What do I need a Smart Home Gateway for? Why? How?

What does a Smart Home Gateway do? This video was made to help all you smart home beginners who know nothing at all about smart home technology and for all the people who find the smart gateway topic nothing but confusing. Sometimes it helps when you can see what you are trying to understand rather then reading about it. I hope this video is helpful for you all. #smarthome #smarthomegadgets #smartgadgets
Here is the link to the Tuya Multi-mode Gateway seen in this video:
www.aliexpress.com/item/10050...
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[@rcarioca]

Very nice and informative

[@SHORTwithTECH]

Thanks alot, appreciate the comment

[@NESDUB]

Great video 👍🏾

[@SHORTwithTECH]

Thanks alot, really appreciate your comment

[@theology2506]

Thank you i just love it

[@SHORTwithTECH]

Thank you so much 🙂

[@David_Parr]

The video was a great help. Thank You

[@SHORTwithTECH]

Thank you very much, appreciate it 🙂

[@Abdalrahman_Mohammad]

Thanks for the video, i have a question does these tuya hubs save the automations? i mean if the internet goes off would they still do the automations between the zigbee devices? another questions do all hubs support mesh network or not? thanks again.

[@SHORTwithTECH]

Hi, thanks. Automations are permanent and are not erased by power or internet cuts. Depending on your setup, if internet connection is lost, some devices will continue to work and some wont. Most zigbee, thread and z- wave gateways support mesh

[@Abdalrahman_Mohammad]

​@@SHORTwithTECHthx for the reply. That was really helpful

[@SHORTwithTECH]

@@Abdalrahman_Mohammad Glad I could help you

[@asderven]

Thank you for the video. Cleared up a few issues. Does the gateway require the router to work? Or will it use its own channels? If it requires the router to work, what happens if the router becomes inactive due to electricity loss, or signal loss from the isp side? I had another question, let’s say we set up the system around the house, we need to re-pair a device, do we have to bring it near the hub or can we re-pair from where it is installed? How would range extenders work with this gateway? Do we pair all devices through the gateway? Is there a way to specify which channel/s on the 2.4ghz range this will use and which ones get used by the WiFi? Would a wired multiway gateway be more stable than a WiFi one? Due to using a lan cable to provide the connection? I am figuring out details and see how I want to set things up.

[@SHORTwithTECH]

Hi, thank you. Yes the Gateway does require the router to be working at all times. If the router becomes inactive due to electricity loss your entire smart home will be unable to work. If the router becomes inactive due to loss of signal from your ISP, most things will continue to still work within your home network (depending on your setup) but nothing will work outside your home network, so if you leave home and try to connect to your smart home network you won't be able to connect to anything. Yes for pairing devices it's always recommended to be as close to the hub as possible but if your signal is strong like mine it does pair away from the hub most of the time, it does for me anyway. I have not tried a range extender with this gateway as I never lose signal, it's a very good gateway but it should work just fine with it if used. You pair all your Bluetooth and Zigbee devices through the gateway yes, not WiFi. As for the channels used, it's done automatically however depending on the router your using this might be configurable, I have never tried that. Is your reason for doing that to give the Gateway first priority over the WiFi? If yes, you don't need to do that. Of course, wired is always more stable then wireless however in saying that, I have never lost connection even once. But my WiFi router is a really top quality and expensive model. I don't recommend using cheap routers. Absolutely, take your time in planning your Smart Home setup, this is something that alot of people do not do and it's the very first and most important step to take. Hope that helps, good luck with your setup, post a video when your done, I would love to see your setup once complete 😀

[@asderven]

@@SHORTwithTECH hi, thank you for the great reply. I really appreciate you taking the time to explain everything. If I understand this correctly, if the router loses electricity, I lose all functionality as no WiFi is being broadcasted. All my devices return to being run on manual mode? If the switches are touch pad kind of switches, would the lights turn on and off manually? Or would that require a button kind of switch? When electricity is restored, everything will restart as normal? Or would some automation conditions/devices have to be reset. Where I live, alhamdulilah I got solar and a 15kwh lifepo4 battery. Losing electricity is not a big issue, but it still happens, especially if the electricity is gone for 6-15 hours continuously over a night and the battery goes empty due to us running AC’s on the battery. Similarly, sometimes during the day there is no electricity for 6-10 hours due to a fault or maintenance. That means after 4 hours the internet dies, the isp only keeps a 4 hour backup. There is a signal loss for the remaining duration. Usually once a year we lose signal for 1-3 days, because the internet submarine cable gets cut. I am trying to figure out how life will get affected under those conditions, I am ok with using things manually under such circumstances, as these are extraordinary circumstances usually. Most of the ordinary circumstances they would run fine. But if I require pairing work, or have broken automation to fix after every incident, this system won’t work over here. Would you have by any chance tried and see if this works through mobile hotspot if we use the mobile company data plan/internet? Just a thought. If pairing is a one time thing, we can always pair them close to the hub and instal them where we want them. But once something is installed, especially mini WiFi switches that go in sockets, getting to pair them after installation would be quite hard. Normally at home our router is a normal router that the isp provides, but it transmits both 5ghz and 2.4ghz simultaneously. We use the 5ghz for our use. 2.4ghz is not used by anyone or any device. I loved having wired connection on my desktop, but wireless allows great mobility. I would go with a wireless one for now, see how it works, the range, the problems and decide after usage. If I was to run a wired one, I would need to get a 10m~15m cable to wire going the wall, across the ceiling, down to where the device is. In open air, the distance is barely 5-7 meters. What kind of router would you recommend? I never got into the router world, so I have no idea about features and settings. The houses are big here, masonry work is used for internal walls. I know the spots where my 2.4ghz and 5ghz stops working. Having range extenders would help create get a stronger signal there. My primary interest is to create a little ecosystem for a few devices to work automatically in isolation. I am building a climate controlled battery box for the lifepo4 batteries. I want all the electronics, switches, appliances be able to work according to the rules I set up with the relevant devices and have a low electricity usage. This would allow me to increase the battery life by 2-5 years with minimal investment. Most of the time I don’t get internet on the roof where the battery box is set up. If I use a range extender, my zigbee hub will get the signals there from the range extender, even if originally WiFi wasn’t available there. I am guessing with the range extender, I’ll get WiFi coming there as well? Good planning helps immensely. I am learning that from woodworking and my battery build project. If I can get this done relatively painlessly and create a setup in such a way that a non technical person just has to plug things in, I’ll incorporate it for my battery boxes when I sell them. I also have fun plans for the home and using a weather station to be able to set up more complex rules. Ultimately I want to be able to recognise through the weather station when do we have a dust storm? When we do, automatically alert me to close windows, and message me which ones are open, simultaneously bring down the shutters in front of the windows to stop the dust from entering the house. Have the vacuum robot clean the house after a few hours of the dust storm. Similarly if the rain is light and not in the window direction, open that window to allow in cool air. If the air outside smells like a sewer (open sewer here), be able to detect that, close windows, and shut down any devices which bring air into the house. Start them again when the air clears out after 2-8 hours. There is lots of potential for this, especially with people who have elders at home. This can help create more comfortable living spaces for the elders.

[@SHORTwithTECH]

@asderven If just the router alone loses electricity the gateway will no longer be able to function properly anymore either so nothing will work. Everything that needs to connect to your network or gateway to function will no longer work. Alot of touch pad light switches are designed to work manually aswell so they will still turn on and off but any automations will no longer work. When electricity is restored everything will automatically continue to work as did it before. there is no need to reset or pair devices, automations or conditions, none of that is lost when electricity is lost. Mobile Hotspot works but a wireless router speed is much faster so I wouldn't recommend using a hot spot for a smart home. Pairing is always easier and usually faster after a device has been paired before because the app saves some of the device settings so dont worry about pairing things multiple times, if there good quality products you won't be doing that anyway. You will need to split your router network into two, one for 2.4Ghz and one for 5Ghz. Most smart devices will only work 2.4Ghz, although now things are starting to change, but it's still a long way to go. Currently i'm using a Huawei 4G Wireless Router so at the moment my entire smart home is only wireless, no cables at all and it's never been a problem for me. To extend the wifi use wifi antenna boosters then buy your zigbee range extenders. Sounds like you have big plans for your smart home, i have even bigger plans for mine to. Subscribe and stay tuned for some really extreme Smart Home videos that will be coming over the next few months. Good luck with your Smart Home creations, please make and post videos, I am excited to see this all working when you have finished it, I love watching videos on smart home tech. Thanks for watching my videos 🙂

[@valleeny]

Does Bluetooth work with any Bluetooth devices or does it have to be tuya specific device. I have a Bluetooth light but I’m not sure if it’s tuya

[@SHORTwithTECH]

It's always best to stick with the same brand for 100% compatability. It's usually written somewhere on the bulb what brand it is but if it's not then all you can do is try it. Best of luck

[@aaireneezy2820]

Hey there! Thank you for the helpful video 🙏🏼 I’ve got a couple of silly questions.. Prior to getting the hub, I’ve already set up: 1. Tuya lightbulbs (WiFi) 2. Tuya smart IR universal smart remote 3. Tuya power strip (WiFi) When I got the gateway and set it up to my Tuya app, all the above devices don’t appear (yes, I’ve reset them all to pair with gateway hub😭). Is there something wrong with the gateway hub? Or i didn’t need the hub in the first place..

[@SHORTwithTECH]

Hi, your welcome and thanks for watching the video. There's no such thing as stupid questions, it's what learning is all about. All your devices are WiFi so you don't need the gateway to use those so you won't see them as paired in your gateway. There is nothing wrong with your gateway, keep it setup in your app though as when you start to grow your smart home bigger you will need it, especially for zigbee and bluetooth smart home devices. Hope that's helped you out 🙂

[@adeldje000]

Thank you for this very clear video. I have a question. Is it possible to control any bluetooth device with this gateway? I have a bluetooth watering device, if I want to control it with the gateway, even if I am not at home, would it work ?

[@SHORTwithTECH]

Thanks. It can control any Tuya Bluetooth device but for other brands they generally require there own Bluetooth gateway unless you using something like Home Assistant or Homey which are compatible with a much larger range of devices

[@adeldje000]

@@SHORTwithTECH Thank you for your answer, my device is not a Tuya product. I don't know who is the real manufacturer, I just can control it with my smartphone with the "Control Master" app. It works only via bluetooth, my aim is to control it via internet.

[@SHORTwithTECH]

@adeldje000 ok I understand what your trying to do. You will probably need to re-engineer the product a little bit but controlling anything over the internet can be done using smart devices like these kzbin.info/www/bejne/jZCwnHZ8h8qbbbcsi=wF1IjJxMQSPbtWqa kzbin.info/www/bejne/lau1ZJWMYtWDl8Usi=WLiO5bq0IY-CLLE4

[@mamlukavlogs6353]

can you suggest a good wifi router for 3500 square feet home ( 2000 sq feet ground floor and 1500sq ft first floor) .. Also how is the performance of tuya complied products like Aubess, Girier etc from Aliexpress ? appreciate your great help as i am a novice in this . thank you

[@SHORTwithTECH]

That's massive so your going to need wifi extenders aswell but something in the Huawei range could work well for you (with range extenders of course which can be supplied with it as a package). Yeh I've never had any issues with Aubess or Grier. I am a huge Tuya fan but things are changing fast in the smart home world with the Matter standard now growing at a fast rate so if you want to setup a Tuya based smart home then I would start here www.zemismart.com Hope that helps you

[@mamlukavlogs6353]

@@SHORTwithTECH thanks buddy 🤝🥰great

[@SHORTwithTECH]

@mamlukavlogs6353 all the best with setup 🙂

[@Thor24339]

Hi there, I am also new to this so the video was great help. You mentioned that the smart home May need more than 1 gateway. I’m looking at buying a ttlock keybox and a door position sensor. I also want to buy a home monitor, either from Minut or Noiseaware. I also want to install a wireless thermostat to control the boiler. If I have 2 gateways, would they all be able to communicate together? Is there an app that can display all these devices in one? I am looking to automise my apartment for Airbnb as I will be moving to another country. Hope I’ve made sense. Thank you in advance

[@SHORTwithTECH]

Hi. Sorry that question doesn't make to much sense but your a beginner so that is perfectly understandable, this smart home stuff can be very confusing when your starting off. My advice to you would be to start small and grow your smart home slowly. If your buying TTLOCK then im guessing your going to be setting up a smart home based on Tuya devices? It's important to know this first because if you are then for compatibility I would be using Tuya for your position sensor, Tuya Gateways and a Tuya Thermostat and yes, the Tuya app can display these devices all in one. Are you going to be using Alexa or Google or both? TTLOCK is good but why don't you go completely keyless? I'm releasing another video within the next 24 hours about a Smart Door Lock, maybe something like that would be more suitable for you? I would recommend watching that video first before buying your TTLOCK. Plan out your Smart Home carefully before spending money or you can lose alot of money when you buy devices that are not compatible with others. Start off with your door, once that is setup and working how you want it to then go onto the next stage, don't rush into it. Hope that helps you get started.

[@cebutouristtransport504]

can I manage the device even I'm using data or mobile internet.?

[@SHORTwithTECH]

I'm guessing your meaning from outside your home network and yes you can

[@farissuliman]

Which one would work with smarthings

[@SHORTwithTECH]

Hi, for Zigbee and Zwave then Aeotech is probably the safest option but of course if your using mostly WiFi devices then you can just do it all on the cloud using Smartthings. Hope that answers your question, have a great day

[@marcocecchini5516]

Buongiorno, come far riconoscere il multi-mode gateway ad alexa? Grazie

[@SHORTwithTECH]

Alexa non riesce a riconoscere il gateway. Alexa può riconoscere solo i dispositivi collegati al gateway. spero che questo ti aiuti a capire. passa una buona giornata

[@christopherroque9659]

Can be this controlled using siri?

[@SHORTwithTECH]

Sorry no it cant. Siri is not supported with this particular gateway. If you need a gateway designed to work with Siri aswell as the others then this one works well www.zemismart.com/products/t1 Hope that helps you

[@kailimedia]

Does it support wifi 2.4g? Multimode

[@SHORTwithTECH]

The gateway used in this video is Multimode and it only supports 2.4Ghz

[@kailimedia]

@@SHORTwithTECH I mean, normally it claims multimode protocol, bluetooth and zigbee. How about wifi 2.4ghz? smart devices could be only support wifi 2.4ghz but no zigbee or bluetooth, could those devices to be connected to the multimode gateway hub?

[@SHORTwithTECH]

@kailimedia All wireless Gateways support Wifi but this one is 2.4Ghz only and because it's multimode, zigbee and bluetooth are also supported. This is an old video now though so there are even better Gateways available that support other protocols aswell such as Matter which is important to have as Matter is now becoming very popular

[@ibra5o6]

If I only have alexa & I want to control my (wifi led lights + my BT led lights + zigbee devices & any thing else ) I HAVE to get a multimode gateway hub? But I’ve seen on alexa app I can connect devices & I connected my ezviz cam to alexa without a hub , I don’t see why do I need a hub? Is it for not to overloading the wifi ? Finally sorry I’m not a native English speaker 😅

[@SHORTwithTECH]

Alexa has a Zigbee Hub built inside it aswell but it's not compatible with all smart home device brands. If everything in your smart home is working so far exactly how you want it to without the need of another gateway then you do not need to buy a multimode gateway. This Multimode Gateways main purpose is for zigbee and bluetooth device control, yes it will also help with network overloading

[@ibra5o6]

I just bought 4 bulbs + ansmart switch all of them connect through Wifi and my ping increased from 14 to 35 😅, the bulbs connect with app called surplife and the switch through smart life , and to solve my ping problem I have to get a multi mode gateway ? I tried connecting the bulbs via Bluetooth it works in the surplife app only & I can’t control it via alexa @@SHORTwithTECH

[@SHORTwithTECH]

@ibra5o6 in my opinion buying a gateway will fix all your problems that you are having. The Alexa built in Gateway is Zigbee, not bluetooth