IC as secondary controller to Smartthing Hub

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  • Last Post 19 September 2015
jitjack posted this 21 April 2014


Regarding the lock, this is a mayor disappointment as this is one of the main reasons to have a failsafe system for me. Maybe Ryan can chime in here and let us know if there is a way to set up the lock.


In theory, if both InControl and SmartThing used the same security keys, it would work. InControl doesn't currently expose any security keys - I'm not sure if ST exposes them either. If it does, then we'll need to add this as a feature to InControl so that you as the user can sync them up.

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Axial-User posted this 21 April 2014

You will probably need to associate your sensors with InControl. First, the sensor needs to be in "Awake" mode. The way of accomplishing this is a little different with each manufacturer, but it should show in the manual or you might have to search online. For my Aeon Sensor you have to tap the "Tamper" switch three times and then the red light will turn on. It should stay in awake mode for 10 minutes. While awake, you can click the "Associations" button in InControl and choose your InControl Z-Stick Controller. Your SmartThings controller should already be checked if it is reporting correctly in their software. You can also get and send parameters in the "Awake" state, but that is a little on the advanced side.


One thing to keep in mind is that each device has different capabilities. Some sensors only support association with one controller. Some only support association with one controller in "Group 1" and more in "Group 2" or "Group 3". My Aeon Sensor can be associated with up to 5 (or 6) devices in "Group 1" So I have no problem associating it with Two Controllers. On the other hand, my Ecolink Sensor could only be associated with 1 device in "Group 1", so I had to choose one controller or another. I didn't think to try Group 2 or 3 though.

As for the lock, unfortunately I have found no way to have it work with more than 1 controller. This has to do with the secure communication that the Lock uses. Which ever controller the lock is included with negotiates a key pair with the lock. That key pair is not shared with the other controller. I have been told that according to Z-wave spec, the controller should share the key with the other controller during the inclusion process. I have not seen this to be the case though. I would love fore someone to prove me wrong.

Axial-User posted this 21 April 2014

Oh, I forgot to mention. I have noticed that the GUI on the desktop software for InControl does not refresh instantly. A sensor can be tripped, but it is not reflected in the GUI for a little while. This doesn't affect the functionality of InControl though, as the sensor alert is processed immediately. The InControl mobile app does seem to update instantly though, so you might want to use that in testing.

jitjack posted this 22 April 2014

Thanks again erocm123. With your help I got almost all of my devices working. However I have a few I haven't managed to get working completely. I have a couple of contact sensors and a movement sensor from Ecolink. As you said, they won't associate with more than one controller on Group 1. However I was able to associate the Aeon in Group 2. Now the devices will report the first event, for example open, or movement. After that the device won't update anymore until I take the IC offline and back online again.

I don't think this has something to do with being in Group 2, but rather something related to the commands specific to the manufacturer as a have other devices (water sensor) on Group 2 and they work properly. Should there be any special config for this devices?

Regarding the lock, this is a mayor disappointment as this is one of the main reasons to have a failsafe system for me. Maybe Ryan can chime in here and let us know if there is a way to set up the lock.

Ryan-Scott posted this 22 April 2014


Regarding the lock, this is a mayor disappointment as this is one of the main reasons to have a failsafe system for me. Maybe Ryan can chime in here and let us know if there is a way to set up the lock.


In theory, if both InControl and SmartThing used the same security keys, it would work. InControl doesn't currently expose any security keys - I'm not sure if ST exposes them either. If it does, then we'll need to add this as a feature to InControl so that you as the user can sync them up.

jitjack posted this 24 April 2014

I don't know if ST exposes the key during the learning/syncing process with a secondary controller. I see no place in the GUI where the info is provided.

I tried pairing the lock using the Aeon Stick (secondary controller) and Zensys tools. It paired correctly and showed both in IC and ST. However this time around only IC was able to control or receive updates from the lock. I tried changing the association but no luck. One strange thing is this time when I synced the Aeon to ST, it showed 4 controllers, the Aeon itself plus three others. I don't know if this are simply copies of the ST controller and don't know how to identify them as the ID number doesn't say much by itself.

Axial-User posted this 13 May 2014

Not sure if you are still trying to get InControl working as a secondary controller, but I have learned something about some of the ecolink sensors that may prove useful.

As you already know, they only support association with 1 device in group 1. In group 2 the device only sends "open" notifications to the associated controller. Well, you can configure the sensor to also send "closed" notifications to the second group by changing a parameter:

Parameter Number: 99
Parameter Value: 1

jitjack posted this 14 May 2014

Thanks a lot erocm123, with your input I managed to get all the Ecolink devices to report correctly. May I ask how did you come across that parameter as I didn't see a mention of it in the device manual?

On another note, did you manage to make any progress with the lock. I asked in the ST forum if somehow the key could be exposed, but never heard back.

Axial-User posted this 14 May 2014

After a few emails back and forth with Ecolink support, they provided the parameter needed to make it work.

As for the lock, no luck on getting it supported with two controllers . . . unfortunately.

erocm1234 posted this 20 May 2015

I know this is an old thread, but I encountered something interesting recently. I have been running in dual controller mode with SmartThings as my Primary and InControl as a Secondary for some time. I like things about both platforms so it has been working great. I bought a few GE Link light bulbs some time ago and it came with a Wink Hub for like 99 cents or something like that. Yesterday I decided to add my Wink hub as another Secondary controller on my Z-Wave network and to my surprise Wink can control my Kwikset lock along with SmartThings. So during the "learning" process that I initiated with the Wink hub the Network Security key must have been shared.

This didn't happen of course when I originally put the Aeon Stick in "learn" mode and it became a Secondary controller. So either something changed during a SmartThings update or the Wink Hub handles the "learn" process differently.

I might try to exclude my Z-Stick and re-learn it to see if it gets passed the Network Key for the lock.

erocm1234 posted this 09 July 2015

So I recently upgraded to a Gen 5 Z-Stick and added it as a Secondary controller to my Smartthings hub. In the Zensys-tools ZWaveController during the learning phase I saw a couple messages from SecurityManager.

My primary controller (Smartthings) passed the security key to my new Z-Stick. I took note of it and put it in the InControl config and now both controllers can control my secure devices.

tnamey posted this 19 September 2015

Do virtual devices that you create in smartthings show up in incontrol?

 

Update:  Answer - Nope.  

 

PS: SmartThings kinda sucks compared to Axial!

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