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We have been waiting for Samsung to launch its Connect Home and Connect Home Pro in Singapore. In fact we already had one of the first sets of Samsung Connect Home several months ago for testing in our office, courtesy of Samsung.

The Samsung Connect Home uses mesh Wi-Fi technology to eliminate blind spots and to improve wireless coverage. But being a smart home solution company that pride ourselves in our knowledge of Z-Wave, we are more interested in it's smart home capabilities.

The Samsung Connect Home supports popular smart home standards like Zigbee, Z-Wave and Bluetooth. In the Works with SmartThings section, we noticed the usual brands that works with the Connect Home, mainly Aeotec, Philips Hue, some models of Yale and Samsung digital locks.

What about those Z-Wave devices that do not work with SmartThings? We always knew that SmartThings does exceptionally well for small installation with sensors and single switches (i.e switches or relays that control 1 set of lights). It gets more complicated for end users who want to use it with devices such as MCOHome 2 or 4 Gang touch panel switches or even FIBARO Double Switch as they have to upload custom device handlers to make these devices work.

Since we received the Samsung Connect Home, we have been working with Samsung on supporting some of the commonly used Z-Wave brands in Singapore such as MCOHome and Aeotec Nano range of products. Here's a sneak preview of the Samsung Connect Home setup with MCO Home switches.

If you noticed, the Samsung Connect Home works with both original SmartThings app as well. In our opinion, we prefer the original SmartThings app for the setup as it is more intuitive and responsive than the Connect Home app.

In conjunction with SITEX 2017, the Samsung Connect Home is going on sale on Nov 23 at the retail price of $198, while the Connect Home Pro at $298. Other than Singtel that bundles it with their fibre broadband, Automate Asia is also an authorised reseller for the Connect Home. Check out our SITEX promotion now!

Now before you speed off to get some Z-Wave devices and expect it to work with Samsung Connect Home, we've got some bad news and good news for you.

The bad news is that the Samsung Connect Home in Singapore comes in Z-Wave KR frequency (920.90 MHz, 921.70 MHz, 923.10 MHz). Why? Isn't Singapore using Z-Wave EU frequency? The reason is IMDA has recently announced that it will take 3-5 years to slowly farm back older 868.42Mhz to use it for longer range IoT (Internet of Things) protocols and they will only certify Z-Wave gateway that is in KR frequency. While it is not illegal use the EU 868.42Mhz for short range devices during transition, they would recommend using the new KR frequency moving forward. Refer to the Z-Wave coverage table for more details.

Here comes the good news. We have already made preparations for you. Automate Asia now supports Z-Wave KR frequency devices, such as MCOHome and Aeotec with several more renown brands in the pipeline. So, if you are considering Samsung Connect Home to be your next smart home hub, please contact us to guide you on your Samsung smart home journey!

Last but not least, if you have an urgent need for some devices to work with Samsung Connect Home (a.k.a. SmartThings), we can support you too! Our team at Automate Asia has the necessary software expertise to develop device handlers and smartapps for brands/models that are not known to be compatible yet.

Automate Asia Team