Reddit reviews Hook - Smart Home Hub for Remote Control Outlets, Compatible with Alexa and Google Home (Generation 1)

u/cmlaney is right on target. 433 MHz is definitely a standard. There's several ways to control them via IP-based protocols, including the Hook hub.

It depends on a few factors, namely what you want to spend overall, your aversion to DIY solutions and, to a lesser extent, how picky you are about your lighting.

I personally dislike the Hue bulbs. I think they're far too expensive (generally double or more than a standard LED bulb) and kind of a gimmick....but that's just me. I like medium cool lighting (~4k) with no need for color schemes. Any device or home lighting fixture you have that you can put a Hue bulb in you can also control using any combination of smart switches or outlets.

As far as the effort is concerned, there's a metric TON of things you can do with automation. I'd give /r/homeautomation a look if you're into tinkering. I'm not, but again it boils down to preference. My Echo works great with my Smartthings Hub which can control zwave or zigbee appliances. The Echo also works natively with the Hue, but once you get into Stringify and IFTTT then you're going down a cloud based rabbit hole. Echo is already server driven as is Smartthings so if either system is lagging or BOTH are lagging or somehow dependent on another system you're going to start seeing lag or general functionality problems. That said, you can get a Hook hub which allows you to run non-smart outlet switches via Echo or Smartthings. The cost per appliance goes WAY down.

tl;dr - go with a well supported hub (Smartthings, Vera, HomeControl, etc) and outfit everything with automated outlets and/or switches. The fewer steps in the chain, the better. And cheaper.

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Motivation behind this setup: There are no overhead lights in the living room. So the lights we use are regular floor lamps. The wall outlets are not connected to any wall switches. So we use the etekcity remotes and outlets. It's nice because the remote sits centrally located in the living room on the coffee table.

Here is my setup:

- Etekcity remote controlled outlets, 5pk set, with 2 remotes: amzn link

- I wanted more remotes, so I bought more: amzn link

But you'll notice that the remotes are not paired to the outlets. Yes, the outlets have a "learn" button, but ... You have to think of it like this, the outlet learns the remote's code, not the other way around. So what if your remotes (the transmitters) have different codes? it doesn't work. So the only way to fix that is to make all the remotes transmit the same codes. So that's where you go to this review on amazon and do some soldering "It's about a 5 minute job if you're handy with a soldering iron." If you're not confortable with soldering, this is such an easy job that you could find a friend that does solder and show them the amazon review and have them do it for you.

So now I have 4 remotes (transmitters) controlling 5 outlets. Each transmitter has 5 pairs of on/off buttons and each transmitter operates the same way.

Outlet 1: Living room light 1

Outlet 2: Living room light 2

Outlet 3: Something

Outlet 4: small reading lamp in bedroom

Outlet 5: Main light in bedroom

Transmitter 1: living room coffee table

Transmitter 2: on the wall by the door to the bedroom

Transmitter 3: My side of bed

Transmitter 4: Wife's side of bed.

(Bonus: if I'm in the bedroom in bed and forgot to turn off the living room lights, I can use the same remote to turn off the living room lights)

Then, I paired the RF transmitter/outlets with a "Hook". (This particular smart home device does not appear to be available for sale any more, but it's still working for now. An alternative appears to be the Broadlink or Sonoff). The "hook" connects to the internet and converts internet commands to RF so that my Alexa can communicate with the RF outlets/lights.

So in summary, I have a wife-approved smart home situation. The wife can use the remote or Alexa to turn on or off these 5 lights. Nothing gets messed up if a light is turned on with one method and off with another. The setup doesn't care.

Why would you not want to use cheap Etekcity RF control plugs and then use something like hook?

Don't they work with this? https://www.amazon.com/Hook-remote-control-outlets-Amazon/dp/B01ITSEU3C

Oh Wow! This just made my cheap home automation even cheaper.. This is my rig: a 2x $30 pack of 5 RF outlets and a $50 Hook that converts these outlets into smart outlets, with a $49 echo dot now i can control all my lamps and appliances in my home all under $200 with my Voice and my phone.. Loving it!

Just got back from a long weekend and noticed the same. Google says it can't reach hook smart home. When I try to login from the above link, it just reloads the login page. I think they've ended support without telling anyone.

Their Amazon reviews seem to reflect the same. https://www.amazon.com/Hook-Control-Outlets-Compatible-Generation/dp/B01ITSEU3C

I bought the hook home hub for $50 and it works amazing with google home and these $5 etekcity outlets!

https://www.amazon.com/Hook-remote-control-outlets-Amazon/dp/B01ITSEU3C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1484328408&sr=8-1&keywords=hook+home+automation

Using Hook https://www.amazon.com/Hook-remote-control-outlets-Amazon/dp/B01ITSEU3C and wireless outlets https://www.amazon.com/Etekcity-Wireless-Electrical-Household-Appliances/dp/B00DQELHBS/ref=pd_sim_60_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=XT4T9HSA4MEJSR1XEMPH

Will probably do it with air compressor as well.

It looks like for a little more this would work without the need of an always on Android device: https://www.amazon.com/Hook-Smart-remote-controlled-outlets/dp/B01ITSEU3C

The Broadlink RM Pro can do RF, not sure if it's compatible with GH. Hook should work for you, it does look compatible with GH.

https://smile.amazon.com/BroadLink-Automation-Universal-Compatible-Smartphone/dp/B01GIXZDKO/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1511892534&sr=8-2&keywords=broadlink+rm+pro+2017

https://smile.amazon.com/Hook-Remote-Control-Outlets-Google/dp/B01ITSEU3C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1511892583&sr=8-1&keywords=hook+home