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Thread: Caseta System at max Capacity

  1. #1
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    Question Caseta System at max Capacity

    Caseta System at max Capacity What are the options?

    I have read thought the other post I can find on a maxed out system and adding more then 1 bridge. But getting conflicting info and looking to see what my best options are.

    quick notes. 50 items, mix of blinds, switches, dimmers and picos.
    Siri for most items is a must.
    Alexa for most items is a must.

    So can I add a second hub and still have siri control on both hubs?
    -some say yes others say no (only 1 hub can connect to siri)
    -I know I will need 2 logins for the app
    -my understanding is both will show in homekit and you can cross link devices here. (not picos to switches)


    Amazon Echo, I feel I will only be able to connect 1 hub to Alex. Losing voice control of anything on Hub 2.
    -would I be able to connect the Caseta system to Lutron's connect hub for Echo?(ie use the echo Lutron connect skill, but use the caseta login info)
    -wink hub would restore Amazon functionality. (but lose homekit)


    2nd Option would be to use the Wink hub.
    -loose Siri on devices on this hub
    -retain some Amazon Echo control.
    -loose Homekit support and linking of devices for scenes.


    With so many items connected, I just want to know the issue so I don't lose all my settings and devices. (what would be the steps used to set up a second hub linked to siri, if you have done it?)

    Thanks for any input.
    (ps. Lutron it would be so much easier if you would just allow up to add a second hub. I have no issues with the 50 item limit, and no issues with buying a second hub if needed. It's just getting them to work and talk to each other that we need)

    I will note, I own both a new second Lutron hub (brand new, uninstalled) and an installed wink hub (not really being used)

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  3. #2
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    I solved this by installing HomeSeer and the Caseta plugin. I have two hubs connected. It works great with Alexa, instead of using the Lutron skill I use the HomeSeer skill. HomeSeer sees the hubs and all devices connected. Alexa talks to HomeSeer, HomeSeer talks to Caseta. Doing this requires Pro hubs though.

    I don't use Siri but I'm under the impression that Siri will work with HomeSeer through the homebridge program.

    OpenHab either has or is close to having Caseta support, that might be an option as well. HomeSeer has been super stable and solid for me. It also lets me use Caseta with Z-wave motion sensors.

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  5. #3
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    Angry

    So the first part has been answered, You can not link the Caseta account with the Connect account. Thus you can only have 1 Caseta bridge connected to Alexa. So just wondering if I dare try and add it to Homekit.

  6. #4
    Authorized Lutron Contributor
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sawdust View Post
    So the first part has been answered, You can not link the Caseta account with the Connect account. Thus you can only have 1 Caseta bridge connected to Alexa. So just wondering if I dare try and add it to Homekit.
    Although not officially supported, we have had many customers add more than one bridge to their "HomeKit Home". By doing this, you can include devices from both systems in the same rooms/scenes for “seamless” control. The one major downside to this is that Apple requires you to have a “HomeKit Hub” on your home network to allow for remote access. You can configure an iPad or a 4th generation Apple TV to act as your HomeKit hub. You can setup HomeKit without this, but your devices will show as “Unresponsive” when you leave your home’s network.

  7. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by Zach R. View Post
    Although not officially supported, we have had many customers add more than one bridge to their "HomeKit Home". By doing this, you can include devices from both systems in the same rooms/scenes for “seamless” control. The one major downside to this is that Apple requires you to have a “HomeKit Hub” on your home network to allow for remote access. You can configure an iPad or a 4th generation Apple TV to act as your HomeKit hub. You can setup HomeKit without this, but your devices will show as “Unresponsive” when you leave your home’s network.

    I can confirm that this works with Homekit with 2 bridges (and 2 different lutron accounts). The plug in for Alexa however will only recognize one account, and therefore anything on the 2nd hub is unreachable :( Since I use both homekit and Alexa extensively this is really annoying.

    Would love more than 50 devices on a single hub, this is such a hack -- even if Lutron sold a more expensive hub to do it.

  8. #6
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    So I decided to add a second hub. (knowing I would lose Alexa control of any device on it)

    Set up account, set up the hub with 1 switch. Connected to Homekit and all seemed to work fine. Testing was able to give me control over both items from the app and siri.

    However the fun ended there. When adding any new device to either hub the Caseta app adds the name and the picked the homekit room. However, the home app changes the name back to a generic "Caseta wireless switch/ dimmer" and reverts it to a default room. (now I think part of the issue was with homekit, as EVERY time I would change the info either in the caseta app or home app, it would show up in that room for a min, then again change its name and room back to the default.

    After testing many ways and options to add or change names, it would always revert back 1 min after set up to the default. ( the Caseta app would still keep the original name from set up, but the room was always changed back to default.) Luckily I feel there might have been a Homekit problem as I returned to it later in the night and was able to then change the name and room and have it stay (at least for now)

    Adding a few more devices this morning, the same problem with homekit on setup still happens (any new product added shows up in HomeKit with its default name and room.) I can however go in and change the name and room right away and have it stick.

    So I would say it is possible to have two hubs on Homekit with siri, but the setup has now been made much harder, having to set each item up twice and making sure the names match for easy use later.

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  10. #7
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    As a side note to the Lutron team. A bug I have found in the system, when you add the first device it asks you what Homekit room you want to put it in. If you pick the "I want to add more items" This time it does not ask you want room you want and just defines it as default.

  11. #8
    Authorized Lutron Contributor
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    Thanks for the details about your experience! I have not personally tried using two Smart Bridges on one network, but have experienced some HomeKit naming quirks similar to yours.

    I think if you would have used the "Siri integration" portion of our app to configure HomeKit on the second bridge, the devices would have ended up with their correct rooms/names right away. However, I haven't tried using this setup flow with a second bridge, so it's possible we could have hit other roadblocks. Also, that's really great feedback about "add more items", I will have to dig into that more on Monday!

    I was able to reproduce one of the issues you are seeing...I added a new Caseta dimmer to my system using the Lutron app but did not define a HomeKit name or room. It then showed in the Home app under a default room with a default name.

    I then went back in the Lutron app and went to Settings > Siri integration...I went to rooms, created a new room called "Test", and added my new device to that room. I went back in the Home app and the device immediately showed with the correct name and it was in a room called "Test". I'm hoping that if I would have added it to an existing room, that the name (defined in our app)would have also been picked up (by HomeKit).

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  13. #9
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    Thanks Zach, its great to have Lutron Employees on here that can send info straight to the source and also test the problem.

    I can however confirm, (at least on my system) that even adding your device to a HomeKit room during set up does not help. (app brings up same default name and room) I have to name and change it in the Home app. (when making changes to the HomeKit room I was always doing under the device settings, I will set up a new device later today and go back in through the Siri integration and see if that changes how it shows) Changes made under device settings always seems to just revet back to the default.

  14. #10
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    Hey Zach,
    Any chance the 50 device limit can be addressed in the future via software or hardware? I am on about 75 devices, and would likely add more if the 2nd hub solution wasn't so tricky. I know RadioRA was/is probably the proper solution for me but requiring a dealer for every little thing makes it a non-starter for me so it not like Caseta cannibalized an RA sale....

    Happy to add yet a third better hub to replace the other two if that's the only option in the future

    Cheers,
    Andy

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