Aeotec Smart Home Hub: Z-Wave, Zigbee, Matter Integration, Works with Alexa & Google Assistant

I bought this Z wave hub to work with my Schlage Connect Deadbolt lock and it does that just fine. However, when I tried to link it to my Alexa Dot 3 using the Smartthings skill it would not recognize the Aetoc hub. Not only that it caused the Alexa to have a green light to come on and circle the Alexa Dot. I tried calling Amazon Alexa support but was put on hold for the tech to try to fix it on his end after trying to fix the issue. I was on hold 20 minutes and just hung up and decided to just reset the Alexa Dot. That fixed the light flashing issue. I have not tried again to link the Aeotect Hub since its not a big deal to connect with Alexa for me. The Hub does work with the SmartThings app. I first put the hub next to my router but after working briefly it stopped working. I moved the hub a liitle bit in front of my router and it has been working well.I have it connected to my router with the supplied ethernet cable.

Lo instalé en la sala y el control recibe las señales de dispositivos en mismo nivel de la casa, no he probado el alcance para un segudundo o tercer piso. Hasta ahora funciona según lo esperado. El único detalle que creo lo especifica en manual, que no funciona sin internet.

Bought item to manage my smart speakers across the house. Can’t control and pair my Sonos speakers with my Samsung Soundbar.

I had originally purchased this as a means of getting my feet wet on my journey to upgrade my newly purchased home into a smart home. After almost a solid week of research, this product seemed like the all-in-one package. It supported both Z-Wave, Zigbee, and Matter, meaning I wouldn’t have to have separate hubs for each protocol. Aeotec was given the IP rights for SmartThings, so that was a big green flag to pull the trigger on this company as I figured that meant it was at least reputable and proceeded with my purchase.The intent was to set up this device with HomeAssistant. The product description *heavily* implies that this product works locally, only needing WAN access for setup stating – and I quote – “Requires internet access for set-up: Ethernet connection recommended, but Wi-Fi is also available.”There is also a question asking if it is cloud dependent in the Q&A with Aeotec themselves stating – again, I quote – “This hub is currently cloud dependent, but will become local-dependent in the near future through firmware updates.” back in 2021. I had assumed that given the current product decription saying it only needed internet for setup, in addition to SmartThings Edge drivers, meant I could finally have local control, but alas this is not the case. As soon as I pulled my WAN cord to simulate an outage, I could no longer control my devices via the SmartThings App even still connected to the same WIFI as the hub via Ethernet. It outright refused to work and the app said my hub was offline. Home automation still should – in theory – work, but since I only have smart switches and lights, setting up automations was outside the realm of possibilities with my current hardware. This also meant that I had no way of integrating SmartThings with HomeAssistant to control it locally either.So why does this matter if the device works as intended without an internet connection? Well for starters, I value my privacy and dont want my devices phoning home constantly. I also dont like giving companies the ability to brick my hardware at the drop of the hat. A company called Insteon shut down back in 2022. Their service relied entirely on the cloud infrastructure to function (just like SmartThings). Once the company shut down it then effectively turned every single one of their IoT products into a paperweight and completely worthless. On the other hand, we have companies like Amazon shutting down user’s accounts and devices (Including his IoT security system) for false claims of racism by a delivery driver. With all of this happening in the IoT/Smarthome ecosystem, I refuse to give any company control of my devices and my hardware – and so should you.If you disagree with that sentiment and instead want only cloud-enabled devices for your smart home, then by all means treat this review as a 5-star review. The product worked fine – albeit not as advertised.

While it might work with SmartThings devices it will not work with V3 SmartThings WiFi (HomePass/Plume) to mesh existing Samsung SmartThings WiFi Hubs.Can only be standalone Access Point/Hub- the supposed compatibility statements are grossly misleading.

Simple to operate! 👍

This hub was super easy to connect to my Smarthings App and it ended my connectivity problems. My old V2 Smarthings hub was disconnecting from Wifi – and sending me a notification, thanks for nothing – up to 8 times a day! And when it disconnected during a planned routine (like turning the lights on or off), that process would be missed.

Anyway, this model has never disconnected. I have about 12 light and power controls. I deleted them from my old hub and installed them in my new hub. I thought it was going to be a weekend long project. It was about 2 hours total and that included EXCLUDING Z-WAVE devices.

Note: If you’re moving from an old Samsung or other Smarthings Hub, you first need to EXCLUDE your Z-Wave devices from your *old* hub before installing in your new hub. From the Aotec site:

**Exclude/unpair from the device.**
1. Open SmartThings App.
2. Find the device that you want to unpair/disconnect from your hub.
3. Long tap on the device you want to remove.
4. Tap Remove.
Ensure that the LED on Smart Home Hub is blinking.
5. Tap the button on the Z-Wave device that you want to factory reset. Usually, it is a single tap of the button, but other devices may have special button presses (ie. double, triple press, or press and hold for a certain amount of time).

Sounds like a lot, but after you do it the first time, you’ll see that it’s really easy and quick.

This is an excellent product which is very easy to set up using Samsung SmartThings app.I purchased the hub primarily for use with my LeakSmart sensors and valve. The company behind LeakSmart (not Aeotec) is out of business now. I was able to pair all the sensors and valve successfully, and configure ‘Routines’ easily; Those determine when the valve should close (Hint: When there is a water leak…).Some info for other LeakSmart users: In order to pair the valve, you have to remove the valve’s backup batteries, disconnect the valve from AC power, then put the Aeotec Hub into pairing mode, and insert the batteries into the valve. The Hub found it immediately.I had a harder time pairing the sensors, but was able to pair all 4 after a few attempts. First, I put the Aeotec into pairing mode, then removed batteries from a sensor, inserted the batteries, and held the black button at the bottom of the sensor for about 2 seconds. Some of the sensors paired within 30 seconds, but with some I had to repeat the procedure several times. I am sure this is a LeakSmart thing and not Aeotec issue.I wish SmartThings offered Apple HomeKit integration, but for my particular application it wasn’t an issue.Overall I recommend the hub.

Fairly easy to setup. Using 2 smart plugs right now, seem to be working.

Easy to set up and the app is adequate for most uses. Only complaint is that support for z-wave is rather limited and you’ll need a decent level of understanding of config parameters to get some devices (like Eaton 3-way switches) to play nicely.

Lo instalé en la sala y el control recibe las señales de dispositivos en mismo nivel de la casa, no he probado el alcance para un segudundo o tercer piso. Hasta ahora funciona según lo esperado. El único detalle que creo lo especifica en manual, que no funciona sin internet.

Needed a replacment Hub to control all the Home Automation 36 plus devices to replace the WINK Hub that would be offline constantly and continue to charge monthly service fee. This Device did the job and even better for $0 a month. Fairly easy setup just had to complete each Home Automation Device seperatly since there was no way to convert one system to another. Have had no outage issues except when the power goes out.