Major Connect Bridge Problem

[schalliol]

I set up a Connect Bridge and a Honeywell 9000 WiFi Pro and now see there's a serious problem, which I really hope is temporary or there's user error on my end.

When you set up the Bridge, it is associated with Essentials/Inclusive, but only the mobile app configures the thermostat and the desktop software doesn't have any idea the thermostat exists at all. In the mobile app you can see and change the temp, which works nicely, but you cannot change the schedule.

While it's not that big of a problem to go to the thermostat or the Honeywell app, the serious issue is that you can't set up a schedule for away and even though the Main Repeater has new firmware, it isn't set up to send a signal to the Connect Bridge to change anything. Furthermore, pressing Away on a keypad does nothing with Connect Bridge devices. It as such does not feel like it's appropriate for the high tier lighting systems as is.

This should be fixable because the main repeater only has to tell the local Connect Bridge to change the Thermostat schedule and the Bridge should take scheduling control with the alarm.com web service.

Lutron, please resolve.

[veeeh]

When you set up the Bridge, it is associated with Essentials/Inclusive, but only the mobile app configures the thermostat and the desktop software doesn't have any idea the thermostat exists at all. In the mobile app you can see and change the temp, which works nicely, but you cannot change the schedule.

While it's not that big of a problem to go to the thermostat or the Honeywell app, the serious issue is that you can't set up a schedule for away and even though the Main Repeater has new firmware, it isn't set up to send a signal to the Connect Bridge to change anything. Furthermore, pressing Away on a keypad does nothing with Connect Bridge devices. It as such does not feel like it's appropriate for the high tier lighting systems as is.

That is correct. Out-of-systems thermostats support (Nest, Honeywell, etc) in the Connect Bridge is essentially the same as in Caseta. The app talks to third party servers to control the temperature, and the Connect Bridge itself is not involved in any of that. That is as was expected, I would not wait for any change to this integration in the short term.

[schalliol]

I've talked with a few other integrators who would disagree this was expected and would call having the third party controls there but completely inaccessible from the many many keypads around very down-market and some said "Lutron should know better".

The RR2 system is one that has built a reputation on working perfectly every time, selective with supported integration but perfect performance when integrated.

This is very disappointing and a low blow to the platform. I sure hope Lutron fixes the situation ASAP and/or deliver a proper RR2 compatible Master Repeater upgrade.

[pscheetz]

Sounds like it might be a good reason to keep selling Lutron TouchPro, at least for the foreseeable future...

To the "low blow" comment, it doesn't work via a keypad in Caseta either, since Caseta doesn't have keypads.

Having the RA 2 or HWQS Away button set back the temp is key part of our sales spiel, and having that work on Nest or Honeywell Wifi Thermostats would be nice.

[schalliol]

pscheetz, fair points. As for Caseta, it sure makes sense for it not to work with keypads etc, but to put an RR2 system in a timeclock away mode or green mode and not to have the integrated thermostats is just crazy. I trust Lutron will resolve it, as I can't imagine the product manager wouldn't have vetoed the project because it's really inconsistent for customers. There's simply no reason at all to have Nest or Honeywell thermostats if the only way they're together in the system is on a mobile device. There are lots of third party programs like Simple Control that can do this without bridge hardware

[wkearney99]

Having spoken with the Lutron folks working on the Bridge I'd like to think they understand there's room for feature growth. Not having keypad control over external (cloud-connected) thermostats isn't an 'impossible task', just not one they've tackled in the initial release of the device.

[schalliol]

Thanks. Just wanting to make it clear that there should be something in the works, as at launch its basically just a tax to get the new app. There's no reason Lutron can't talk about what's in the works. Without some mention of a fix in the works, I won't be recommending the bridge.

[Mike S.]

Thank you all for the feedback. We have features planned for a future releases but always value what you would like to see so we can continue to develop other features based on what you would like to see. Please continue to let us know what you would like in future releases.

[schalliol]

Thanks, Mike. Glad to hear it. Lutron is a fantastic company with great products. It pains me to see when things don't work like they should. I think I've made my feedback clear, but perhaps I was a little too enthusiastic about it. Knowing the team is working on expanding the functionality is very helpful.

[Mike S.]

We have also discovered a bug in the current release of the Connect App that is causing this to happen. We are working on a fix that will allow scheduling of Thermostats from the GUI.