What is House Check?

House Check is a status monitoring and smart home setup tool built-in to every Devicebook Smart Home's Home Controller. It's your one-stop-shop for setting up the Devicebook Hub, all the devices in the smart home, and diagnosing issues with devices.

Accessing House Check

You can find House Check by tapping the button on the House Check tile in the main page of the Home Controller. It looks like this:

Image of Home Controller's House Check Tile

Setting Up a Smart Home

House Check is your tool for setting up devices around the home and linking them to the Home Controller, once they've been installed in their proper locations.

When setting up a Devicebook Smart Home, you should start by setting up and linking the Devicebook Hub to the Home Controller, and then each device, one by one.

Set Up & Link Devicebook Hub with the Home Controller

1. In House Check, tap the "Set Up" button on the Devicebook Hub Tile.

2. Use the device's camera to scan the QR code on the Devicebook Hub.

It may take up to three minutes for the Devicebook hub to become linked to the Home Controller.

Note: If an "Update" button appears on the tile, you should tap the button to update the Devicebook Hub to the latest software version.

Set Up Accessory Bridges 

Note: You can skip this step if your Smart Home does not make use of any third party hubs or third party cloud connections.

Some devices, such as Google Nest devices and HunterDouglas PowerView motorized window shades, require the use of a third party physical hub or cloud bridge in order to communicate with the device.

If your design includes any such devices, House Check will display an option to link with these third party bridges:

 

You will need to set up the link between the Home Controller and these third party bridges before you can set up devices that communicate via that bridge.

1. In House Check, tap "Set Up" on the appropriate button to set up a third party bridge.

2. Follow the instructions to link with the bridge. The steps will differ, but may include any of the following:

- Plug in and Power on a physical hub, wait for Devicebook to discover it.

- Authenticate with a third party service

- Enter configuration information

Once a bridge has been set up, you'll be able to set up and link devices that communicate via that bridge.

Set Up & Link Devices

Once the Devicebook Hub and any necessary bridges have been set up, you're ready to set up the devices around the home, and link them to the Home Controller.

Notice that in House Check, devices are organized by physical location. For each location, Devicebook recommends that you set up the hard-wired or AC/Mains-powered devices first, and then the battery powered devices. You'll always set up and link once device at a time before moving on to another one.

The following is a general description of the process of setting up a device. Steps 3+ will vary from device to device.

1. Tap on a room in House Check

2. Tap on the device you want to set up and link to the Home Controller.

Note: Sometimes, the device's tile might say "Connects to Home Router". This means the device must be set up using the manufacturer's third-party app to connect to the home's existing Wi-Fi router, rather than directly to the Hub's Wi-Fi.

3. Follow the instructions on the first page to set up the device. It will provide you with any steps necessary to put the device into the right mode to be discoverable by the Devicebook Hub. When the Devicebook Hub finds a device which could be the right device, it will be listed as a "Candidate Device." 

Note: Some times, Devicebook may automatically find many candidate devices that could be the correct one you are trying to set up. It will be up to you to indicate which one should be linked to this slot of the Home Controller on the next page.

4. When the expected number of candidate devices has been found, press the NEXT button.

5. The next page will ask you to identify the device by interacting with it in some way. Follow the instructions on the page to identify the correct device. 

Note: The purpose of this step is twofold: It makes sure the device is working properly, and also ensures that the correct device is linked. For example, imagine you are trying to set up and link a Wi-Fi Light switch in the kitchen, but there are two other Wi-Fi Light switches installed elsewhere in the home. The Devicebook Hub will find all three of them on the network, and does not know which is which, because it does not know where they are located physically. This step indicates which one should be linked right now, as the "Kitchen Light Switch."

6. After the device has been linked successfully, depending on the device, Devicebook may take a moment to check the signal strength of the device. If there are any issues communicating with the device, they'll be presented immediately.

Hint: During House check, if you ever have issues getting a device to appear as a candidate, you can tap the Troubleshooting button to get device-specific help.

After following the above steps, you're done setting up and linking one device to the smart home! The device is now online and fully operational. Repeat for all devices in the home. Once all devices have been set up and linked, the smart home is fully online!

Resetting a Device

After a device is set up and linked to the Home Controller, you may later find issues that require you to un-link the device from the Home Controller. Such issues may include, but are not limited to:

- The device has a hardware problem, and needs to be replaced with a new device of the same model.

- The device is not functioning properly for some reason. It needs to be un-paired and set up again.

- The design has changed, and now a different device model needs to be used here entirely.

In all such cases, you will need to unlink the device from the Home Controller before proceeding.

To unlink the device from the Home Controller, tap the "Reset" button on the device's tile in House Check. House Check will ask you to confirm your choice. When you do, the device will be unlinked from the Home Controller, and can no longer be controlled or monitored by the smart home. You are now free to remove it, replace it with a new one, or set it up again by tapping the "Set Up" button that now appears on the device's tile in House Check.

Checking Device Connectivity

If a device becomes disconnected, it will be marked as such in House Check. A device can become disconnected for a number of reasons. Common reasons are:

- The device is out of battery, or became unplugged

- The device communicates wirelessly, and is unable to communicate with the Devicebook Hub

- The Devicebook Hub is disconnected from the internet or from its power source.

To diagnose connection issues, see My Devicebook Smart Home's devices are disconnected or not responding to controls

If a device reported low battery, it will be reported on the device's tile in House Check. Replace or re-charge the device's battery.

If a device reports low signal strength, it will be reported on the device's tile in House Check. Move the device to a location where it is closer to the Devicebook Hub, and away from metal objects. Note that metal objects or enclosures placed between the device and the Devicebook Hub will completely block wireless communication between them.

Checking Devicebook Hub Connectivity

If the Devicebook Hub is offline, it will be reported as such on the Devicebook Hub's tile. The Devicebook Hub may be disconnected for a number of reasons, including:

- Hub is disconnected from its power supply.

- Hub is in the middle of updating its software.

- Hub lost connection to the internet.

To diagnose Hub connection issues, see My Devicebook Hub is Offline or not functioning properly. How do I fix this?

Checking & Updating Devicebook Hub Software Version

If the Devicebook Hub has an available update, its tile in House Check will have an "Update" button. Tap the button to update it to the latest software version.

Note: an update may take a few minutes, during which time the Hub will be disconnected, and as such, all devices will be disconnected from the Home Controller.