Interesting documents and images filed with the FCC for testing a new Wink Hub 2 can be found here:[url=https://fccid.io/2ACAJ-WHUB2]https://fccid.io/2ACAJ-WHUB2[/url]
Here’s an excerpt from the Wifi Radio test report which details the included transmitters. I see 5Ghz wifi has been added, in addition to an Ethernet port ([url=https://fccid.io/document.php?id=3145202]https://fccid.io/document.php?id=3145202[/url]
The Equipment under Test (EUT) is the Wink Labs, Inc. home automation hub, model Wink Hub 2. The Wink Hub 2 has five transmitters, including: three 2.4GHZ transmitters (Wifi (2.4/5GHz), Bluetooth, and Zigbee), one 431 MHz transmitter (Lutron), and one 915 MHz transmitter (Zwave). The circuit board uses four on-board transmitter antennas. The Bluetooth and Wifi radios share one antenna and the other transmitters each have their own antennas.
I have been strongly considering adding a Wink hub as a secondary controller to my Vera and have been studying all the great progress made here by Cybermage with his plugin. I don’t plan on waiting for this new version, but just raising awareness that it’s good to see the new owners (Flextronics) providing strong backing to Wink .
Now if only they would provide Cybermage with a free unit for plugin tweaks… 
So I went to Home Depot today to buy the Wink Hub (same price as Amazon now), and none to be seen, not even the price card where it was just yesterday. Asked Customer Service about it and she said the SKU was now INACTIVE. They had 1 left in the lockup closet, at the original price, but she suggested I come back in a few days implying it would go on clearance.
I can also order it online, but will wait a bit longer to see if it really goes on clearance. Not sure if this means that HD will discontinue selling Wink stuff entirely, or they know the new V2 is in the pipeline and are clearing the shelf. Why else would the SKU now be inactive?
Wink has officially announced V2 of their hub: Introducing Wink Hub 2 — Wink Blog
It appears that it will be going on sale in late October at Home Depot and Walmart so might consider holding out until they release the new version even if only for the ethernet port (rules out so many interference issues that can pop up).
I’ve also seen some loose confirmation from their Marketing director that the API will be the same for V2 as V1 so my guess is that this plugin will require minimal if any modification to work with the V2 hub.
Out of curiosity though…why would you want a Wink hub as a secondary controller? It makes a lot of sense for people who have invested into the Wink platform and then migrated to Vera but I can’t think of many reasons why one would want to add the wink hub except for the addition of a few silly novelty discontinued HA devices (e.g. porkfolio, eggminder).
Novelty devices??? You mean like ZigBee color bulbs??? Or, for that matter, anything else that uses ZigBee???
I have ZigBee bulbs that have been attached to my wink hub for over a year… I have yet to be able to connect a ZigBee bulb to my VeraPlus and have it stay connected for more than five days…
They have never shown any interest in helping ANY developers before… with hardware or information… what makes you think that they would start now???
Novelty devices??? You mean like ZigBee color bulbs??? Or, for that matter, anything else that uses ZigBee???
Nice to see you in the forums @cybrmage! Hope you are recovering from your recent health struggles!
I’ve actually had pretty good luck with my Vera Plus and zigbee. I have two GE Trippers paired and four GE Link bulbs paired without any issue that I’ve noticed but that certainly makes sense if you’ve had zigbee troubles or were using a previous vera without the zigbee radio.
I’m managing to deal with the limitations… Thanks 8-}
Well, the GE Link bulbs seem to work for me without issue with Vera Plus until you have a power outage. After that, control of the bulbs is lost and they must be reset. I like the Cree zigbee bulbs better, but you can’t connect them directly to the Vera Plus.
Just got back from vacation where there was no Internet service - happy to see all the responses here!
@mssearch - Thanks for posting the Wink2 hub announcement. Great to learn that HD is still in the game, as well as Walmart now along with Amazon. As to your question about why would I need the Wink as a secondary Vera controller - isn’t that the whole point of the Wink plugin - to provide additional (or more reliable) connectivity where the Vera cannot? In addition to supported Zwave devices, I have a Ring doorbell and the Kidde smoke/CO[sup]2[/sup] alarm, both supported by Wink, and not Vera. I want to be able to manage all devices through a single app.
@cybrmage - I did not have any expectations that Wink would be supportive of 3rd party developers , just thought the ideal situation would be if you could get your hands on the new hub soon to check it out and test plugin compatibility. Rewarding developers with a free hub would be good business.
I do plan now on waiting for the hub 2, and will gladly help where I can as an early adopter/tester.
For the Wink I rely on it for 3 critical things –
Lutron Caseta Lighting, I have a large ceiling fixture that seems to only like the Caseta line for dimming (tried many other z-wave dimmers and found none that worked), plusfor my kids bedrooms it was way cheaper to buy a Caseta dimmer plus remote to allow them lighting control from their night stand than a z-wave setup, and the quality of dimming of these light switches are just unmatched… they don’t even require a neutral, even for LED ceiling can lights. Wink allows me to tie that back into my Vera (Vera nor Vera Plus support Caseta)
Ring, Wink provides an easy connect point to make the Doorbell action accessible to Vera for scenes. No Vera support for Ring.
Zigbee lighting… while the Vera Plus supports it, Wink is still more reliable and more robust in the number of devices it support.
I actually don’t use anything on the Wink other than to set the Color tone on my Zigbee lighting, otherwise, it is all Vera scenes that I use to turn on/off devices etc.
The Wink is really just my bridge to Vera and these devices, I picked it up for ~$50 last year and love it (does more for less than the expensive Caseta Bridge).
Additional yes… more reliable… that’s questionable. Wink is a bit of a whirlwind in terms of reliability from my experience. I actually came to Vera after trying to make Wink work for a couple of years. I could never seem to get a reliable setup established at least for what I wanted to accomplish.
That makes sense… I just assumed that since you didn’t already have the wink hub that you wouldn’t have any Wink only devices.
Definitely not a bad price… I actually got mine for free with the purchase of two GE Link smart bulbs… Hard to complain about that! However the Lutron Smart Bridge is pretty rock solid… I always seemed to have status issues with my Lutron dimmers and Wink. Lights would show on that were off or vice versa. Turning lights on/off would take ~1-3 seconds which (although is apparently better now with local control) made the whole process just feel very hackish. The Lutron Smart Bridge response is so fast that it almost feels precognitive… The instant that your skin touches the icon on the screen the light responds as though your phone were wired directly to it.
If price isn’t your only concern, I’d definitely consider the SmartBridge for the responsiveness alone. @cybrmage has an excellent plugin for the Lutron SmartBridge so you wouldn’t loose anything in Vera.