Hubitat Elevation C-7 Home Automation Hub - Compatible with Alexa, Google Home, Zigbee, Z-Wave

This is a great product that in my case I bought, used. I have it controlling my Philips Hue lights (lights connected to the Hue hub, Motion sensors and switches paired only to Habitat) monitoring my Ring Alarm, controlling my heating system, monitoring the status of all windows and doors, displaying any and all motion through the home as well as temperature and humidity values in all zones. Its a powerful little hub.It isn't the easiest device to setup and requires lots of different drivers, both Hubitat and community versions as well as apps to access devices. Initially that can all seem quite daunting but watching YouTube videos and reading the forums gives you a good feel for how and what is required to move devices onto this smart little box.Many complain about the UI and yes, it is a bit tricky to start with but you soon get used to its quirks and after a short amount of time learning what menu access what section of the system, you soon get used to it.I have manged to move all of my Hue scenes and automations away from Philips and onto Hubitat. I can even do something an experimental (do not disturb my scene) app from Hue Labs would not allow, turn on a scene and then pause the motion sensor so it doesnt interrupt the scene or switch the lights off after a period of inactivity.Even my sleep mode where a Philips Hue labs app would start my lights at a specific brightness and gradually dim them to off over a thirty minute period is now a Hubitat automation and working perfectly. But the best thing is that all the automations are localised and no longer dependant upon an broadband connection to function.Not everything can be driven by Hubitat though so you need to look at your existing devices and see if drivers and apps exist for them. In my case my Zappy EV Charge point isn't supported to I use Home Assistant for that and have the Hubitat integration in Home Assistant so I can use it to talk to the hub and control my devices via a home assistant dashboard which is a lot prettier and more flexible. These two home automation systems work very well togetherOnce I perfected my automations I have found the hub to be very reliable and responsive. Having solid Zigbee and Z-Wave meshes is really important though and if your property has lots of solid walls, repeaters will be required. Even in my home which is largely thin plasterboard walls, I have used INNR smart plugs throughout the house and garage to boost my Zigbee mesh performance.I am UK based and use Yagusmart light switches for controlling standard led bulbs. Motion sensors are largely Philips Hue but connected directly to the Hub as Zigbee devices, not to the Hue hub which is reserved for lamps only. My ring devices for intrusion alarm is all connected directly to the Ring system but I use the unofficial Ring Connect app to connect Ring to Hubitat. Any non alarm devices such as Ring Motion sensors or door contacts are also directly paired up to the Hubitat hub so using these two methods, Hubitat monitors and displays via the dashboard the status of all alarmed and non-alarmed doors and windows and displays motion from any motion sensors too. My Honeywell Evohome system is connected to Hubitat using the Evohome Connect app.Getting all of the above working involved lots of reading, some trial and error and support from forum threads, some of which I read multiple times to fully digest what was needed. But it has paid off and my smart home is now under my local control, giving me local access through one application whilst retaining all the Amazon Alexa voice control I had via the Alexa Hubitat skill.I am an electronics engineer, not a programmer and whilst I build my own PCs, I would not consider myself an advanced IT person. So I think anybody with my modest skill set can install and use Hubitat if they are willing to put some time into learning how this very flexible clever box of tricks works.