end of the weekend.

I don't really know what Wink is up to. Seems like nothing. I'm still on the beta team, but we really only get new apps and firmware like a week early and they still don't really fix the bugs we mention before the go public. Occasionally there's a new feature to test, but I can only think of one or two over the last 6 months. Most revisions have been minor bug-fixes. Their store isn't selling any Wink hardware which isn't a good sign. If it was just the Hubs, you could say they are releasing a new one.. but it's all their Wink sensors, too. (I have 3 I got to test a long time ago sitting on my desk. Not sure what to do with them.) Once I have everything on Smartthings working well I'm going to ask to be removed from the beta team. It's pointless and I'm moving on. I fought for Wink for a long time and they let their product stagnate.
 

IndyColtsFan

Lifer
Sep 22, 2007
33,656
687
126
Yeah, with Wink I had the Lutron remote controlling a Sylvania color changing bulb on the porch. We don't use it that much... for now it's just being turned on at sunset and off at sunrise. I'm going to try and hack the sylvania device handler into the LCBR's zigbee group this weekend to see if I can get the remote working. Otherwise I may go back to a non-color-changing bulb on the porch and a caseta switch. (I change the color for holidays and keep it deep orange the rest of the time because it attracts fewer moths.)

I just installed a Keen Home vent. Those things are sliiiiiiick. Definitely gonna add those to every room in the house over the next few months.

I've got my Hampton Bay fans (2/5 so far) working flawlessly on Smartthings. The key seems to be having a lot of zigbee repeaters. Those fans have horrible wireless range.

Let's see what else... Lutron cloud control via Smartthings is somehow faster than Wink's local. Figure that one out. Trippers are working perfectly on Smartthings including battery and tamper. Overall I'm very impressed with the DTH and SmartApp system in Smartthings. The X factor is this new Samsung account and new app. Hopefully they don't kill custom handlers with that switch. I feel like they won't because that would kill what makes Smartthings stand out... but I've seen companies make stupider decisions before. I've got my eye on Hubitat, but for now I'll be entirely on Smartthings by the end of the weekend.

I don't really know what Wink is up to. Seems like nothing. I'm still on the beta team, but we really only get new apps and firmware like a week early and they still don't really fix the bugs we mention before the go public. Occasionally there's a new feature to test, but I can only think of one or two over the last 6 months. Most revisions have been minor bug-fixes. Their store isn't selling any Wink hardware which isn't a good sign. If it was just the Hubs, you could say they are releasing a new one.. but it's all their Wink sensors, too. (I have 3 I got to test a long time ago sitting on my desk. Not sure what to do with them.) Once I have everything on Smartthings working well I'm going to ask to be removed from the beta team. It's pointless and I'm moving on. I fought for Wink for a long time and they let their product stagnate.

Do you post on the Wink FB group by chance? There was a guy who posted that Wink support “reassured” him everything was fine and new things were coming and a guy who responded to him had a story a lot like your story above.
 

Kaido

Elite Member & Kitchen Overlord
Feb 14, 2004
48,387
5,255
136
I need to post my Wink hub and some unopened Quirky sensors on eBay. If I can clear $50, I’ll be happy.

It's a pity, they could have owned the market. Single unit with all of the radios integrated was such a cool idea.

OTOH, my Alexa + Lutron Hub setup works like a champ!