Hoobs Pro Box (buyer beware)

[TxDiver]

Backstory. 
Over time I have slowly been incorporating smart products into my home. Thermostats, lights, garage doors opener, etc. I had two major frustrations;

#1 it seemed like every device had its own app. It was annoying, I wanted everything in one location.

#2 everything was WiFi when it didn’t need to be.

I decided to merge everything on HomeKit. Like it or hate it, it would require the least investment. I decided to use home bridge. I had installed it on a dedicated pc. Everything show up on all my devices through HomeKit no apps required.

Fast-forward. Me and my wife purchased our first house. We got very fortunate, this will be +20 year home. It has everything we wanted. I decided to do more home automation. Mainly lighting, and lighting controls. As well as backup generator, propane level, and well water monitoring. Decided to use a Zigbee network because I didn’t want hundreds of devices on my WiFi. Homebridge requires a Zigbee USB dongle. In my research I found HOOBS was pre-ordering their Pro Box. This seemed like a much easier turn key solution, it claimed to have a Zigbee/thread network natively. So I ordered one.

After months and months it finally arrived, then the problems began…

Device would be unresponsive and drop off the Zigbee network. So I began troubleshooting and trying to optimize my setup. At this point I emailed HOOBS asking for help. I spent weeks moving WiFi channels to ensure no interference. Moving routers and nodes to physically separate my WiFi and Zigbee routers. We live out in the country with the least amount of 2.5ghz noise I have ever seen. Other than my WiFi no other WiFi networks are even detectable on my property. It did not help at all. In fact the HOOBS PRO BOX started to crash and go offline. At this point I had sent probably close to 15 emails asking for help. Finally hoobs responded and set up a remote access session. The technician did not know what was wrong. At the time of the remote session the Zigbee network was unstable and kept crashing. At the end of the call he said the “case would be sent to the pro team” after that, they went radio silent. I would email them every 2-3 days asking for updates. Still more radio silence…

After almost 3 weeks I had gotten frustrated. I began emailing daily asking for updates. I got nothing other than automated responses. Finally after almost a week of frustrated emails asking repeatedly for someone to call me or anything other than automated emailed responses. I just wanted any communication. I got a email asking for my address so they could send me a replacement… a replacement that has not yet been produced. They could or would not give me a timeline or where in the queue my replacement is. They also do not know what is wrong with my device. No attempt to make a proper diagnosis. I think they offered me a replacement to shut me up. It was clear I expected ether a working product or competent technical support.

 

Apparently there has been a change in the design from my version. They claim it’s due to a “chip shortage” however the visual changes to the board are the Zigbee/ Thread antennas… if my replacement is produced in the “March” batch I would have gone without a working product for over a year from original preorder.

 

After months I moved all my Zigbee devices over to a Philips Hue Bridge. No issue other than I now have to have another app on my phone. I also had to install apps for other devices that don’t natively work on HomeKit. This also confirms it’s not a compatibility issue.
 

If you are looking for home automation solution I would strongly avoid HOOBS terrible customer support. You are much better building your own home bridge on a raspberry pi. Or use another solution like home assistant yellow. In my opinion HOOBS currently doesn’t have a useable product, at least not as advertised. Giving them money is the equivalent of crowd funding without any of the updates or protection from any major platforms.

 

if anyone wants more specific information of copies of the “communication” from Hoobs please let me know.