How I migrated from Wink to native HA

So I originally opened this as a request for help on how to migrate from Wink to HA but have since moved over and would like to add my findings here. Original request below.

Original request:

Hello everyone!

So I have been using Wink for a long time, and I like it for the most part. I am the main Developer for the Wink component so I have been hesitant to move off of Wink since I won't be able to diagnose/improve the platform as easily. However, the last week has been rough on Wink I have been having regular push update issues and Wink hasn't found the issue/isn't even aware there is one. The WAF is dropping quickly lol. 

So I have decided that I want to move the things I can over to some sort of native HA Zwave/ZigBee solution. 

I have a HUSBZB-1 setup for Zwave and have tried ZHA before but it has been awhile.

So my main question is what is the best Home Assistant ZigBee solution out there? zigbee2mqtt, zha, ect... and what am I going to lose in regards to ZigBee from moving off of Wink. Thanks.

I have the following ZigBee devices.
GE light bulbs (10) (Working fine with ZHA)
Commercial Electric can light (1) (Working fine with ZHA)
Sylvania (2) (Working fine with ZHA)
Hampton bay flush mount light (1) (Working fine with ZHA)
Ikea bulbs (3) (Working fine with ZHA)
Home Decorators ceiling fan module (1) (*See below)
Lutron remote (1) - Haven’t used in awhile but would be cool to get working again. (**See below)

* Pain in the ass to get paired with ZHA. Worked for about 2 weeks and went offline. Tried to pair for about 15 minutes and gave up. Just purchased https://www.itead.cc/sonoff-ifan02-wifi-smart-ceiling-fan-with-light.html to replace it. ifan02 works great with tosmota, only issue is the fan speeds are really only low and full speed. The slow speed is super super slow, medium is like low, and high is full blast.
** Paired but no useful sensors showed up

I also have the following Zwave devices
GoControl (Linear) window/door sensors (6) (Working fine with ZWave)
GoControl (Linear) motion sensors (3) (Working fine with ZWave)
Generic water sensor (1) (Working fine with Zwave)
Schlage lock (1) (Working fine with Zwave) (*See below)
GoControl siren (1) (Working fine with Zwave) (**See below)
GoControl thermostat (GC-TBZ48) (1) (Working fine with Zwave) (***See below)

* User codes don’t show up as their own sensor like with Wink and also they aren’t named. A template sensor can be used to pull out the code number used to unlock the lock to trigger automations.
** Paired and works as a switch, but shows as unknown device in Zwave config
*** Seems to work fine, two climate entities show up in HA and in order to set the range of the auto mode both entities set points need adjusted. This may get fixed in the feature.

The remaining devices are all Wink only and I am not too sure what I will do with them, suggestions welcome.
Kidde smoke alarms (3) - Probably have to keep the Wink hubs with these. (Replaced these with first alert zcombo and they are working well)
Eggminder (1) - Needs to stay on Wink
Porkfolio (1) - Needs to stay on Wink
Nimbus (1) - Needs to stay on Wink
Wink Relays (2) - Needs to stay on Wink (* See below)
Pivot power genius (2) - Needs to stay on Wink (** See below)
Spotters (1) - Has to stay on Wink

* Use this! https://github.com/jimpastos/wink-relay-manager works great and adds functionality
** I have taken one apart and I think an esp8266 can replace the control board. I plan on doing this in the future and will make a guide if all goes well. You can retrofit your Pivot power genius with an esp8266 follow this https://github.com/w1ll1am23/pivot_power_genius_mqtt

I use Aeotec Z-Stick for my Z-wave integration, but for what it’s worth…

From that whole list, the only one I can comment on is the Schlage lock. Mine (BE-469?) works solidly for basic lock-unlock. It was difficult to pair with Home Assistant, but eventually worked (I think you need to “Add Node Secure”). Although I’ve seen some posts within the last few days that this lock’s functionality might be broken with HUSBZB-1 on the latest 0.81.0 update.

Also, I never got my HUSBZB-1 working for zigbee. I think I got one from the “bad batch”. Eventually I gave up on it and instead use Deconz with the Conbee usb stick. Deconz is still young though and has limited device support. I have Hue lights working with it, but my Iris and SmartThings Leak Sensors do not yet work.

Thanks for the response. So yesterday I decided to just give it a shot. I migrated everything that was ZigBee/zwave over to the HUSBZB-1. The two major issue I had were pairing the ceiling fan (took at least 30 tries) and the lutron remote, which paired but didn’t show up as anything useful.

So far everything seems stable and is super quick. I noticed that after restarts sometimes my some of my zwave window sensors get stuck in initializing but eventually they start working.

1 Like

Have you created issues with deconz GitHub on support for those devices?

Good point. Not yet, but I plan to. I looked at the reporting page yesterday and it looks like I need to investigate a bunch of details about my sensors, so I’ll look into that.

1 Like

@w1ll1am23, I’m interested in converting my Pivot Power Genius to ESPhome. Would that be an easy retrofit? I have a few D1 Minis, which you said your code did not work for, but I’m assuming if I go the ESPH route, they would be okay?

1 Like

Should work fine, I am running with a D1 and Tasmota. The retro fit is pretty easy. If you make an ESPhome config and it work would you mind sharing? Should help others too.

@w1ll1am23, it looks like you’ve been living with rooted/ported Wink Relays for about a year now. How are they? Do you run the Android HA app on the screen? The project you linked to seemed to require a lot of tinkering. I have zero experience with MQTT. I am just starting my migration away from Wink. Most of the transition has been fine for me, but this particular integration seems a bit tougher. I have three Wink Relays - so I would really like to get this piece going. Any tips, pointers, or insight would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Keith

Well I moved about 4 months back and never set them back up at my new place. The MQTT integration worked fine, great actually. The UI however wasn’t great. Finding a browser that worked well was tough and even then, the HA UI didn’t work well. I ended up running hadashboard and making 2 tiles on the screen (temperature and another light)

I would say it works good enough and its a good way to get some extra life out of them. However it is a ton of work rooting them and setting it all up.

For while, I had HADashboard on Relays and were controlling the Home Decorators Fan controllers via Wink with them. Worked as good as the zigbee connection would allow. Still looking around on what to use if Wink goes away. Two of these fan controllers are all that is left connected to my Wink. I was thinking Conbee II on a remote PI3, but I don’t think the fan controllers are supported. Good to know that that kinda are with a HUSBZB-1.