- Having trouble connecting switches,
outlets, plug-in modules,
and smart light bulbs to your Wink Hub?
Today I'm gonna provide a few suggestions
that may help clear everything up.
Stay tuned.
(digital music)
Hi again.
John Stone, the DIY Smart Home Guy.
Here to help you solve some of the most common problems
you'll have when trying to connect
your smart device to the Wink Hub.
These suggestions will also work with the SmartThings Hub,
but the step-by-step instructions in this video
will be Wink specific.
If you're a SmartThings user,
you should be able to figure out how to duplicate
these steps with your hub.
This video is specifically meant to address problems
pairing light switches, wall outlets, plug-in modules,
and some of the smart light bulbs.
And these instructions are applicable to
GE, Leviton, Lutron, Wemo, Inovelli,
and many other popular smart home brands.
(sighs)
As always, there are informational links in the videos
and affiliate links for products in the comments below.
For this video, we're gonna use a Leviton dimming module.
Pairing this device is pretty simple.
But when it doesn't work,
you can find yourself pulling your hair out.
And I should know.
And from what I can tell,
there's not a lot of helpful information out there
to help you get everything back on track.
The first problem that I run across
is people holding the pairing button down too long.
It's a common mistake to think
that you have to hold the pairing button in
while you're waiting for the hub to respond.
In some cases, the hub can take 15 to 20 seconds
for the device to register within the app.
So, when you get the connection screen and the hub is ready,
press the sync button on the module
three to five times in under four seconds.
If you'd like, you can repeat this process
but it should be fine to do this only once.
And then wait patiently for the hub to respond.
The next thing you should check is the distance
between the hub and the device.
Try to make sure that the hub is more than five feet away
from the device you're trying to pair.
If you have a Wink Hub 2
that is connected through the ethernet cable,
this shouldn't be a problem.
But, it's a quick thing to rule out.
Make sure you have a good separation.
On the other hand,
make sure the device is within 30 feet of another device.
Z-Wave allows signals to hop between devices
and this will allow you to extend your range.
So the device can be greater than 30 feet away from the hub
as long as another connected device
is within that 30 foot range.
If you're still having trouble,
try making sure that the device you're trying to pair
is within 20 to 25 feet of the hub itself.
Once you successfully connect the device,
you can move it to a location wherever you want
as long as you're within range of another connected device.
So that's all the really simple stuff.
Let's move on to something that's a little more complicated,
but it is important to know
and it can help you out of a jam.
An important point to know about Z-Wave and ZigBee devices
is that they can only be paired to one hub at a time.
In some cases,
your device may have already been paired to a hub.
This is pretty common if you got the device from a friend.
But it can also happen if the factory tested the unit
and forgot to clear it out.
Another common problem is
that the device was purchased by someone else
and returned after it was paired.
You may think you bought a new unopened unit,
but in reality someone else bought it and returned it.
What are you gonna do?
If this is the case,
you'll need to exclude the device from its previous hub
before you try to pair it again with your hub.
This is performed inside the Wink or SmartThings app.
Let's go take a look at how to do that.
Alright, so let's go into exclusion mode.
We've got the hub right here.
And we have the module right here.
And first thing we're gonna do is go into the hub.
Now in the upper right-hand corner,
you're gonna see the little gear.
We're gonna tap on that gear.
Tap on our hub.
Scroll down until we see Z-Wave.
Now my suggestion is don't touch anything else on this list.
We're gonna go into exclusion mode.
Push the exclusion mode button.
Get the success on the screen
and we're gonna see that our blue light
on the hub is flashing.
Then we're gonna come over to our module.
One, two, three, four, five taps on the button.
You're gonna see that light turn green.
And then it went back to a solid blue.
And there was nothing that happened in the app.
This is kinda a pain.
But the way you're gonna know that it worked
was this instantly came out of the exclusion mode
after turning green it received the signal.
This device is now excluded.
And you should be good to go.
If none of these have helped,
try to do a factory reset on the device.
This is different for each device,
but most products I've found describe their procedure
for performing a factory reset.
That little piece of paper that we always throw away.
(crumpling paper)
Go find it and read it!
But if you're too lazy to read it,
I'll show you how to do one
at least on the Leviton module.
Alright, so the factory reset.
Again, looking at our little paper instructions here.
(crumpling paper)
Who needs those?
Want you to unplug the module for five seconds.
One, two, three, four, five.
After the five seconds,
we plug it back in.
And then we'll take 20 seconds.
We want to push the pairing button
and we wait until it turns orange.
And then red.
And we got that red light.
Now we have a factory reset on that device.
That's it.
But again, each device may have a different instruction
for how to do a factory reset.
So you're gonna want to check with the device instructions
before you do this.
Also, do a factory reset after
you've tried the exclusion mode.
I know this is the most bothersome
of all of the suggestions.
But if you try all of this stuff and it still won't connect,
contact the manufacturer of the device.
The problem probably isn't the hub,
so reach out first to the device manufacturer support line.
It's a crappy alternative,
but it's worth a try before returning the product
or just giving up on smart homes altogether.
I hope these tips got you back on track
and good luck with your smart home adventure.
Thanks for watching.
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and don't forget to click like.
Over here are a couple of other videos
that you might enjoy.
For more reviews, tips, and DIY videos,
visit azhb.com.
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both are @DIYSmartHomeGuy.
Until next time,
cheers!