Top critical review
1.0 out of 5 starsCloud-Dependent Junk
Reviewed in the United States on July 5, 2023
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.