Which controller

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WooTz
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Which controller

Post by WooTz »

Hi all,

I have been looking at Z-Wave for a while, but I'm looking for some community input which controller to pick.

Fibaro HC seems to be the most extensive one, but also the one that has a lot of bad reviews with poor device support?

Vera Lite, I have not seen my users but it seems to be adequate and supports the devices I want to use.

The (new) Zipabox, looks very promising, also the price, but since they use cloud services, I guess they will (are?) charging monthly fees in a while. This has the advantage of adding ZigBeeif I would need that in the future.

Can anyone comment on any of the systems?

Best Regards,
Martin
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sj3fk3
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Re: Which controller

Post by sj3fk3 »

That's why I love this forum.. You learn something new every day :-) I had not heard about Zipabox yet and it looks good... I think the cloud services have a free subscription version as well (and the devices also works "offline"), so that should not have to be a big problem. But maybe there are hidden costs? Would love to hear from some one who's already using it.
Kind Regards,
Greg.
j.hoekstra
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Re: Which controller

Post by j.hoekstra »

Afaict they'll offer an notification subscription, where notifications are only sent to mobile etc with subscription.
The hardware looks nice as well as the rule-engine which makes scripting scenes work for 5-year olds....
Just starting delivery is a weak point for now, and I don't see a plug-in system regarding connectivity.
For me the HC2 is nice especially if deployed profesionally, the vera for advanced scripting(trying to get the hang of LUA myswef) and this box for the starting home-user.

The promotional videos look pretty slick, especially compared to Vera's...
mhn
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Re: Which controller

Post by mhn »

hotrot_net Posted: 2013-01-03, 03:12 http://forum.fibaro.com/viewtopic.php?t=1076 writes:

"I've got both boxes,

And both boxes have problems..!! "

Both boxes are Zipato and Fibaro HC2.

To me it sounds like both need a year or five to get good.

I'm on Homeseer, until I find something better. I'm beginning to think, it will not happen.

Regards
Morten
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jrkalf
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Re: Which controller

Post by jrkalf »

I must say I'm happy with the Fibaro HC2. It works, the current beta firmwares aren't really recommended as they're a bit buggy.
Overall the device works as designed.

It's more that I'm having some issues with z-wave native issues. Like wall controllers not being able to switch a slave device in Fibaro FGS-221 switches.
If you can't fix it with a hammer, you've got an electrical problem!

Fibaro HC2, various z-wave switching, alerting, detection modules.
ELV FHT80b heating system.
edek
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Re: Which controller

Post by edek »

I'm looking into buying a HC2 also, been using Homeseer Pro for a couple of years, seems outdated, and still no News about HS3 release.
I want it to interface with an RFXCom, a Somfy RTS485 interface (over usb>serial, sending hex commands through a simple script), and a Powermax (in the near future). Will this work or do I need plugins, and do these plugins exist for the HC2?

One of the disadvantages seems that you have to place the z-wave device next to the HC2 to pair them, is this correct? On my Homeseer system I use a Aeon Z-stick, which can work standalone, so pairing already mounted devices is much easier. Any feedback on this?
j.hoekstra
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Re: Which controller

Post by j.hoekstra »

Distance to controller, vera 3 in my case, can be more than a few meters. I generally use high powerinclusion the hc2 has it probably as well.
Dunno if it connects via neighbours or directly, but I leave it in the closet where it is installed.
uAlex73
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Re: Which controller

Post by uAlex73 »

I think almost all domotica devices/software (HS2, HC2, Vera, DomotiGa, etc) can do a remote inclusion. So no need to remove walk there with a stick, only that the device needs to be in a certain range (and high power should normally be used anyway - to get a further range).
DomotiGa / Z-Wave / RFXCom / Visonic PowerMaster / Home Assistant / Zigbee2MQTT / DSMR Reader / Toon1 (rooted)
edek
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Re: Which controller

Post by edek »

I've tried remote inclusion before, does not work for a couple of devices in my setup, but maybe that's because the distance is > 15 meters, with some walls in between. I'm already having a hard time keeping all nodes connected through routing between the devices.
Is high power inclusion an option in Vera or is it an option of your z-wave interface/stick/whatever you're using? Can't find it in Homeseer, I'm using HS Pro and an Aeon Labs Z-stick v2.
uAlex73
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Re: Which controller

Post by uAlex73 »

High power is an option in the Aeon USB stick, but the application needs to use it.
DomotiGa / Z-Wave / RFXCom / Visonic PowerMaster / Home Assistant / Zigbee2MQTT / DSMR Reader / Toon1 (rooted)
raymonvdm
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Re: Which controller

Post by raymonvdm »

Since i started using HomeSeer i don`t have to remove the Aeon Labs stick from my server for inclusion, because remote inclusion is always working.


When starting you`re first encounter on Z-Wave / Domotica i will suggest to start with an Aeon Labs stick and some software as most people already have an old pc or laptop in the house. HomeSeer is available in a 30 day trial and there are also opensource alternatives like Domotiga. After some time you can choose an appliance for your domotica but i have found out that a regular pc with software is much more flexibel. It started with domotica using an old pc and Domotiga and later on i changed to HS2 and after some time i upgraded to HSPRO (for the HStouch support)
Running HS3PRO on PC with Z-Wave / OpenTherm / Plugwise / RFXcom / MQTT / XAP400 / Logitech Media Server and Squeezelite on PI`s
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