Z-Wave, Xanura (and others), KAKU (and others)
Posted: Wed Jan 14, 2009 7:12 pm
Different technologies, but i want to 'hear' which you will choose today.
I'm using some Xanura modules, but i'm disappointed in the fact that if noise is on the power line, you can have 'big' problems. I've two modules in the living room and a Philip WakeUp light in my bedroom. Installed a filter last week, but i still have problems with receiving the signal from my HS server. It's the same with hitting the buttons myself, I've a 50%/50% change (or even less) that the signal is received by HS. The same in my toilet. Use MS13E to send a motion sensor to RFXcom receiver. That works perfectly, but the signal from HS to the Xanura device doesn't get through (more often) or the signal from the Xanura device to HS. The effect is that if someone is leaving the toilet and presses the switch to turn of the light, the light will go on after a few seconds, because the motion detector did detect motion. I've I look in the log file, the signal from the Xanura device to HS, hasn't been seen (which will activate a event to discard 20 seconds of motion).
Now, i can try to filter the noise somewhere else, but adding another device (for instance a vacuum cleaner) can hit me with the same problems.
One interesting part is, many talk about the bi-directional signal for the Xanura products is a big plus. I will not argue with that, but i doubt the usefulness of this, because HomeSeer doesn't check if the signal is received by a Xanura device. It will update the status if i press the button connected to the Xanura device. That is the bi-directional functionality we are all talking about, but this can also be done by using for instance a KAKU mini receiver and a KAKU wall switch. With HS you can check the status from the Xanura devices, but who does use this functionality (and not trust the status of HS devices in the home page)?
So why not using KAKU or Z-Wave instead of Xanura? What is better, KAKU or Z-Wave and why?
I'm using some Xanura modules, but i'm disappointed in the fact that if noise is on the power line, you can have 'big' problems. I've two modules in the living room and a Philip WakeUp light in my bedroom. Installed a filter last week, but i still have problems with receiving the signal from my HS server. It's the same with hitting the buttons myself, I've a 50%/50% change (or even less) that the signal is received by HS. The same in my toilet. Use MS13E to send a motion sensor to RFXcom receiver. That works perfectly, but the signal from HS to the Xanura device doesn't get through (more often) or the signal from the Xanura device to HS. The effect is that if someone is leaving the toilet and presses the switch to turn of the light, the light will go on after a few seconds, because the motion detector did detect motion. I've I look in the log file, the signal from the Xanura device to HS, hasn't been seen (which will activate a event to discard 20 seconds of motion).
Now, i can try to filter the noise somewhere else, but adding another device (for instance a vacuum cleaner) can hit me with the same problems.
One interesting part is, many talk about the bi-directional signal for the Xanura products is a big plus. I will not argue with that, but i doubt the usefulness of this, because HomeSeer doesn't check if the signal is received by a Xanura device. It will update the status if i press the button connected to the Xanura device. That is the bi-directional functionality we are all talking about, but this can also be done by using for instance a KAKU mini receiver and a KAKU wall switch. With HS you can check the status from the Xanura devices, but who does use this functionality (and not trust the status of HS devices in the home page)?
So why not using KAKU or Z-Wave instead of Xanura? What is better, KAKU or Z-Wave and why?
Wired solutions (C-bus etc) are less prone to inteference etc and can react quicker. But wired solutions require you to open all the walls and pull cables all over the house...