Anyone have an alternative to Vera that they would recommend? I’m finding myself wanting to end my relationship with this product and need an alternative …
My main goal at the moment is to remotely assign door lock codes to a rental house … I have the Schlage 469 Keypad Deadbolt. Thanks so much for your help.
Nexia
Is this a common issue with Schlages on here?
I have (6) Kwickset 910’s at two different houses (I found a local source for 60.00 now) and all of them allow remote code adding.
I think some locks have issues with pin notifications also, not sure if schlage is also in that boat too.
My Kwiksets with my Vera’s at my rentals work perfectly.
Many years with no problems with my Schlage.
I just wish the batteries would last forever … I hate changing them.
[quote=“RichardTSchaefer, post:5, topic:188766”]Many years with no problems with my Schlage.
I just wish the batteries would last forever … I hate changing them.[/quote]
You can always move the lock to the jam side and hook a power supply to it. My next house will do this. My wall next to the door will have the locks in them and the door will only have a handle.
I am currently working on a electric door lock with a keypad for vinyl fencing where you can connect a power supply to the lock instead of batteries so I have been testing power supplies for this purpose.
Does nexia have something similar to PLEG? I can’t see how I could ever have used Vera w/o PLEG, and imagine that anythign else will have limitations in the builtin UI as well.
Does nexia have something similar to PLEG? I can’t see how I could ever have used Vera w/o PLEG, and imagine that anythign else will have limitations in the builtin UI as well.[/quote]
Nexia is 9.00 a month, and ofcourse much more limited. I’m not sure what Z-waver was implying but Nexia wouldn’t be my 2nd choice.
We are all aslo bias here. If we thought there was something better we would have left already. I have no problem spending a 100 or more on a new bridge if I thought I was going to be better off. But even the new Smart things v2 hasn’t convinced me enough that I could do even as much as I can now.
Everyone will have a different opinion, but some of the other hubs will appeal more towards the people who don’t use PLEG, have alarm panels, and other non z-wave devices. VERA has wide support for devices that are not supported by most other controllers. Vera is cheap to purchase and has no monthly fee. If you don’t try and install the latest update you’ll have only a limited amount of problems too. The people that feel the need to update to the latest are the ones with the most problems as they get to test everything.
Bottomline if my parents wanted to only control a few z-wave lights and a door lock I could send them towards several different boxes (maybe the smart things v2 first) but in my house I would loose alot of functions if I tried to use most other controllers.
Someone wanting to dump Vera, on their very first post, and whose primary goal is to set PINs on Schlage locks will be best served by a Schlage controller like Nexia.
[quote=“Z-Waver, post:9, topic:188766”]Someone wanting to dump Vera, on their very first post, and whose primary goal is to set PINs on Schlage locks will be best served by a Schlage controller like Nexia.[/quote] 
Thanks for the slam. I don’t it’s really quite necessary though, do you? I have a Master’s in Comp Sci. Perhaps Vera should consider a user’s manual or troubleshooting section instead of making users find out how to troubleshoot the thing through this forum, eh?
It has been a complete nightmare to pair. It can’t seem to complete the pairing process even with the VeraEdge on Wifi 24 inches from the lock. I always get the error: Please Wait: Getting secure classes… This happens after the Vera has completed the pairing process, but the Vera is definitely not communicating with the device.
I have paired/unpaired, deleted, reset the Z wave network and tried it all many many times. I got one lock working, but then the second would never pair and I’d continue to get the behavior I described above.
Unless anyone has any ideas, I’m wondering if I just got a lemon? Or if it’s a POS that just needs to be returned …
Very well could be. Where did you buy the lock? Maybe you should try a different brand lock all together.
The Schalge BE469s are the best under $200 Z-wave locks made. Ansi grade 1, all the others are grade 2. Customer support is first rate, I’ve had them replace a lock no questions asked, I didn’t even have to send back the old lock.
I’ve got three operating in my house and get >= 1 year of life out of the batteries. No problems adding codes, locking or unlocking remotely.
One possibility of having problems is if you got the locks on the gray market and they are defective or have outdated firmware (early firmware from years ago had issues with Vera). Either way, you could try calling Schlage CS to see if they will swap it for you.
Does nexia have something similar to PLEG? I can’t see how I could ever have used Vera w/o PLEG, and imagine that anythign else will have limitations in the builtin UI as well.[/quote]
Nexia is 9.00 a month, and ofcourse much more limited. I’m not sure what Z-waver was implying but Nexia wouldn’t be my 2nd choice.
We are all aslo bias here. If we thought there was something better we would have left already. I have no problem spending a 100 or more on a new bridge if I thought I was going to be better off. But even the new Smart things v2 hasn’t convinced me enough that I could do even as much as I can now.
Everyone will have a different opinion, but some of the other hubs will appeal more towards the people who don’t use PLEG, have alarm panels, and other non z-wave devices. VERA has wide support for devices that are not supported by most other controllers. Vera is cheap to purchase and has no monthly fee. If you don’t try and install the latest update you’ll have only a limited amount of problems too. The people that feel the need to update to the latest are the ones with the most problems as they get to test everything.
Bottomline if my parents wanted to only control a few z-wave lights and a door lock I could send them towards several different boxes (maybe the smart things v2 first) but in my house I would loose alot of functions if I tried to use most other controllers.[/quote]
Exactly. Spot on.
[quote=“ctonnesen, post:11, topic:188766”]Thanks for the slam. I don’t it’s really quite necessary though, do you? I have a Master’s in Comp Sci. Perhaps Vera should consider a user’s manual or troubleshooting section instead of making users find out how to troubleshoot the thing through this forum, eh?
It has been a complete nightmare to pair. It can’t seem to complete the pairing process even with the VeraEdge on Wifi 24 inches from the lock. I always get the error: Please Wait: Getting secure classes… This happens after the Vera has completed the pairing process, but the Vera is definitely not communicating with the device.
I have paired/unpaired, deleted, reset the Z wave network and tried it all many many times. I got one lock working, but then the second would never pair and I’d continue to get the behavior I described above.
Unless anyone has any ideas, I’m wondering if I just got a lemon? Or if it’s a POS that just needs to be returned …[/quote]
I remember having to do it over and over for 15 minutes or so. Honestly - a year + later and never had a problem with them. So, taking some time with them seemed stupid at first, but looking back at it? No big deal.