The Wink home automation thread

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fletchb

Member
Jan 6, 2015
68
0
0
I have to say I'm really confused about Centralite. From their web page: "The world's most affordable wireless whole-home lighting control." But shopping around for product availability, I see dimmers from $70-140 (ouch!) with mostly no product availability. OTOH, the company seems solid.

I looked at their page in more detail- Now I know who they are. The main guy used to own a printer company called QMS. His second in command used to be our mayor. At one time QMS had a good rep, but later they got too expensive and HP put them out of business. Hope this is not going to be a repeat.
 

hanly2

Junior Member
Dec 25, 2014
14
0
0
@ paul. I had that same thing happen a few times. Lol. The devices populated so there is some communication, but when I try to speak commands it doesnt work. I dont know how to test that.
@ fletchb. I think her company/lowes has a cheap motion sensor and a siren. Maybe she can tell you if that will work? Problem is wink doesnt have any places to add a siren and not sure where you would add the sensor.
 

deusrex

Junior Member
Jan 19, 2015
4
0
0
I just picked up a Wink hub and two GE bulbs yesterday at HD. I have one use case - when I get home & it's dark out, I want a light to turn on inside. Easy, right?

I was immediately staggered at how limited the automation portion of this system is. There is no setting for "After Sunset", which just befuddles me beyond belief. Why would I ever want a home automation system to do anything with lights when it's still day time? Additionally, the geofencing built in didn't work for me today, so instead of messing around with that I wanted to find a reliable solution.

Fortunately, I found this thread and, more specifically, a link to the Tasker Profile for using Wink with Voice controls. I didn't want the voice control aspect of it, but the skeleton was there for me to do as I wished. And that brings me to the meat and potatoes of this post - how to use that Tasker profile without the voice control part, so that you can automate you home using any Tasker hook. In my case, I just wanted that single light to turn on when I've arrived home and connected to my home wifi, so that's what I'll cover here.

Here's the link to the Google+ Tasker Integration
https://plus.google.com/app/basic/stream/z12guxibomastvsgh04cgfvpfvbdvvwjm1k

Step 1: Import the above file, and set up your username and password as described
Step 2: Clone the "Wink Voice Received" task and name it something like "Wink Initiate Command"
Step 3: Edit the new task, on the first line change it so "Name %raw To @par1" (This lets us send in a parameter as if it's the voice command)
Step 4: Now we can create new, simple tasks, that control anything with Tasker just like the voice commands. For example, I created 4 tasks - On and Off for each of my two lights:
Bedroom Light On
Bedroom Light Off
Entrance Room On
Entrance Room Off​
All these tasks do is call the above "Wink Initiate Command"
Under "Parameter 1 (%par1)" you enter the command exactly as you would have spoken it:
The basic command is "Turn/Lock/Unlock <device name as it appears in the Hub app> <action you want performed>"
"Turn the Living Room Light on"
"Turn the Library Light Off"
"Lock the Front Door"
"Unlock the back door"
etc...
Step 5: To set up a wifi geofence, create a new Profile of type "State -> Net -> Wifi Connected" and assign the task - in my case it's "Entrence Room Light On"


My use case and hardware only involves smart light bulbs at this point in time. While I'm sure there's a way to use the API and Tasker to monitor the Tripper and other devices, I'm not sure how well that would work since you'd need to constantly poll the Wink API for status updates. On the other hand, you could probably use it to monitor the status of an open door by polling once a minute, and if it's been opened for 10 minutes, send an alert (another feature sorely lacking in the Wink app).

I hope this is helpful, I know I'm stoked that I can now do more "Automation" with my new Home Automation Controller - especially since that means that I probably don't even need to use the Wink app anymore (and probably won't until I get a sensor that needs it - damn thing is always crashing). You will notice that I didn't touch on the "After Sunset" portion of my requirements, because, well, I haven't gotten to it yet. (EDIT: It was easy, solution below)
 
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Paul_Ghattas

Junior Member
Jan 8, 2015
6
0
0
Sunset changes from 4:20pm to 8:30pm throughout the year, so a static time schedule doesn't really make sense.
@deusrex totally agree with you. I use it with tasker 99% and the wink app 1%. However I still cannot figure out with tasker how to active a task while after sunset. I read a work around by adding sunset time to a Google Calendar and using that but that seemed like a band aid fix. Curious if you have another solution.
 

blampen

Member
Jan 15, 2015
41
0
0
Wink has mentioned many times on twitter that they are working on sunrise sunset functions. But it has yet to be seen. One way that i have heard of people doing it is to buy a pivot power genius and set up your dusk dawn with ifttt since it is one of the few devices that is supported by ifttt. Then create a robot which ties the lights you want to control to the pivot power. Personally I just take 30 seconds once a week and adjust my time manually.
 
Dec 12, 2014
78
0
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I hope this is helpful, I know I'm stoked that I can now do more "Automation" with my new Home Automation Controller - especially since that means that I probably don't even need to use the Wink app anymore (and probably won't until I get a sensor that needs it - damn thing is always crashing). You will notice that I didn't touch on the "After Sunset" portion of my requirements, because, well, I haven't gotten to it yet. (EDIT: It was easy, solution below)
Rather than completely junking the voice control, I put in an if/then condition for either voice control or parameter based control(my mods are in comments on that thread). I was going to suggest twilight, but it seems you found it. Also, you might want to look at autolocation, it gives a lot more control over geofencing.
 

fletchb

Member
Jan 6, 2015
68
0
0
@ paul. I had that same thing happen a few times. Lol. The devices populated so there is some communication, but when I try to speak commands it doesnt work. I dont know how to test that.
@ fletchb. I think her company/lowes has a cheap motion sensor and a siren. Maybe she can tell you if that will work? Problem is wink doesnt have any places to add a siren and not sure where you would add the sensor.

I will ask, but I am not sure if she will know about Wink...
 

colinnwn

Junior Member
Dec 28, 2014
8
0
66
Couple of questions. first I cant seem to add any devices to my hub, the app keeps telling me the hub needs to be updated, I have told it to update 3 times. 2. I have a lutron appliance module and I know that the status is terrible, but another problem I have is how do I turn it off and on without the app? If someone else needs to use that outlet that doesnt have the app? 3. I know that the old spotter has bad reviews, but are they due to the hardware or the app, because, you get a lot more functionality for less money with the old one vs the new one. I would really like to add a motion sensor for the lights.
Thanks.
1. This is a common problem. I had to update mine 4 times this last update before it took. And even when it does take the app doesn't always show the update worked immediately. I force close the app and reopen it after each update attempt. During the 4th update attempt, the hub cycled through the process on its own (per watching the led on the hub) three times. The times for each step bear no relation to their claims in the user manual. I have a very good 50mbs connection, and it has been stuck downloading for hours before. Two updates ago there was a supposed fix for update problems, but I don't see that it made a difference. One thing that helps, but doesn't always work the first time is to be sure your Wink app stays open and the phone doesn't go to sleep until the end of the process, however long you chose to give it. I don't let it continue beyond half an hour.

2. Sorry don't know.

3. From everything I've read and seen, it is a combination of poor hardware and Wink's known inability to produce good software. They say they are improving things like the battery life through hub updates, but I haven't seen anyone say they felt it made a difference. They have Spotters on sale at my Home Depot for $30, and I still steer clear of them both for that reason, and the fact you can't use them to turn on a light for x minutes after it senses movement and then turn off.
 

IndyColtsFan

Lifer
Sep 22, 2007
33,655
687
126
I've updated my Wink Device Control web page, with hub status, trippers, and smoke detectors added. I'm not sure that I can add other specific devices since I don't have them and don't know what the data looks like. Here's the link:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/grxxr9cv3e5m662/WinkPost.zip?dl=0

Nice. One question -- I am getting "Error Calling Wink REST API 401 Unauthorized" even though I've modified the fillbody section with my user name and password. Can you confirm it is working OK and I'll do more troubleshooting on my end?
 

dennisj00

Member
Dec 28, 2014
52
0
0
Haven't tried this one but the earlier version worked. We got that error (wife is the programmer) until I remembered the correct password.
 

IndyColtsFan

Lifer
Sep 22, 2007
33,655
687
126
Haven't tried this one but the earlier version worked. We got that error (wife is the programmer) until I remembered the correct password.

Yeah the earlier one worked for me, but this one doesn't seem to work and I am pretty sure I am entering the correct credentials.
 

blampen

Member
Jan 15, 2015
41
0
0
The two fields under the username and password are missing entries. I copied the info from the original file and it worked fine after that. Think it was the user agent and Api key. On my phone so I can't check for sure
 

goukas

Junior Member
Jan 20, 2015
1
0
0
Another update: After futzing with it some more, I was able to get it to detect my Trane thermostat. It appears to be fully functional, minus the ability to set the thermostat to "Auto", which was a useful feature for scheduling purposes.
Amusingly, the thermostat control UI is all Honeywell branded. It even claims that the thermostat is Honeywell. I imagine that's something they'll get fixed eventually, but it doesn't detract from the functionality of it.

Were you ever able to get this completely resolved?
I just installed my hub and added my thermostat. My behavior is slightly different - I can set it to cool, heat or auto just fine. The problem is that I am not able to change the temperature at all. I increase or decrease it and after a little bit it just goes back to what it was at in the app. The setting on the thermostat never changes.
 

IndyColtsFan

Lifer
Sep 22, 2007
33,655
687
126
The two fields under the username and password are missing entries. I copied the info from the original file and it worked fine after that. Think it was the user agent and Api key. On my phone so I can't check for sure

Ah, I suspected something was missing. Unfortunately I deleted the original files. Hopefully Bill or someone can post the original, missing entries as it is a really handy page he made.
 

blampen

Member
Jan 15, 2015
41
0
0
Ah, I suspected something was missing. Unfortunately I deleted the original files. Hopefully Bill or someone can post the original, missing entries as it is a really handy page he made.


I emailed you the missing variables to the email listed in your profile
 

Tech_Greek

Senior member
Sep 18, 2011
244
4
81
Well it looks like the general consensus is still to this date Wink is dropping the ball. I had higher hopes but after my spotter eats through batteries in a day now and the lack of features and control I'll be looking for another gateway/hub.

It's a shame too. I'm now at 17 GE Link bulbs.
 

ieee_raider

Member
Nov 2, 2014
53
0
0
Well it looks like the general consensus is still to this date Wink is dropping the ball. I had higher hopes but after my spotter eats through batteries in a day now and the lack of features and control I'll be looking for another gateway/hub.

It's a shame too. I'm now at 17 GE Link bulbs.

Just get one that supports zigbee and keep the bulbs... they aren't Wink specific.
 
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