Securifi Community Forum
Sensors and Home Automation => Home automation => Topic started by: jaweb66 on August 29, 2014, 06:57:05 pm
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I just picked up the GE Link Led light bulb from my local Home Depot. Screwed it in, added to the Almond+ and it is working just great with dimming capabilities. Oh it is ZigBee certified and price is pretty good too! http://www.homedepot.com/b/Featured-Products-GE-Link/N-5yc1vZc9o5Z1z0rf1g
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Wow, that's great news.
We did actually order a couple of this but haven't gotten them yet.
Which type did you get? Not that it really should matter, as they should all work the same way.
Is the antenna really visible?
What's the light like?
How about the overall quality feel?
Sorry about all the questions, but as I haven't seen one yet and the fact that we've been keen to support these, I'm just really curious :P ;D
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OK let's see if I can answer all of your questions. I purchased the A19, 60watt equivalent. Its rated at 800 lumens. Looks on par with other similar LED bulbs I have purchased in terms of brightness, build quality and light output. I have a variety of bulbs I am comparing to at home including Philips, Cree, Ecosmart and now GE. The GE Link feels heavier than the others from extra electronics I assume. The antenna is visible inside but you can't see it when it is on.
The only negative I can find is, as with most LED bulbs, it only dims I'm guessing to 30% brightness. For a bulb under $15 that works with my Almond+ out of the box, this is a very minor complaint. Hope I answered all of your questions. I'm attaching a picture of the bulb so you can see the antenna.
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Thanks, that just about does it.
Interesting design overall, it's quite like any other LED bulb I've seen.
The dimming part would be down to the driver IC used, or it might potentially be a firmware limitation.
It's always great when new things just work, as supporting all the different kind of sensors our there isn't as easy as you'd think.
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are these bulbs available in the UK? or would these work in UK if ordered?
i don't know about differences in power
thanks
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They're most likely 110V only, but I don't know for sure.
There's also a difference in the "screw" between North America and Europe and the UK does of course mostly use bayonet bulbs so...
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Just picked up 2 today ;D. They detected and worked flawlessly. Wife loves that they are dimmable.
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I noticed in the latest kickstarter email that the GE Link bulbs are supported. Can the almond+ dim these bulbs or is it strictly on/off functionality?
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Intrested in the answer to this since I was thinking about buying a few....
Well I was actually going to buy them today but Home Depot did not have nay
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There was another member posting about this is the tested section, so let's continue the conversation there:
http://forum.securifi.com/index.php/topic,1681.0.html
Short answer, is yes.
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Topics merged.
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Intrested in the answer to this since I was thinking about buying a few....
Well I was actually going to buy them today but Home Depot did not have nay
As several have answered, yes they dim from the Almond+ app (at least the Android version). You should be able to pick them up online at Home Depot.com but some stores have already received shipment so they are available but may not be currently merchandised. Short answer, you may have to ask for them. Hope this helps...
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In my city, they sell out the day they come in.
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In my city, they sell out the day they come in.
Same thing seems to happen here, though i've read mixed reviews on them too.
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The mixed reviews seem to have to do with the Wink hub though, but their new firmware seems to have fixed the issues.
That said, the dimming apparently doesn't go below 10%.
I have an Osram Sylvania bulb here and although it's a down light, it can dim to 1%.
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I was able to put in a ship-to-home order for a couple of these from Home Depot. It's backordered for a couple of weeks, but I'll post about them once I get them in!
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Can some one write steps to connect this Bulb to Almond Plus, because there is no connect button on bulbs, and Almond plus is saying to push button on device, so not sure how to configure it
The bulb is connected and Lit On from switch
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You should just have to go to Add Sensor in the LCD UI, tap on Add and then switch the bulb on and it should connect. The only issue is that it can't be too far away from the Almond+ when you add it, as when you're adding a sensor they're in a low power mode to try to prevent any potential issues like being added to another gateway by mistake.
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I bought couple of them yesterday. The setup was very easy with A+(Thanks to the Team).
Now i can control through the iPhone App(4S & 5S) and i can dim from 0 to 100.
The only complain with app is, the slider is not user friendly.
Setup:
1.Install the Link Bulb
2.Switch on the Bulb (It lights up)
3.In A+, Go to Add Sensors, it will detect in a minute. (just wait, i can see the light blinks)
4. Name the sensor. That is it.
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Setup:
1.Install the Link Bulb
2.Switch on the Bulb (It lights up)
3.In A+, Go to Add Sensors, it will detect in a minute. (just wait, i can see the light blinks)
4. Name the sensor. That is it.
The instructions above worked perfect. I flipped steps 2 and 3 and it worked just fine. Toggling the light on and off did not get the A+ to recognize it, flipping the switch on and off did however :D. Thanks!
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Hi all!
I am trying to connect a GE link bulb to the Almond+. I have tried following the steps listed previously in this thread, but to no avail. Right now I have the Link bulb turned on right next to the Almond+, but when I try to Add Sensors it just gets hung up at the "Press join" screen. Do you have any suggestions on how to get the Almond to connect to the bulb?
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So I grabbed a few of these... Paired first try.. Some notes:
I just screwed it in, and did an 'add'. The bulb blinked it's ACK (the 3 flashes) before the A+ ever proceeded to the 'getting sensor information'. No issues though, it just took a while for the A+ to finish the process.
I did note what Lars mentioned.. it definately doesn't dim all the way down, but to be honest... my LED bulbs above my head right now go dimmer, and unless you're using these in a home theatre, i don't see where you need to go THAT dim).. 4% or whatever is fine to me
Unlike my Crees, this has a nice warm white color.. if I couldn't see the bulb, i'd almost swear it was incandescent.
The dimming might be a function of the firmware version on it. (Not sure if GE will be updating that ever)..
I did use a zigbee dongle and captured the whole pairing process from start to finish, if anyone wants it. (I used a Generic TI 2531 ZB dongle and SmartRF Packet Sniffer)..
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I used a Generic TI 2531 ZB dongle and SmartRF Packet Sniffer
By generic, I assume you mean something like this http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Zigbee-usb-dongle-cc2531-cc2530-bag-module-wireless-keyboard/1763694083.html
rather than the official TI one http://www.ti.com/tool/cc2531emk
Have you had any issues with the dongle capturing packets?
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By generic, I assume you mean something like this http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Zigbee-usb-dongle-cc2531-cc2530-bag-module-wireless-keyboard/1763694083.html
rather than the official TI one http://www.ti.com/tool/cc2531emk
Have you had any issues with the dongle capturing packets?
I actually meant this one: http://www.dxsoul.com/product/ti-cc2531-usb-dongle-zigbee-adapter-deep-blue-901294176#.VBY1Iy5dVcA but close enough.
No issues the first time I tried... Though, figuring out which channel to use....
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Got mine in today and they work for the most part.
The Almond+ seemed to lose connectivity to one of them, and I had to reconnect it. They don't seem to like updating their sensor status on the Almond+ either...
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Do you have a USB 3.0 device plugged in to your Almond+? Some interfere with ZigBee, so try unplugging it and see if it helps as this is what tends to cause status update issues.
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I did, but even after unplugging I'm still having some issues.
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What I don't know and what I can't find out is if the bulbs acts as ZigBee routers or not. How far away from the Almond+ is the problem bulb?
If it's more than say 100m/300 feet and you have no mains powered ZigBee devices that acts as routers and if the bulbs don't work as routers, this could potentially be the issue, as the furthest bulb might be too far away.
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Just wanted to say that I went out and bought an A19 and a BR30 wink bulbs and both are working great in both dimming and on/off. Incidentally, apparently my area doesn't have a lot of folks playing with this because there were absolutely full displays of both the A19 and BR30 bulbs at my local home depot (looks like that's the only place selling them as far as I can tell). I did run into a couple of pairing issues, but eventually found how to reset the bulbs and re-paired them. The short of it is this:
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Turn the light fixture off, wait 3 solid seconds.
Turn the light fixture on, wait 3 solid seconds.
Turn the light fixture off, wait 3 solid seconds.
Turn the light fixture on, wait 3 solid seconds.
Repeat this 5 or 6 times until the light dims automatically and shoots back on to full brightness quickly. The bulb is now factory reset and can be re-paired.
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*edit* ***DARN, I totally didn't check the wiki, but this information is already there: http://wiki.securifi.com/index.php?title=GE/Wink_Link_bulbs***
Also, I found that the bulbs do lose connectivity for a short time if switched on and off rapidly 3 or 4 times (was messing with my wife :P), but the connection comes back relatively quickly without having to re-pair.
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What I don't know and what I can't find out is if the bulbs acts as ZigBee routers or not. How far away from the Almond+ is the problem bulb?
If it's more than say 100m/300 feet and you have no mains powered ZigBee devices that acts as routers and if the bulbs don't work as routers, this could potentially be the issue, as the furthest bulb might be too far away.
I live in a small apartment, so they are both within 20 feet max. The router is within a few inches of one of my computer monitors, could that be an issue?
e: I also have an appliance switch in the same room as the problem lamp and it doesn't have any issues.
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I have had no issue with these reporting their status. I previously had them hooked up to the wink hub and while they were okay then they work much better with the Almond+ with no lose of connection. What was frustrating was getting them linked the first time. One of them took several attempts even after removing it first but since then they work great. I would try removing them a couple times and repairing them.
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I live in a small apartment, so they are both within 20 feet max. The router is within a few inches of one of my computer monitors, could that be an issue?
e: I also have an appliance switch in the same room as the problem lamp and it doesn't have any issues.
Hmmm, strange. It might be a bulb issue, I couldn't really say, but if you have other things that are working fine, this is pretty much the only logical explanation.
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Well my other switches and bulbs stopped updating and responding too :( I wish there were better diagnostics for the Z-Wave/Zigbee stuff... I'll probably try removing all devices and re-adding them.
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Do you have a USB 3.0 device plugged in?
Some USB 3.0 devices are interfering with the ZigBee, but apart from that, I can't really think of anything.
Can you move your Almond+ to a different location?
The only reason ZigBee devices would stop responding would be from broad spectrum 2.4GHz interference.
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No USB device plugged in anymore.
I do live in the city though, and there is a lot of WiFi saturation, would that cause interference?
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No, not really.
I've been to both CES and MWC where there's an insane saturation of Wi-Fi networks and ZigBee was having some intermittent issues once in a while, but on a whole worked just fine, so that wouldn't be it in your case.
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Well I removed all the sensors and re-paired them, and they seem to be working for now.
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How'd you connect the GE bulbs to the Almond plus? I didn't see the option, unless it's where the app states to input a code from the screen (which never shows up).
Any help here would be appreciated.
Thanks !
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Please see the Common steps here - http://wiki.securifi.com/index.php?title=How_to_associate_Securifi_ZigBee_sensors_-_Almond%2B_2014#Common_steps
It'd be the same for all sensors, not just the ones we supplied as an optional purchase.
You should then just have to switch on the bulbs and they should be added.
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For those still looking for these, I found a few (bought 2) at our local Target. $14.99.
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Just picked up a couple of these (at Target) a few days ago also. They seem to work reasonably well (considering the price anyway), although I couldn't seem to control the dimming from the web UI or iOS app initially (on/off worked fine though).
Later that evening, and since, the dimming seems to work also, but it is a bit flaky. Not sure if it's the iOS app or not, but the sliders and their % values are odd (they go up to 200%+) and they sometimes takes two or three times to actually work. Also, status updates seems slow and inconsistent.
Securifi team, any chance for grouping devices like these for controls like on/off or dimming?
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I've reported the iOS dimmer issue to the software team.
Grouping will come as part of the automation and we hope to have the first part of that ready in 2-3 weeks, finally.
We're going to start testing that internally this week.
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the sliders and their % values are odd (they go up to 200%
Just to be a bit more accurate for the software developers, the sliders seem to show the 8-bit brightness value, from 0-255, which is inconvenient enough, but they also erroneously show this value as a percentage. So, 100% brightness shows as 255%. That should help pin down the wrong code.
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I just got a pair of these this weekend ($15 and buy-one/get-one 50% off at Target). Setup was no problem, they just go into pairing mode as soon as you turn them on (until they're successfully paired). I have some trouble with the iOS app, in that tapping the icon for the light turns it off, but not back on. To turn back on, I have to open the details, and move the slider back up.
The brightness curve isn't very good either, not sure if that's a software issue or hardware. It seems like anything under 150 or so is a single dimness, and anything above is near full. Part of that could be the lagginess of the interface. Also, one of the two bulbs hums when at anything less than full brightness. Haven't tried it in a different fixture yet.
Definitely looking forward to automation so I can group the two bulbs, and add a switch.
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I just got a pair of these this weekend ($15 and buy-one/get-one 50% off at Target).
Is this sale still going on? Have a link?
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Do you have a USB 3.0 device plugged in to your Almond+? Some interfere with ZigBee, so try unplugging it and see if it helps as this is what tends to cause status update issues.
This USB 3.0 issue caused me a lot of trouble.
Is this a software bug? I had a Seagate HDD plugged into the USB 3.0.
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I had the same issue. I was told it's bad shielding on the USB3 cable. Try a different cable....
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No, it's not a software issue. As mentioned above, some USB 3.0 are poorly shielded acts as antennas and end up causing interference on 2.4GHz. We tried our best to shield things internally and even changed the connector to reduce the interference, but with the wrong cable, it still happens. It's something affecting all devices with USB 3.0 and Wi-Fi/Bluetooth/ZigBee/anything 2.4GHz if you're using a bad cable. As ZigBee is using very narrow bandwidth it seems to be more sensitive though.
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I have 3 porch lights with the GE bulbs that I was using with the Hue hub. Now I have successfully paired them with the A+ so I'm going to return the Hue hub. But I don't see the Almond app or web IU that allow me to schedule the bulb to turn on/off like I can using the Hue app. Does anyone know of a way to do that?
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It's in the web UI in the latest beta, although it'll work much better in the next release firmware which is a week or two away at worst.
See http://wiki.securifi.com/index.php?title=Rules_UI_-_Almond%2B_2014
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Much better control under R070, my rules now work reliably to turn the lights on and off, but the sensor tab still doesn't always update the state to "on" when the lights turn on.
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Glad to hear things are improving, for a chance ;)
I think we still have a fair bit of fine tuning to do, but we'll get there.
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I haven't any issues with updating status EXCEPT when my roommate hit the switch that controlled these (they are on a ceiling fan and the switch controls both so I leave it on, control lights with app and fan with pull string). When that happened I had to cycle a few times and right back to normal.
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Is this sale still going on? Have a link?
I know this was a long time ago, but I thought people might want to know that sale is goin on again. You can only do order online and do ship-to-store, but they are $15, with buy one get one half off.
http://www.target.com/p/ge-link-60-watt-a19-smart-led-light-bulb/-/A-16386225#prodSlot=_1_8 (http://www.target.com/p/ge-link-60-watt-a19-smart-led-light-bulb/-/A-16386225#prodSlot=_1_8)
Or the Flood light version for $19.99:
http://www.target.com/p/ge-link-65-watt-br30-smart-led-light-bulb/-/A-16386080#prodSlot=_1_9 (http://www.target.com/p/ge-link-65-watt-br30-smart-led-light-bulb/-/A-16386080#prodSlot=_1_9)
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Thanks! Has anyone actually paired the floods? I just picked up two and haven't had a chance to add them yet. I WANT to assume they work but ya know it is home automation... I wish they had the outdoor floods at Target.
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Just purchased 2 additional GE Link Connected LED A19 bulbs and they will not pair... PERIOD. I do not know why. I have two working right now and they have been working perfectly including through the last two firmware updates. The two new ones just will not pair. I've tried the turn on and off 5 times till light dims to no avail. I've tried it umpteen times. Light dims... no Almond+ response. Tried to remove as well, just in case that was a problem. I'm stumped. Any suggestions? Thanks...
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How far away do you have the bulbs when trying to pair them? Sometimes things need to be pretty close to pair... then you can move them farther away. If that does not work... can you remove one of your existing ones and re-add it just to prove everything is working there with a known good?
It IS possible to get bad products (I just had to return a timer switch, not a remotely controlled one either) but 2 at once seems pretty slim.
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I'm very close, like with a drop light right next to, almost touching the Almond+. I will try to play with the known bulbs, that I a good idea. I'll let you know what happens. Thanks...
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Can you contact the support team so they can take a look at this, as this is clearly not how it should be and it sounds like there might be an issue with things on our side.
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Just purchased 2 additional GE Link Connected LED A19 bulbs and they will not pair... PERIOD. I do not know why. I have two working right now and they have been working perfectly including through the last two firmware updates. The two new ones just will not pair. I've tried the turn on and off 5 times till light dims to no avail. I've tried it umpteen times. Light dims... no Almond+ response. Tried to remove as well, just in case that was a problem. I'm stumped. Any suggestions? Thanks...
I have the same problem with sensors: i can not add additional sensors to my 2 existed. Two door sensors are working. Looks like A+ trying to add the sensor but than message pop up: failed. Doors sensors are Z-bee. I have tried to add garage door sensor also which is Zig-Wave and got the same message. this is software problem, not sensors.
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I have the same problem with sensors: i can not add additional sensors to my 2 existed. Two door sensors are working. Looks like A+ trying to add the sensor but than message pop up: failed. Doors sensors are Z-bee. I have tried to add garage door sensor also which is Zig-Wave and got the same message. this is software problem, not sensors.
Only time I've experienced this issue is when the timeout kicked in because I was slow initiating the pairing or with a weak signal from the sensor.
When I relocated the sensor closer to the Almond+, I was able to pair.
Make sure you have the pairing process initiated on the sensor prior to searching for it with the Almond.
Make sure the sensor is close enough to the Almond device.
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Only problem I've had with the link bulbs is occasionally I have one or two disassociate themselves. I have to perform the reset to them and repair. I haven't had any problems adding other type sensors either.