Question 1

Which home routers are compatible with Starling Home Hub?

Answer

Starling Home Hub is compatible with practically all modern home Internet routers, including HomeKit Secure Routers like the Eero. The only router we are aware of that has compatibility issues is the Arris RAC2V1A.

Question 2

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

Answer

No. Starling Home Hub works only with Nest and HomeKit.

Question 3

Does Starling Home Hub work with Google Accounts?

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 4

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

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 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) when you receive Starling Home Hub. We only collect sales tax for shipments to California. We use DHL Express for international shipments, with transit times to most countries of 2 - 4 days.

Question 5

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

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 accesses 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 6

Which Apple and Nest products does Starling Home Hub work with?

Answer

Starling Home Hub is compatible with all models of Nest Thermostat, Nest Temperature Sensor, Nest Protect, Nest Cam Indoor/Outdoor/IQ, Nest Hello, Nest × Yale Lock, and Nest Secure (Guard and Detect). We also support Dropcam and the Google Nest Hub Max's built-in camera. Starling Home Hub works with any Mac, iPhone, iPad or Apple Watch sold in the past 5 years. We also support any Apple TV running tvOS 14 or later for viewing Nest cameras.

Question 7

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

Answer

Starling Home Hub does not support 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

Question 8

Does Starling Home Hub support HomeKit Secure Video?

Answer

Not at this time, although we are aiming to add support via a future software update. What this means: to view recorded Nest camera video from the past, you'll still need to use the Nest app. All other camera functions can be controlled from HomeKit.

Question 9

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

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 10

Does Starling Home Hub support iOS / tvOS 14?

Answer

Yes - we support the HomeKit enhancements added to iOS / tvOS 14 including picture-in-picture (PiP), and cameras and doorbell notifications on Apple TV. Because HomeKit Activity Zones and Familiar Faces require HomeKit Secure Video which we do not support at this time, we offer those features through Nest's API to enable equivalent functionality.

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