{"id":194,"date":"2022-01-24T20:09:41","date_gmt":"2022-01-24T20:09:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.smarthomewinner.com\/?p=194"},"modified":"2022-08-15T15:30:07","modified_gmt":"2022-08-15T14:30:07","slug":"dodging-the-hue-bridge-limit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.smarthomewinner.com\/dodging-the-hue-bridge-limit\/","title":{"rendered":"Dodging The Philips Hue Bridge 50 Bulb “Limit”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

At the beginning of a smart lighting system journey, most people can\u2019t imagine how they can possibly reach 50 lights. You may be one of those; looking around your house and thinking that you\u2019ll never have to worry about that limit since you only got, like, 15 light outlets \u2014 right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, not really. Hitting that limit is a lot easier than you think, and when that happens, what are you supposed to do?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article answers exactly that question, discussing all you need to know about dodging the Philips Hue Bridge 50 bulb limit. Let\u2019s get started.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the True Limit of the Philips Hue Bridge?<\/h2>\n\n\n
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\"A
A Philips Hue bridge-mounted next to a network switch<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Philips has an advertised limit of 50 bulbs for the Hue Bridge<\/a>. What you might not know is that this is just a soft limit, which means it\u2019s not the limit actually enforced, but rather what\u2019s recommended<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another thing we should clarify is that the Hue Bridge marketing also mentions that their limit is “50 lights and 12 accessories<\/a>“, which translates into the presence of an additional limit of only 12 accessories<\/a>. As such, your restrictions are a lot more frustrating when it comes to Hue sensors, switches, and other “accessories”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Either way, this is called a soft limit, which is a recommendation for what the manufacturer thinks will provide optimal performance. Beyond this point, however, there’s something called the hard limit (the limit that’s actually enforced), which is hardcoded into the Bridge. It allows you to add as many as 63 Hue bulbs and 62 accessories, theoretically supporting a maximum of 125 connected devices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That said, you should try to stick to the 50 bulb\/12 accessories limit because the performance of the Hue Bridge will start to suffer<\/a> then. Not even that limit is totally immune, some users have reported experiencing problems with as few as 40 Hue bulbs and 8 accessories connected<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So why does it happen? Well, the main reason for the Hue Bridge’s inability to accommodate more devices is that it’s a rather small computer with very modest capabilities. We’re talking about a 32 MB RAM and a low-performance CPU (Atmel SAM R21).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Happens if You Exceed the Bridge Limit<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Many users reading this will think “well, what’s the worst thing that could happen if I pass the limit?”, so here’s the answer:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you go beyond the limit of your Hue Bridge, chances are you’ll start experiencing errors such as the \u201cBulb unreachable\u201d type<\/strong>. For example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n