How to make the Harmony hub not suck?

by minimaulz

I have a Sony TV, a Samsung soundbar and a 2017 Shield. Originally I was using a Flirc connected to the Shield with an old Harmony 350. This setup ran great, I was really impressed how responsive Flirc was, almost as good as the original remote. I recently purchased the Harmony companion remote with the hub on sale, I thought Bluetooth connectivity would be better then the Flirc. I was wrong. Before I toss this thing and go back to my old setup, I have some questions.

  • Is Bluetooth connectivity via the Harmony hub just generally more laggy then using a Flirc? The shitty remote that comes with the Shield is fast so it can't be Bluetooth. Is it just a feature of the hub?
  • Why is powering on/off the Sheild labeled as "manual", therefore I can't add the Sheild in my activity as a device I can turn on and off. When I select my activity, the TV and soundbar turn on, but to get my Sheild to power on I have to select the "Home" button every time to wake it from sleep.
  • When I hold down the Shield mapped OK/Select key it does nothing. Which means I can't get the menu in Kodi on selected items or hold down and drag and drop apps within the Android TV launcher. Again, no issues with Flirc and a Harmony 350.
  • Selecting an activity (only have one right now) is always inconsistent. Sometimes the hub will turn on all my devices (except the Shield), sometimes it won't, or some of them. Had none of these issues with my Harmony 350.
  • Any other tips to get this setup to not suck so much as it does now?
th3suffering

Mine is just as peppy over Bluetooth as the standard Shield remote. Regarding Kodi/Menus, you need to set up two devices: 1: Shield 2: Microsoft Kodi

Map the keys for Kodi to the remote (such as context menu, fast fwd, skip fwd, etc)

HansWursT619

My harmony h shield works great. Only thing I miss is voice input. To fix the last issue you can either reposition the hub or use the mini IR transmitter to give a strong signal to the problematic devices.

Other than that I can't confirm your problems.

visualthoy

I keep the shield on 24x7 but have Harmony activities turn on the TV, receiver, and set inputs. This makes actions significantly faster in my experience.

BilldozerVT

The fact that you aren't able to see it in powering on/off options and that long pressing OK doesn't do anything makes me think it is setup wrong. I would suggest setting it up again.

Make sure you do it from your phone (not the desktop app) and DON'T manually add the devise by typing in a name and searching. Instead use the "Scan for Wi-Fi Devices" and it will locate the shield. Proceed with the setup and at the end it will have a step to pair via bluetooth. Then you should be set.

pawdog

Power on and off is not a remote function on the 2017 Shield. The Shield is always on any remote press on the Harmony companion should wake it up. You'll notice if you power off the Shield from the menu the only way turn it back on is to unplug it and plug it back in. Otherwise the hub should be just as responsive as the original remote.

BurgzintheBurbs

Adjust the start sequence to include a "button press" of the home button for your activity to fix the wake issue