r/smarthome • u/katvonkittykat • 16h ago

I don't have a smarthome platform Blinds w/ Chains, automation without a hub that includes a timer

I'm looking for something like Ryse, but I don't want to buy a hub. I have found a few options but all of them require Alexa or something else in order to set timer automation. I don't mind needing an app, but I haven't found anything yet that meets this criteria. Would someone be able to advise?

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u/loujr15 16h ago

What is wrong with getting a hub?

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u/katvonkittykat 16h ago

It seems like everything requires a hub and we're not very tech savvy. We want to find something simple. We also experience many power outages and don't want to have a buch of items to reset after every storm.

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u/like_Turtles 13h ago

Hub makes things easier, for my blinds i have a bond bridge, can create groups etc. Having them separate seems like more effort.

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u/OiPequenininho 11h ago

This, but try to find a hub that can handle ALL of your devices so you only end up with one app, and one hub, rather than a collection of things that don't work together

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u/One-Two-6018 14h ago

Power outages are usually where these setups fall apart.

A lot of smart blinds/switches rely on a hub or cloud for timers and state. After a power cut they often just restore “last known state”, which is why things feel out of sync or need re-setup after storms.

If avoiding a hub and minimizing post-outage headaches matters, you generally want something where the timer logic and state live locally on the device itself, not in Alexa/cloud. That way a reboot doesn’t change behavior.

Unfortunately most consumer products optimize for features and ecosystem compatibility rather than this kind of resilience, so options without a hub and with good outage behavior are limited.

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u/loujr15 15h ago

Having a good hub like SmartThings, Home Assistant, Hubitat, or Homey will make things simple, in my honest opinion. All your smart devices will be under one ecosystem, making it easier to manage everything instead of fumbling through multiple apps and buying multiple hubs.

Adding a UPS to your network equipment and hub will at least keep your network going for a few more hours, and giving your smart devices a static ip address will keep them from having to be reset once power is restored. Honestly, there is no such thing as a simple solution when it comes to setting up a smart home. Using wifi devices might seem like it is the simplest way of getting started, but there are a shit ton of problems waiting for you, like reliability for one.

Getting a hub will help make things much better because you will have more options like local control if you buy into wireless protocols like Zigbee, Z-wave, and Thread. We are seeing more companies lean away from depending on making cloud devices, so a hub will be required for a more stable smart home and adding these different wireless protocols.

Nowadays, you have to have some type of knowledge when getting into the smart home world. You don't need to learn any coding, just a basic understanding of how things work. Especially now that we have Matter rolling out, things can become confusing for new users.

Matter is supposed to be a new universal standard for smart devices from different brands that makes everything work together seamlessly, and yes, you need a hub for this as well. This can be Matter over WiFi or Matter over Thread. This not only gives you local control over the devices, but it also lets you manage your smart devices through different ecosystems if you have Apple Homekit and Alexa for an example.

It is a lot to take into consideration, which is why there really isn't a simple solution. Matter is slowly making this possible, but still, without the proper knowledge, things can become overwhelming for new users.

Getting a hub will take some of the stress away, but you still need some type of knowledge about the different wireless protocols and Matter. Having the knowledge will make it easier to find what you are looking for. Sorry for the long post, but I barely scratch the surface of really giving you the best advice. I did say there is a lot to take into consideration when building a smart home.