Slow Flow

[larspalmqvistdk]

I am experiencing my flow are slow it actually takes several seconds for the light to come on.
Anybody else having same issue, my new model Homey is wired and it happens with all lights and configurations, so it seems to be a homey problem, i have ikea , and hue , and several other products aswell all the same when homey is conrolling through motion sensors. it the same when one test the flow
it takes 5-10 seconds to go through the flow, but that might be because it is a test.

so my problem is the light first comes on when i am out of the room , when we are walking through a room.

Lars

[Ranney]

Test flow’s (advanced) are always slow. (To show you what it is doing).

In my situation, my lights are on within a second. Can you give more info about the sensors you are using and how they are connected to homey? For example, if you are using the hue motion sensor connected to the hue bridge, they are slow because of the polling times.

[Peter_Kawa]

With a log app like SimpleLog, I add cards to trigger-, condition- and action cards.
That way you can see what is slow or, “taking its time”, and, from my experience, it can’t be the flow itself, unless Homey is way overloaded

• What is your systemload? —>
• • Run the SysInternals app
    What are the system values it returns?
• Issues I’ve read about:
• • Did you replace the power unit with the new recommended ones? The original power unit slows Homey 2023 CPU down (much), because it’s output voltage is just a bit too low.
• • Did you replace the USB-C cable with a shorter one? The longer cable seem to lower the voltage a bit to much

A flow with log cards everywhere:

No panic, adding the cards can be done whit a script , for a flow or a selection of flows. The script is work in progress, but here it worked fine:

[APP][Pro] Simple (Sys) LOG - Use this app for Simple (Sys) Logging

Script to automaticly include Simple Logging cards into your flows Use this script to automaticly add logging cards to your (advanced and normal) flows: It adds logging to each flowcard’s error catch in advanced flows. Also it adds cards to the triggers (WHEN), conditions (AND) and actions (THEN). It will generate one Automater flowcard in each flow. This card can be used to configure each flow on it’s own: Update: When you set this to No, the Autmoater card itself will not be changed when …

Other slow stuff:

• Sensors: wifi sensors (on battery) can take up to 8 seconds to send an update, so not very suitable for instant detection

[GianmarcoCicuzza]

Hi @Peter_Kawa I am not experiencing slow flows but rather the fact that some of the devices in my flow do not get activated when I run the flow.

As an example I have the following flow which is meant to close all the blinds of my ground floor:

I created the flow and saved it as favorite so in the evening i just run it before going to bed.
The flow has worked seamlessly for two or three days but recently some of the devices do not react to this. When I run the flow maybe only 3 or 4 of the 7 blinds are activated. Please also note that all the blinds are responsive via Homey, i.e. if i try to close one single blind by commanding it via homey it responds within milliseconds. However, when i try to move them all with this flow some of them do not move.

I am on Homey pro and noticed this started after the recent Homey update…i do not know if this is a coincidence.

Any clue on what that can be? Should I kill the flow and make a new one again? I also thought that maybe homey might have challenges in running flows with so many devices on…

Thanks

[WimS]

Maybe, you shouldn’t trigger all the blinds at once, so signals are not received correctly.
Try a ‘wait’ card in your flow !

[Peter_Kawa]

True, Homey Pro 2019 is bad with sending more than a few commands at once.
No clue how Pro 2023 handles that

Another way besides adding delays is, in Advanced flow, you can daisy-chain your action cards (connect the input for the 2nd card to the output of the 1st card and so on) so they won’t get fired at once, but one after the other.

Other option: create a group device with all your devices you want to control with this flow. The group members are not fired at once, but in sequence so to speak

[APP][Pro] Advanced Virtual Device (Device Capabilities App) with Unique Text Status Indicator

If you have questions about the App Device Capabilities or seek help with an Flow or with the Flow Exchanger, please see the Device Capabilities Topic. German Another German topic English If you have questions about the Advanced Virtual Device or seek help with the Exchanger File, please see the Advanced Virtual Devices Topic. This topic! German English If you want to post a AVD as a Template for others to use, please post it on Share Your Device! - Advanced Virtual Devices. Germa…

[GianmarcoCicuzza]

Dear all, I just got a message also from Homey team. They confirmed that it is not advisable to have all devices being fired up at the same time so the solutions suggested by @Peter_Kawa are indeed all recommended by Athom.

In parallel, they are working to developments and upgrades to eliminate the issue.

Overall I also must say that this issue did not happen all the time but just every now and then…so maybe Homey Pro 2023 is a bit better at managing simultaneous inputs. Nonetheless applying some delay cards will make the issue go away completely.

Thanks

[anon78407409]

I’m having some similar issues, but only in flows. I have one where a Z-wave switch activates a flow that controls a roller blind.

If I use the test buttons in the flow, it is almost instantly closes the roller blind, but if I use the device control it takes 3-5 seconds.
If I use the switch, it can take up to 10 seconds before anything happens. Very strange.

[Peter_Kawa]

@anon78407409

If I use the test buttons in the flow, it is almost instantly closes the roller blind

Using the test button is triggering the flow directly → you bypass the original trigger, the Z-Wave switch, that way;
So you should try to discover the delay somewhere in your Z-Wave switch, or Z-Wave mesh I think.

[anon78407409]

Is there any way to test button latency?
It triggers a lamp after less than a second, but that’s through z-wave associations.

Could it be that the new Homey really is that slow? 5+ seconds to activate a flow externally?

Edit:
I tested by adding just a push notification to button 3.
It takes 10 seconds from pushing the button until receiving the push message.

Is there a problem with z-wave? I have used insecure mode to try to have it as uncluttered as possible. And I don’t have a lot of devices, and most are 230V devices, just a handful of battery devices.

[anon78407409]

A probable error in my case was actually one of the buttons on a device. For some reason only that single button made it slower. Still a bit lag on the z-wave network, especially with “All lights off”, that can take anything from 5-30 seconds before all lights are off.

[Rrrr]

I received some tips from Athom yesterday on how flows work. Maybe it will help you. Since you are using advanced flows, bear this in mind.

• In normal flows the entire “Then” block of flow cards is fired as fast as possible. So if you need to have a certain order to your commands you have to use delay blocks in normal flows to guarantee the right order.

• In advanced flows flow cards are always fired sequentially if the flow is constructed that way (which is different from normal flows). The flow will only go to the next flow card if the current flow card has finished executing.
  When sending a command to multiple devices it is recommended to add delay blocks. The delay card is not necessary between system cards (since there is no command sent to a device).
  Even in the case of sending a command to multiple devices, you could probably group them together with 10 calls at the same time then 1 second delay. then another group of 10 etc.

Following this advice, I imagine you have more success with the following examples, assuming you do not really care if all happen exactly at once.
Note I have added error connectors, just in case one fails, it will move to the next.

[Jurek_Chlebowski]

Hi guys, I am new to Homey but already observed a great lag with motion sensors (I have Ikea one and Tapo camera acting like one // homey not supporting live video feed is a great disappointment though…// ) - both sensors could trigger a light but the lag is at least few seconds so I may leave the room before the light goes on… Would you recommend:

• moving ikea motion sensor to original Dirigera gate (it worked perfectly before) // understand there is no way to connect Dirigera gate to homey directly…//
• changing power unit of Homey to a stronger one (suggestion from one of the posts I have read)
• changing the usb cable to shorter one (suggestion from one of the posts I have read)
• connecting homey to ethernet with a cable (now it is thru wifi)

Any suggestions? Homey seems to be a great device and I initially thought I found a miracle solution to integrate all of my devices under one umbrella but some of the flaws are driving me crazy…

TIA, J.

[Peter_Kawa]

@Jurek_Chlebowski

homey not supporting live video feed

Can you add a link where Athom says it does?
(I know the marketing is ‘forgetting’ some important con details at some points)

@Jurek_Chlebowski

both sensors could trigger a light but the lag is at least few seconds so I may leave the room before the light goes on…

Flows are never slow. It’s either the sensor or the light, or both (or their wireless protocol).
You should add notification- or log cards, like Simple Log, to be able to discover what’s going on.
Simple Log records timestamps with 3 fractional seconds.

• log is written at the same time as the sensor signal: issue is with the light or the wireless signal
• log is written at the same time the light turned on: apparently the sensor reacts sluggish or the wireless signal has issues

Ikea devices use Zigbee, make sure to create a good Zigbee mesh.
Also make sure the Zigbee signal does not interfere with your 2.4GHz wifi signal. Wifi signal from closeby neighbours can interfere as well.
Detailed info here.

@Jurek_Chlebowski

trigger a light

I can’t say anything about “the light”, while you forgot to add all useful info.

@Jurek_Chlebowski

understand there is no way to connect Dirigera gate to homey directly

Request for support, Homey is not a static environment, but not the quickest with supporting new devices:
https://request-a-brand.homey.app/boards/request-a-brand

@Jurek_Chlebowski

changing power unit of Homey to a stronger one

You should already be using a 5.2V power unit; 2A or up will suffice.
I don’t know what “stronger” means.

@Jurek_Chlebowski

changing the usb cable to shorter one

Can’t hurt, but old news.
The power could drop a bit with a long cable, but the 5.2V power unit should suffice.

@Jurek_Chlebowski

connecting homey to ethernet with a cable (now it is thru wifi)

That won’t change a thing for Zigbee devices, or Z-Wave, or bluetooth, or 433MHz, or IR, or Matter.
Personally I’d buy an ethernet dongle right away

Homey is of course not a miracle solution, it’s just a pretty versatile box.
You have to get familiar with it, especially tuning the wireless signals should be done very seriously.
So don’t expect it to run perfectly on day one.
This forum is very helpful, so you should be able to get it running fine.

As I mentioned with “the light”: please provide for device information (product link, brand, model, wireless technology) otherwise it’s like looking in my glass bowl

[Jurek_Chlebowski]

Thank you Peter, I somehow omitted your reply, now I am few days more experienced (and patient too… ) with homey and I can not disagree with your opinion that homey is a great stuff but it is not a miracle solution. I hope I have enough time to get deeper into it. Also, please do excuse being not precise sometimes - as not an expert nor IT guy, and additionally being new to the community, it is difficult to properly address all important factors to get issue described in a right way and solved, I do my best to learn fast.

Referring to my previously described issue with ikea motion sensor and ikea tradfri socket - I have replaced the “motion alarm on” trigger with “zone is active” trigger and the automation works very neatly (e,g. fast enough to what I expect).

On the other hand I got another ikea sensor (vallhorn), which is located in my other room. And there I get a simple flow just for start and testing purpose:

There is a noticeable gap in between “motion alarm on” trigger and “lamp on” (Zigbee switch module) of around 15-20 sec. Not sure if the daytime condition in between has anything to do with it… I do not think it should?

Any advice? Many thanks in advance.

BTW in the meantime - changed the power supply and cable. Will get ethernet adapter shortly too…

Again - thanks for your help and patience.

Best

J.

[robertklep]

@Peter_Kawa

Can you add a link where Athom says it does?

@Doekse suggests it does here, where, apparently, the only reason it’s not possible to view TuYa video feeds is because the TuYa API is lacking (meaning that Homey isn’t the limiting factor here).

[DirkG]

Hi Jurek, you should think the other way with this flow.

When…
– The motion alarm turned on
And…
– Luminance is less then 5 lx (pls. use a logic card)
– The time is between 06:00 and 21:00
Then…
– Turn on

[Peter_Kawa]

I meant Athom stating ‘Homey can stream video’ in marketing stuff (Homey app info, commercials and such)
I don’t think new users come across a forum article with a statement very quickly.

But about that, I don’t read ‘Homey supports streams’ in Abe’s post, Robert?

Or, are you referring to the words "Tuya doesn’t? Which can mean “but others do”?

@Doekse

Tuya doesn’t provide access to their snapshots or streams. So, while you can control camera functions like tilt, pan, siren, and zoom, viewing the feed isn’t possible

[Jurek_Chlebowski]

Thank you Dirk,

I have dealer created a new one which is basically same in logic as your kind suggestion. Instead of direct luminance trigger I used a variable (LAZIENKA CIEMNO) that changes depending on light level (probably no need but I am not sure if the luminance level was in the AND set of triggers).

This one works OK now…

Many thanks. Now I need to work on switching off logic based on timer…

Best. J.

[DirkG]

@Jurek_Chlebowski

Now I need to work on switching off logic based on timer…

The easiest way is to use the “Zone Activity” function:

(Logic card for luminance also added)

However, you must ensure that only this motion sensor is activated for this zone. You can activate or deactivate this in the advanced device settings.

Here is also a short tutorial on how to solve something like this with a timer app.

[Simple] Lights turning on/off based on motion

Simple flow for turning lights on and off based on motion What to use Timer app. In this case i used the Countdown app Motion sensor. Used a Neo Coolcam pir v1 in this case. A light to switch on and off. Used a Fibaro Dimmer2 in this case to turn a “dumb bulb”. Start making the timer We click more/apps/Countdown. Then we click configure app. Here we make the timer. Choose a name for your timer. In this case i used “Badkamer” Click “Add timer” Start making the flows In this case i used…