Am a beginner in Openhab. One simple question; hope the question makes some sense.
Since Openhab offers local control, I wonder what it means by integration through bindings to devices like Philips Hue really is. Am I correct in saying that an integration with Philips Hue requires the Philips hub and the associated Philips cloud ? Or is it possible to connect a Philips bulb (or any other smart bulb) directly to Openhab, without the associated hub and cloud ? I am currently under the impression that most of the smart home products, I buy from market are unable to be locally connected to Openhab. And if that is the case, why use Openhab for local control
On the other hand if these devices are locally connectable, please tell me how.
It depends from device/service/binding. Philips Hue does offer a local API, so the bridge does not need to be connected to the internet. (my firewall is blocking that bridge). That Philips hue API is available locally, (e.g. your bridge internal local IP is http://192.168.0.1/…) and the openhab binding connects locally to that API to control the devices that are available on that bridge.
But there are bindings that need to be online, like the amazon alexa echo control - because the devices do not offer local APIs…
Thanks Jurgen and Philipp for your time. Hope to try out with the local interface of Hue bridge.
Except for Hue, probably most of the smart lights available in the market require the cloud, or that they do not have a local interface. Please correct me if I am wrong.
For Hue too, it requires the bridge and there is no direct connection between the Hue bulb and Openhab. Isn’t that so ?
Probably there need to be more products with local APIs available in the market for Openhab to be more viable ?
If your concern are devices connected to the cloud then don’t buy those!
OpenHAB is very capable to handle both
There are many hack out there to give local control to devices that wold normally need a cloud. This often involves flashing a new firmware. Many tutorials are available.
There is also the DIY route that gives you FULL control on the device you make.
Z-Wave devices are designed for compatibility and local control. Zigbee devices, can have a local option, depending on the vendor. The standard is loos enough that compatibility between systems is not a requirement. Hue, for example, has extended their Zigbee installation introducing some incompatibilities.
Z-Wave frequencies and devices are region-specific. I have one of these lights.
