In this episode, Handyguys Brian and Paul unbox and setup the SmartThings Hub for home automation. In the past few episodes, the Handyguys have been going over how to coordinate home automation with the Amazon Echo Dot and the Google Home. They successfully coordinated the use of the Philips Hue Smart Bulbs with these home audio devices in their past episodes. In this episode, they set up the SmartThings Hub in order to expand their use of home automation around the house.

The SmartThings Hub

Handyguys Brian and Paul set out to use the SmartThings Hub with Z Wave, Zigby wall switches, and similar product for a fully automated house. The SmartThings Hub is a little hub similar to that of the Philips Hue hub. This device needs to be able to communicate with the Philips Hue hub or a similar hub in order to work for home automation. This device comes with batteries, a power cord, and ethernet cable for setup.

How To Set-Up The Hub

The hub comes with instructions on how to set up the device. First, you must download the SmartThings App and create an account. Then hook up the SmartThings Hub to a router and power up the hub with batteries. Once you create an account, connect your phone device to the device The Handyguys had a few issues with this step, but ultimately set up the device.

The main gain for the homeowner from a SmartThings Hubs is that you can now handle a whole slew of automation rather than just lighting.  Ultimately, Handyguys Brian and Paul will use this setup to connect to a lot more devices. The Handyguys also hope to keep using the Google Home and the Amazon Dot Echo to coordinate with their new home automation devices.