MHUB-MS is one of the most advanced Zigbee home automation hubs in the Tuya ecosystem for managing your smart home with the Smart Life app.
Why does Moes MHUB MS have this price?
The Moes MHUBMS Zigbee hub is more expensive than most of the Zigbee hubs in the Tuya ecosystem because it connects via Ethernet, works locally (without internet), additionally integrates Bluetooth technology and an alarm siren.
Advantages and Disadvantages of MHUB-MS
Advantages
- Zigbee Tuya compatible: You can mix any brand that uses Zigbee Tuya technology and put everything together in the same interface: Lidl, Nous, Moes, Woox, Immax and much more.
- Local use: This home automation hub can work without internet.
- Ethernet connection: Many hubs work via WIFI, but the Moes hub works via Ethernet, making it a more reliable option.
- Smart Life App: With this hub, you can use the Smart Life App which is the world’s most famous app in the smart home market and is very nice and easy to use.
- Bluetooth: In addition to Zigbee, you can use Bluetooth devices from the Tuya ecosystem.
- Built-in siren: This hub integrates a siren that you can use for any automation.
Disadvantages
- Price: The price of this hub is higher than the hubs in the Tuya ecosystem.
- No USB port: You cannot integrate other technologies.
- Does not work with standard Zigbee: You must only use Zigbee devices with the Tuya logo. There are many brands on the market that use standard Zigbee that you cannot adopt: Sonoff, Schneider Electric, Aqara, NodOn and more.
Moes MHUB-MS hub tutorial
Tuya is a gigantic ecosystem of smart devices that you can find in physical shops like Carrefour or Lidl and also in any online shop.
When it comes to devices that use WiFi technology, you can connect them directly to your internet router.
And you have control of these devices from your phone with the Smart Life app anywhere in the world.
But when these devices use other technologies, such as Zigbee, you need a Zigbee home automation hub to link these devices.
The interesting thing about Tuya’s ecosystem is that, with rare exceptions, everything is compatible with everything.
In other words, when choosing a Tuya Zigbee hub, you can buy the model that most interests you.
Among these different hubs, one model that I find very interesting and that we are going to discover today is the Zigbee/Bluetooth home automation hub from the company Moes called MHUB-MS.
If we open the packaging, we discover this hub, and a first detail that I find very interesting when choosing a home automation hub is that it can work over Ethernet.
It is true that a WiFi home automation hub is more convenient and flexible to install in any area of your home, but you will have less reliability than a wired hub, such as the Moes MHUB-MS hub, which you must connect via Ethernet to your router.
This hub comes with an Ethernet cable, a microUSB to USB cable, but does not include the power adapter. You can additionally purchase the Sonoff power adapter or use one you have at home, as long as it is 5V and 1A.
We will be able to connect our Moes home automation hub to our internet router at home.
Now, we are going to connect it to the mains with an adapter.
We can install the home automation hub in our furniture, and an interesting detail is that it has anti-slip pads so that it does not move.
Once you have your hub connected to the power and your internet router, to add each smart device, from your phone, you must be connected to your WiFi network, go to the Smart Life app.
And you must click on “Add device”.
In a few seconds your home automation hub will automatically appear, and you will be able to personalise its name, link it to your WiFi network, and that’s it, you now have your Moes MHUB hub connected.
From now on, you will be able to add different Zigbee devices, one by one, to this home automation hub.
As I mentioned, a Tuya hub works with the entire Tuya ecosystem, meaning that any Zigbee device with the Tuya logo on it, whatever the brand, can be used with this hub.
This is precisely what we will be looking at next, as we will be integrating a Zigbee irrigation controller from Immax, a Zigbee outdoor siren from Neo, a carbon monoxide sensor from Moes and much more.
To link a Zigbee device, simply go to the Smart Life application and click on “Add device”.
Your home automation hub will communicate an audio message in English indicating that it is in pairing mode.
At this point, you can link your Zigbee device.
When your device is paired, your MHUB-MS hub will send you an audio message confirmation, and you will see your device in the Smart Life interface on your phone.
You can repeat the process for each device.
Zigbee, as you already know if you are loyal followers of this channel, is an interesting technology for a smart home.
First, because it allows you not to saturate your WiFi network, which is an interesting option if you have several smart devices in your home.
Secondly, the devices have low power consumption with this technology.
In addition, they will be able to help each other thanks to the mesh network that is automatically formed between these Zigbee devices.
Of course, you need devices connected to the power supply, such as Zigbee sockets, Zigbee light bulbs.
Or even USB Zigbee keys or any other device so that they can repeat the communications signal to cover more isolated areas.
Zigbee is definitely a very interesting technology for a smart home.
A detail you should also know is that this Moes MHUB-MS hub incorporates Bluetooth technology, so you can use devices from the Tuya ecosystem that use this technology.
You can see the list of Bluetooth and Zigbee devices linked to your Moes hub at any time.
In addition, if you already have voice assistants connected to your Smart Life account, every time you link a device to your MHUB-MS hub, if it is compatible with voice assistants, they can be voice-controlled automatically.
But that’s not all! The vast majority of Tuya home automation hubs work exclusively via the internet.
In other words, if you have an internet outage in your home, you will no longer have control of your smart devices and your automations will stop working.
However, with the Moes MHUB-MS home automation hub, without internet, you will still have control of your devices from your phone connected to the local WiFi network. Also, if you have automations between devices, they will still work.
I am going to try removing the Ethernet cable that corresponds to the WAN connection.
Even if I don’t have internet, if a movement is detected with my Zigbee motion sensor, the Zigbee plug will be activated.
Therefore, my automation works locally, without relying on an internet connection.
You can check your network at any time to see the signal strength and whether your hub has an internet connection.
In terms of automation, you should also know that this hub integrates a siren.
So you can take advantage of it for any use case, and you will be alerted when an unwanted event occurs.
Definitely, this Moes hub has multiple interesting functions, being an easy option to start your smart home project.
In addition, you can later use a more powerful hub such as Home Assistant or Jeedom.
Taking advantage of these Zigbee devices, which will also be supported by Zigbee2MQTT.
You should also be aware that there are cheaper Tuya home automation hubs, but they do not have an Ethernet connection and do not work locally, without relying on the internet. You can decide which one to buy for your smart home.
But if you don’t want to complicate your life, with an easy yet reliable and resilient solution, this MHUB-MS hub is the one for you.
