Living With Vera - Tip Of The Day

[CelticWebs]

These days it's all about coping mechanisms. Whiskey, actually having to use a lightswitch, coming home to my partner sitting in a darkened home, that kind of thing.

Sounds about right to me....

[iflyM3]

Wow, I cannot believe it has been over 5 years since I first bought my Vera 2 and came onto this forum to 'learn' how to get my Vera 2 working as advertised.  Most of the time, I thought I was more of a Beta Tester than an actual consumer with a finished product... I should have collected a paycheck... many, many, many hours spent LUA scripting, troubleshooting, designing programming logic, algorithms and plugins simply to get Vera 2 to function properly as advertised. 

It was not all bad, had fun doing it, and I absolutely love the Open Source platform along with this great forum/user community.  Without this much needed forum, I simply do not see how MiCasaVerde could have stayed in business.  Are any of the 'old heads' still around here on this forum such as AP15e, Shady, TimALLs, BIG517, 325xi, guessed, strangely, woodsby, futzle, and/or obot?!?   If so, I send my "hellos" and many, many thanks and much appreciation.  You people rock!!! 

My question, the reason I am poking my head around here once more... I have seen some of the newer Vera units and UI out on the market currently and I am wondering if it is the same old same old with MiCasaVerde as it was when Vera and Vera 2 were out.  Are the newer Vera units similar in headaches and frustration as the Vera 2 units were/are?  Or has MiCasaVerde made some much needed improvements over the years?  I mean with Google Home coming out and Amazon Echo already out... it seems these Vera units are bit behind the power curve these days.  I've thought long and hard about simply putting the money out for Crestron, toss my Vera in the trash, and be done with it.  After my first experience with Vera 2, I do not trust any of MiCasaVerde's fancy advertising on their website.  Any thoughts about the latest Vera units?  In your own opinion, are they worth it?   

What is the best Vera unit out right now?  Is it the Vera Plus?  Anyone with a Vera Plus on here?  Does it work as advertised or do you still have to monkey around with it, somethings work and most other things do not?  I'm just curious.  Thank you all for any responses. 
 

[Z-Waver]

What's your "Tip Of The Day?

Many/most of the old guard have moved on. They were skilled programmers/scripters and they gravitated to other projects in heavy development. I know that several of the people that you listed are now working on openHAB an open source HA system. Contrary to your post, Vera is in no way open source, though it does expose one of the more extensive APIs in the home automation/ control space making it highly extensible.

The newest Vera Plus has improved dramatically since Vera 2. New UI, improved hardware, increased device support... lots of improvements. But, there's still lots of opportunities for further improvement. Depending on what you are doing with your HA system, you may experience no problems whatsoever, or you may suffer miserable frustration and utter failure. If you want much more than basic device control, then there will be "monkeying around". There's going to be monkeying around with virtually every HA controller. If you don't want to do it, you'll have to pay someone else to do it for you(see Crestron).

Comparing Vera(a dirt cheap DIY controller) to Google Home(an unknown and unavailable product), and to Crestron(an extremely expensive professionally installed system) is very unrealistic. I see that you like cars so, using a bad car analogy; you are essentially comparing a Toyota Carolla  to a McLaren 570GT MSO. The thing is that anyone that can afford a McLaren can easily afford a Carolla just to see if they like it, and if they don't, they can literally throw it away and get the McLaren without a second thought.

[Alex1991]

when you find a sale on z-wave items, buy more then you need

____________________
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[michaelhinchey]

2) Visit this forum every now & then, it's a great source of news, tips and help when you need it.

3) Remote controls are an underestimated factor in getting the most from your HA setup.  Get one for each room you spend time in. I got a couple of Minimotes and I use them daily.

I use alexa in my rooms

[michaelhinchey]

ALWAYS enable notifications on battery levels for smart locks!  In other words;  NEVER have the house lock your girlfriend out!

It seems also that they will stop working at a certain level. It happened to me twice under vera 2.  Inclusion of locks are a such a pain. So keep them juiced up. 

[adamhay]

Buy an RFXTRX433 at the very start. Thereafter all your simple devices such as remote sockets, door sensors, etc will be much cheaper. My latest purchase is a batch of remote plugin sockets for less than 5 pounds each (Maplin UK), instead of 30 to 50 for z-wave

Also buy Milight instead of Hue

[TinCup]

when you find a sale on z-wave items, buy more then you need

Did exactly that with Vera3.  Bought a couple of cold spares off ebay.  One for $5 (new in box  ) the other for $75.  Ended up using one as a bridge for the devices upstairs.  That helped with the lag I was experiencing.

[Chrisfraser05]

Buy an RFXTRX433 at the very start. Thereafter all your simple devices such as remote sockets, door sensors, etc will be much cheaper. My latest purchase is a batch of remote plugin sockets for less than 5 pounds each (Maplin UK), instead of 30 to 50 for z-wave

Also buy Milight instead of Hue

to be fair... this is the route I went down.

And I've just pulled out all my 433 stuff after a year and replaced it with zwave.

I found it all just too flakey, having to move exension cords around under the bed because of poor signal etc etc

I have kept the trx and put it on my PC connected with domotics incase I need to use anything, and I monitor my electricity usage with the owl clamp.

[amino]

If you need modules in a hurry, Lowes carries the IRIS product which is fully compatible with Vera/Z-wave. They GE modules are priced well and work great. Amazon is also a great source.

Also a great product to use with your VERA is the HA Bridge from BWS Systems. It easily integrates Amazon Echo with VERA adding a whole new dimension to your system. I really don't think the upcoming Vera support will work as well as this bridge.

Finally Aeon Labs Minimote is a handy remote to have when you don't feel like fumbling with your smartphone or shouting commands at Alexa. 

[Z-Waver]

If you need modules in a hurry, Lowes carries the IRIS product which is fully compatible with Vera/Z-wave. They GE modules are priced well and work great.

This is only true for the Z-Wave devices. There are several Iris devices at Lowe's that use Zigbee and do not work well or at all with Vera. Z-Wave only.

[Jamr]

Complete step by step instructions on how to get your Vera to Automatically Arm and Disarm(away) your alarm system using Vera's Geofence feature.
You never have to arm or disarm your alarm again!

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1crlp69FXoTzAO0oojqc-wQ2pUcZOET_5E4tf-KVxzLo/edit?usp=sharing

 

[ScottHammet]

Complete step by step instructions on how to get your Vera to Automatically Arm and Disarm(away) your alarm system using Vera's Geofence feature.
You never have to arm or disarm your alarm again!

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1crlp69FXoTzAO0oojqc-wQ2pUcZOET_5E4tf-KVxzLo/edit?usp=sharing

Yeah.  It SHOULD be that simple, but it isn't.  This feature has never worked for me, and from scrounging around the forums, I gather I'm not the only one.

Tip of the Day...

Never change the House Modes setting from a mobile device using the Vera app...there's no "Cancel" feature, and if you change the wrong thing, it will instantly wipe out your settings.

[Jamr]

I am sorry you are having problems with your Geofencing. The few geofences I have set up for myself and others seem to be working great.
Your problems may be a hardware issue. Either way, I would call Vera and get it straightened out.
Once you get it working, it will be that simple.

Yes, changing your hose mode settings from your mobile device, changes them on your controller.

[ScottHammet]

I am sorry you are having problems with your Geofencing. The few geofences I have set up for myself and others seem to be working great.
Your problems may be a hardware issue. Either way, I would call Vera and get it straightened out.
Once you get it working, it will be that simple.

Yes, changing your hose mode settings from your mobile device, changes them on your controller.

I get the notification that the Enter/Exit geofence has fired.  It just doesn't do anything.  The House Mode never changes.  When you said it might be hardware, what did you mean there?  The phones or the Vera?

And yes...you are correct that changing things on your phone changes them on the controller.  I get that.  My point was more about how an inadvertent touch on the wrong part of the screen can hose things up.  Would perhaps be better if the phone app didn't behave like the web page and commit changes immediately, for the very reason that it's easy to to touch the wrong thing on a phone screen.  Maybe "Save" and "Cancel" buttons, just to be sure that the user really wants to make changes.