What is Samsung SmartThings

Are you looking for a smart home platform that is easy to use ?

Have you heard about Samsung SmartThings ? 

In this article, I will explain what the SmartThing is, how you can use it and what are the versions available. So sit tight and read the article to the end...  

What is Samsung SmartThings?

It's a platform that allows the connection and interaction of multiple sensors and devices to make a home or office smart. A smart hub is the central part of this platform that can interact with a smartphone for remotely controlling an entire system.

How SmartThings works?

The idea is to use a central hub which connects to the Internet router and to the smart devices and with a smartphone App is to possible to manage everything.

The smart devices such as door sensors, outlets, cameras, smart light bulbs, etc work with wireless communication protocols such as Zigbee and Z-Wave.

As you can see in the diagram, the smartphone or tablet connects to the router via Wi-Fi and as long as the smart devices are communicating with the smart hub and the router, it's possible to use an app to control every one of them.

The Samsung SmartThings Hub

The smart hub is the brain of the SmartThings platform, it's a simple device which is connected to the network by using a network cable. 

Just connect the power supply that comes with the device and you are ready to go!

The next step after plugging the cables is to install the SmartThings App on your mobile device and create an account on the platform.

OK, now that you have your hub ready to go, just start adding devices that are compatible with the SmartThings such as door and motion sensors, smart thermostats, and even your own smartphone that will act as a presence sensor.

The smart devices are easily installed and added to the system because the communication is done via wireless (ZigBee, Z-Wave, Bluetooth, and Wi-fi).

Samsung SmartThings via the Internet

The previous diagram illustrates the idea of a communication in an internal network, however, it's possible to manage the SmartThings and the devices remotely from the Internet, as long as the router is correctly configured.

In fact, a smartphone or tablet will connect to the SmartThings Server (cloud) to send the commands to the smart hub which is also connected to the cloud.

The diagram below is a better representation of the SmartThings network.

That's one of the reasons you have to create a SmartThings account to be able to manage your smart devices through the smart hub. The commands leave the mobile app go to the cloud and come back to the smart hub and smart device. 

With a smartphone, you can manage the Smarthings from the Internet

Samsung SmartThings App

To manage the SmartThings hub and smart devices you just need to install an App in your smartphone or tablet.  It's available for Android and iOS.

The App has three tabs"  Dashboard. Devices and Automation

The Dashboard tab

This tab basically has links to the main parts of the App.

The top part takes you to the "Creating Scene" help menu

The middle section takes you to the video tutorials on how to use the App.

The bottom part takes you to the main device menu.

Below the three menus that can be opened from the Dashboard App

The App dashboard just have some links to the menus to help you to understand how everything works and to add devices that is the primordial thing to do.

The Devices tab

This tab allows you to add the compatible smart devices to the SmartThings platform just by clicking at ADD device button at the right part of the screen.

Note the devices that are added to the App. There's a Samsung Home Hub,  a Door Sensor (renamed to Sensor Porta), a Hue Bridge to control the smart light bulbs, three Hue Color Lamp and a Smart Plug (renamed to Makeup Light).

So, the idea is pretty simple, every device that is located in the environment can be added to the platform just by pressing a button in the App. 

The device details are kept in the Samsung SmartThings cloud, so you can login later from another device and everything will be working fine.

The Automation tab

Automation is so cool... you can do whatever you want with basic logic.

Just open the Automation Tab and choose the recommend templates such as Keep me Cozy, Thermostat Mode Director, Smart Windows, or a Custom Automation.

As long as you have all the smart devices connected to the SmartThings platform, you can setup an interaction between them based on events...

Don't worry, the idea is very simple, you just need to say:

When this thing happens.... do This....

For example: When the front door is opened turn on the room light.

Another good example: When I arrive at home turn off the Makeup Light

So, when I get home, my daughter leaves her makeup station to give me a hug 🙂

See how easy it is to work on an automation like this...

Samsung SmartThings supported devices

The list of devices supported by the Samsung SmartThing is huge...

Some devices are supported directly into the SmartThing platform and others are support through the smart hub, so it's easy to integrate practically everything!

The table below shows a quick list of some of the compatible products.

Samsung SmartThings Version

The Samsung SmartThings hub has different version since its creation.

If you don't know which version you have, just take a look at the differences.

Source: https://support.smartthings.com

Final thoughts 

The Samsung SmartThings platform is very easy to use and allows you to connect smart devices and manage them via a mobile device.

It was designed to be used for non-technical people, I strongly believe everybody can make the system work in just a few minutes.

With the enormous amount of smart devices available at the market, it's easy to find everything you need to make your home smart.

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