Today I received my SkyConnect USB-Dongle and followed a YouTube video to install it, this step was easy. Now I try to connect my over 60 Hue products. While reading forum entries and searching via Google, it seems that I need to pair every single product with this stick. If I´m correct, I need to bring every single product into pairing mode and connect it one by one . That will be a full day of work, and I’m uncertain if I can get every Hue product into pairing mode (already had issues before).
I have two questions:
Is it correct that the only way to connect SkyConnect with Hue products is to get every single product into pairing mode and search and find them into HA SkyConnect?
What happens with the Philips Hue App, are the Hue products still be available?
Thank you very much for your answer! Until now, I use all Hue products over the Hue Bridge and imported them via the HA Hue integration. I was expecting that I could import them over HA or find them though the SkyConnect integration. Maybe that should be said before people like me buy SkyConnect.
At home I have around 60 products and in my practice around 50, all over it will take days to set all products in pairing mode and integrate them into HA SkyConnect. The benefit seems very low for such work in my mind.
We have two hue hubs as we reached the device limit. I personally don’t see the point of moving everything over to HA from hue as there is nothing I can think of that I would be if it from.
Also having the lights separate, there is for me a slight benefit knowing that lights will still work even if I have a HA issue, all your eggs in one basket scenario.
If there was a major benefit in doing so then I would but I have complete control of hue via home assistant and making scenes is so much easier in hue than HA.
I’m in similar situation as you, but I actually consider to spend that day moving from hue hub to skyconnect. This because I also have various (Aqara) temperature sensors which currently experience poor connection in my house. By combining all my Zigbee devices using Skyconnect this will vastly improve connection as it will be same Zigbee network across all devices.
As soon as I have improved my UI in HA app I will begin that porting…
Poor connection at my private house was one of the reasons I bought it, too. Even if I don’t have any Aqara sensors or other ZigBee products, it interests me much how reliable and fast the connection becomes in comparison to the Hue bridge.
If you really go for it, I cross fingers that all will be integrated easy. I was reading that days that it is important to start with products nearby the SkyConnect stick and move from there to the products with the next closer distance, so you end up integrate the most far away products from the SkyConnect stick.
I also have the new skyconnect dongle. I have been trying relentlessly but I do not believe that it is compatible with Philips hue for some reason. I have tried new bulbs that have never been set up I have also tried Bluetooth connecting to the bulb and then resetting it and also bringing the light bulb directly into contact with the dongle and it still will not discover.
I also had the same issue when using deconz moving platforms, i had to pair the bulb back to the hue hub if not still paired, in the hue app delete the bulb, then the bulb is ready for the new platform, i nearly threw the bulb away but after trying this i’m back up using my 2 hue lights along with other zigbee devices all on the same network.
from what i remember i had to switched the light on / off six maybe eight times to get it into pairing mode, the bulb will dim slightly then appear in the platform that you are using for zigbee, i’m using z2m but it should be the same process when pairing to zha.
lucky i kept the hue hub for these situation getting the bulb back to stock, and i hope this helps.
. That will be a full day of work, and I’m uncertain if I can get every Hue product into pairing mode (already had issues before).