Question 1

Do you ship internationally? Does Starling Home Hub work outside the US?

Accepted Answer

Yes, and yes! While we're based in the US, we have happy customers around the world. Starling Home Hub includes a micro-USB power supply with a North American style plug (for US, Canada, Mexico and Japan), but it supports worldwide voltages (100-240V) and can be used in any country with a travel adapter. Or, simply use your own USB power supply with our included micro-USB cable. You can also use any 5V 2A micro-USB power supply.

We'll ship anywhere in the world, but be aware that you may be responsible for import fees, duties and/or taxes (for example, VAT in the EU/UK, or GST in Canada) when you receive Starling Home Hub. We use DHL Express for international shipments, with typical transit times to most countries of 2 - 5 days.

Question 2

Does Starling Home Hub work with Ring, SmartThings, myQ or other non-Nest products?

Accepted Answer

No. Starling Home Hub works only with Nest products.

We also get asked if Starling Home Hub works with some other product that appears in the Google Home app. The answer is still no unless it is a Nest product.

Question 3

Which Apple and Nest products does Starling Home Hub work with (HomeKit/AirPlay)?

Accepted Answer

Starling Home Hub expands Apple's HomeKit giving you more control over your Nest smart home products such as smart speakers, security cameras, smart displays, the Nest Learning Thermostat and more.

Our hub supports every product that has 'Nest' written on the box. Specifically, our hub adds to HomeKit all models of Nest Thermostat, Nest Temperature Sensor, Nest Protect, Nest Cam Indoor/Outdoor/IQ, Nest Doorbell (Wired), Nest Hello, and Nest × Yale Lock. We fully support the Fall 2021 model Nest Cam (Battery and Wired), Nest Cam with Floodlight, and Nest Doorbell (Battery), and the Fall 2022 model Nest Doorbell (Wired, 2nd Gen). We also support the Google Nest Hub Max's built-in camera.

Starling Home Hub adds to AirPlay (not HomeKit) all models of Nest Audio, Nest Mini, Google Nest Hub and Google Nest Hub Max. We also support the older Google Home Mini, Google Home Hub and Google Home Max products, the built-in speaker in Nest Wi-Fi Points, and Chromecast.

Starling Home Hub works with any iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Apple Watch, HomePod and Mac.

Question 4

Which Nest cameras are compatible with Starling Home Hub? What are the requirements for HomeKit Secure Video recording?

Accepted Answer

All Nest camera models are compatible with Starling Home Hub, with full support for live video/audio, notifications and automations in the Apple Home app:

• 2021 model Nest Cam (wired), Nest Cam (battery), Nest Cam with Floodlight, Nest Doorbell (battery)
 • 2022 model Nest Doorbell (wired, 2nd gen)
 • Nest Doorbell (wired, 1st gen), Nest Hello
 • Nest Cam Indoor/Outdoor/IQ
 • Google Nest Hub Max

Additionally, iCloud recording (via HomeKit Secure Video) is available for the following Nest camera models (with Nest Aware (https://store.google.com/us/product/nest_aware)and an appropriate iCloud plan)(https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/icloud/mme054c72692/icloud), enabling viewing, sharing and downloading 10 days of event video clips from within the Apple Home app:

• First-generation Nest Cam Indoor and Nest Cam Outdoor transferred to the Google Home app(https://support.starlinghome.io/hc/en-us/articles/17741059385367-Transferring-first-gen-Nest-cameras-to-Google-Home)
 • 2021 model Nest Cam (wired)
 • 2021 model Nest Cam (battery) when plugged in to a power outlet
 • 2021 model Nest Cam with Floodlight
 • 2022 model Nest Doorbell (wired, 2nd gen)

All other camera models, including pre-2021 models, the 2021 model Nest Doorbell (battery) even when wired, and cameras running off battery or solar power, do not support iCloud recording via HomeKit Secure Video, but all other Apple Home functions (including live video) are still fully supported.

Question 5

Which home routers are compatible with Starling Home Hub?

Accepted Answer

Starling Home Hub is compatible with practically all modern home Internet routers, including HomeKit Secure Routers like the Eero.

Starling Home Hub is fully compatible with mesh networks. Like any Ethernet device that needs to communicate with other devices on your local network, Starling Home Hub must be connected to the gateway router, not a satellite.

Starling Home Hub is incompatible with Arris TR4400/RAC2V1A. We have partial support (HomeKit but not AirPlay) on Arris G36 and CenturyLink C4000XG/LG. These routers do not handle multicast traffic correctly, which causes problems with home devices that require multicast to work properly (such as Sonos and Chromecast, in addition to Starling).

Question 6

Can I trust that Starling Home Hub is fully secure and respects my privacy?

Accepted Answer

Starling's top priority is ensuring the security of your home. What could be more important? So, we put security and privacy first when we designed Starling Home Hub.

Starling does not have a cloud service, and no home data, usernames, or passwords are ever shared with us. Starling Home Hub connects to your home Internet router, accessing the Internet only to connect to Google/Nest's service, and to receive firmware updates.

Starling uses industry-leading Greenbone OpenVAS testing technology to make sure that Starling Home Hub provides enterprise-grade IoT device security in your home, and is not vulnerable to any published CVEs (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures).

Question 7

I just read about Matter. How does it relate to Starling Home Hub?

Accepted Answer

Matter is a set of future connectivity technologies (hardware and software) for smart home devices that's under development by Google, Apple and others. It's effectively an alternative to HomeKit, but aims for much broader industry support, which would be a great step forward for home automation. Matter, assuming it delivers on its promises, hints at a world where future products and won't be burdened by the politics of ecosystem conflict, and that is something that we very much look forward to. However, Matter in its current form is immature and support for different kinds of smart home devices is very limited. For example, Matter doesn't support cameras or doorbells at all.

While Google has announced that its smart speakers and displays will be upgraded so they can control other Matter smart home devices, it isn't possible to 'retrofit' Matter to most existing smart home devices themselves. So, none of the Nest devices you currently own (with the possible exception of the 2020 model Google Nest Thermostat) will ever work with Matter, and so will never work with Apple Home on their own.

In summary, every Nest device you own today will always need Starling Home Hub to connect to Apple Home.

Question 8

After installing Starling Home Hub, can I still use the Nest app and/or Google Home app to control my Nest products?

Accepted Answer

Yes. We don't interact with the Nest or Google Home apps in any way.

Although most customers mainly use the Apple Home app to control their Nest products after installing Starling Home Hub, you can continue to use the Nest app and/or Google Home apps as and when you wish.

Question 9

Does Starling Home Hub support AirPlay to multiple speakers at once?

Accepted Answer

Starling Home Hub fully supports Stereo Pairs and Speaker Groups, allowing you to AirPlay to multiple Nest speakers at once in perfect sync.

It is not possible to group Nest and non-Nest speakers together for simultaneous playback.

Question 10

Is Starling Home Hub approved by Apple or Google/Nest?

Accepted Answer

No. Starling Home Hub exists because Google/Nest does not offer an approved way to connect Nest devices to Apple HomeKit. Starling Home Hub is not affiliated with or approved by Apple or Google/Nest in any way.

Question 11

I have more than one home. Do I need more than one Starling Home Hub?

Accepted Answer

Apple's HomeKit cannot place devices from a single bridge (like Starling Home Hub) into multiple homes. So, while a single Starling Home Hub can connect Nest devices from more than one Nest Home into a single HomeKit Home, if you want to bring devices from more than one Nest Home into more than one HomeKit Home, you will need one Starling Home Hub for each home.

Question 12

Does Starling Home Hub work with Nest Accounts and Google Accounts?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Starling Home Hub works both with Nest Accounts (for Nest customers signing up before August 2019) and Google Accounts. We support Two-Factor Authentication for both Google Accounts and Nest Accounts.

Question 13

Does Starling Home Hub work with Power-over-Ethernet (PoE)?

Accepted Answer

Starling Home Hub does not support Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) natively.

If you wish to power Starling Home Hub using a PoE connection, you can use any PoE micro-USB power splitter. We recommend the UCTRONICS PoE Splitter, available from Amazon.(https://www.amazon.com/UCTRONICS-PoE-Splitter-Gigabit-Raspberry/dp/B07CNKX14C)

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