These hubs lost all functionality a few days ago FWIW. Sengled’s servers went down on the 18th and haven’t been back up
I have a couple of these bulbs and the Smart hub. They work as expected, but be aware that Sengled has a poor track record for keeping their servers running (without which the devices can’t operate) resulting in multi-day outages. Having to revert to switching a lightbulb on and off manually for a while is merely irritating in the grand scheme of things, but I feel like Sengled is more error prone than other smart device co’s out there.
Yep. I just tried logging back in to my Sengled account and it seems to be back up and running now, but it’s definitely a pain point.
Wait…. What the heck is the hub for than? I guess I would get server down causing app to not work… but a hub is supposed to be your own server in a way, hence the word hub…
So the hub in this case is just the mobile app….but physical?
The hub is the intermediary between your wifi network and the bulb itself (as opposed to the bulb having the hardware built in).
At this price I’ll pick up a two pack but be forewarned that Sengled went dark for a couple of days this past weekend. Numerous users gave up (reddit) and swore they’d ever use this company again. Apparently their servers went down, Alexa sent out a mass email, and then users (including me) were SOL. Fortunately, they are back up and running after numerous rumors about why they went out, including multiple lawsuits to the company. Having said all that, this price still makes it worth the risk to me.
Came here to post this.
Apparently this has happened before.
If you want lightbulbs that require Internet access - to the company’s web portal - just to turn them on/off, then go for it.
Yes, they work with Google/Alexa/Siri - but only when they’re actually, you know, working
You would think the hub would be a way for you to talk to your bulbs through your local network.
You’d be wrong.
The bulbs connect to the hub, but the hub connects to the company web portal. And when you “talk” to your bulbs (or Google/Alexa/Siri does) it’s through that same web portal, back to your hub.
When that portal goes down - which has happened at least twice recently, for a couple days - your bulbs are useless.
The hub allows the ZigBee devices to create a local mesh network. The majority of functionality would work while you are connected to your home WiFi even without actual internet. If you had no internet or if they have an outage again, any remote access while away from home would not be functional.
I have the WiFi only bulbs and mine were completely dead during the outage, with them stuck on the last setting prior. From what I read, the hub versions like these kept the local control at least.
Either way it seems like a gamble with the company’s track record.
Since they are zigbee, I paired them with my SmartThings hub…pulled the sengled “hub” after what happened last week.
They sound worse than Wemo. I’ve had far better experience with Feit bulbs, switches, and dimmers.
Toys in search of a use-case.
FWIW, I’ve had both Alexa & Google Home for years and have always bought the least expensive (at the time) bulbs i.e. Merkury Innovations, Geeni, etc. and have never had a single issue with ANY. I group them for my overhead bedroom lights, create routines to have them change color, brightness and turn on a strip light behind tv by saying “Watch TV”, etc. I’ve done the same with smart plugs. I just never saw the value when I started buying years ago of going the proprietary route. I do have many Samsung TVs, tablets & phone so I do use Smartthings. Maybe I’m just lucky but everything has been error free from start. Just my 2 cents.
I have had my Sengleds on SmartThings for a few years now and never looked back. Coupled with a few Zwave switches it’s all processed locally on the hub so even when the internet goes out I can operate my lights.
These bulbs are zigbee iirc so you can pair and use them locally with your zigbee hub, these bulbs are not router btw.
One of my favorite uses for these is to have a very dim red nightlight on in the bedroom so I don’t step on the dog - she’s big, and might be anywhere at the foot of the bed… and she snores - best white-noise around.
It’s good to know they aren’t routers. Most bulbs are.
I had so much trouble using their hub. I have several of the Element color bulbs from Sengled that I control with my Smart things hub or a Vera(Ezlo) hub. The color bulbs work great once paired.