Complex questions, security, voice control, scenes and many more...newbie!

Hello everyone!
My automation game dream finally came true and I start putting together on my new Vera Edge lots of modules. I read about Vera years back, from former Guile3d , now NextOS - virtual assistant software, and I kept studying till now, when started to become a reality.
Since I have plenty of questions, I was not sure where to post, so I did it on General.
I hope I can get some of my questions answered (note that I did plenty research, with not much success). I should also mention that my programming skills are not that great, for advance configurations.

Q1 - I’ve been reading about how easy is to hack into Zwaves . What will be the safest approach using Vera to eliminate this?

Q2 - Notifications: could these can be customize, to say what you want, and if yes , how? Also, can the notifications can sent to a PC speaker or something similar, some type of speaker, like Amazon Echo and be read out loud by this? For Q2 and Q3 I was trying to use Denise, from NextOS, but not much success there.

Q3 - What and how Vera can get voice commands, from inside the network - can I do this somehow, without getting much into programming, using the PC (note that I use VeraMate on the phone, works good, but I need something else, ready at all times).

Q4 - Can Vera receive external commands, using Http or something similar, and what will be the syntax?

Q5 - Is there a possibility, that Vera in UI7 will include at least 2 triggers and 2 conditions with AND and OR, for more complex scenes, or PLEG is the only way to go? Once again, I am good with logic, not that good with programming.

Q6 - I am using multiple type of motion/door/window sensors. Any recommendations for a Alarm panel that interacts with Vera and the sensors, and maybe will also work with present wired sensors, that will act like a full alarm panel and notify / call (no monthly fees) if triggered?

Q7 - Can a triggered virtual switch send a external command to other PC, let’s say, or cameras, to switch PTZ position, or to play a .wav file?

Q8 - Any recommendations for a 20amp switch, to control outdoor outlets? Also, a range extender? I have a few sensors covering a trailer and a shed and its hit or miss, depending on the weather.

Q9 - iBeacons - planning on using scenes based on close iPhone proximity. What do I actually need, in order to use it? If already paired with a Bluetooth headset, will still work with iBeacons?

Q10 - Blue Iris plugin and cameras - I followed instructions step by step, unfortunelly I got Blue Iris on, but no video. Am I limited to 2 cameras or can I add more?

Well, this is a lot to ask, but better ask first. Any help and suggestions are very welcome. Hopefully I can have most of them done solved, and get my system the way I want it, and , more important , secure.

Thank you in advance!
Teodor

Q5: PLEG is the only way to go, especially when you have big plans with your home automation.

Being a newbie myself, I really recommend to do one thing right and then start the next. Personally I started with some lights here and there turning on and of depending on sunset and time. After that was o.k. I tried geofencing, was not satisfied and dropped it. Found a better way by changing scenes depending on the activation and deactivation of my existing alarm system. Next was integrating the heating, depending on scenes and some weather conditions. I am still improving this and have built my own controller with mysensors.org technology, who can partially switch off my heating. Next steps will be integrating more sensors and my Sonos-Speakers, like getting a reminder when the garage door is open for a longer period of time or the scene switches to night mode. You get the idea - doing it step by step.

Have Fun!

so there are many ways to attack problems and does depend on exactly what you have available - a few thoughts below.
Q2 - with Vera Alerts you can tweak most alerts, as for sound alerts you could do with a TTS plugin or you can use softsqueeze and play files if you are happy to have a non intelligent option - i.e record a sound and then vera will just trigger it.
Q4 - yes, you can launch any scene or device via https
Q5 - with pleg and LUUP code anything is achievable - luup can be daunting but start simple, if, then, else, or are all possible
Q7 - audio as above, also can create a socket connection with anything but will need something to connect to with a semi open API. see the squeezebox luup code for an example

Q1 dont enable access remote personal access via port forwarding but VPN into your home. This is the safest.

Q4 yes but again if you do it outside your LAN then do it via VPN. On your LAN you can do what you want ofcourse.

Q1- I have not heard enough about hacking z-wave to see any threats.

Q2- Vera Alerts plugin allows custom message overrides to spell out the alert you want. It also pushes alerts to outside devices. Echo I haven’t seen use TTS or text to speech. Most popular for doing that kind of thing is “SONOS”. There is TTS for SONOS, it can say the weather or what ever. There is a plugin for SONOS also.

Q3- Speaking “turn on hallway light” can be done with the ECHO and the “Echo/hue Bridge” and that is always listening.

Q4- Vera can and does accept http commands (locally, remote is much harder due to security and login servers). We do have devices (such as the echo bridge above) that sends http commands to vera. The santax is different depending on the device and if it’s on/off/dimming or what it’s doing. A device ID number will also be in there so vera knows which device to do what to.

Q5- as stated above PLEG is what you should get used to. Stock scenes are very limited and can’t do much. Your ideas will not be limited with PLEG.

Q6- there is a whole section on alarms. I use a GE caddx, but the most popular are DSC and Honeywell vista 20p’s. Not all panels work and you should check that section before buying anything. You don’t need monthly fees to have an alarm panel. I don’t pay monthly.

Q7- PLEG can send http command to any device on the network. I use BlueIris on a computer and I send Http commands both directions. Blueiris cameras sense motion and send an http command to a virtual motion in vera to be used for notifications and alerts and such. I also use PLEG to send http commands to blueiris to switch the cameras modes from home and away, night and day based on VERA’s logic.

Q8- You option is to add another hardwired z-wave device in the middle to boost the range (mesh network) Z-wave will bounce or relay up to 4 times. A small network spread out will have mesh or range problems. As the network gets larger (usually over time as people buy more and more devices) their issues with range or loosing connection goes away. It’s not uncommon for new guys (limited devices) to have range issues.

Q9- Iphones suck and are to restrictive. Things I do with my Andriod I can’t with an Iphone. Mostly home and away. Ping sensors don’t work, not a good geofence app (like vera Proximity) for Iphones. iBeacons have been tested in like only one app and they never found a good use for them or got them to work right. Most people don’t use them for that reason. Do research before you get into them.

Q10- I use Blueiris but not the plugin. The plugin imports the camera images and the motions. I like and need the motions, but the camera images put a heavy resouce load on the vera. Along with that viewing from vera isn’t very good and you can see all the past recordings, so you end up using the blueiris app anyways. After a short time I realized I don’t need all these cameras in vera and I removed them and only use the Virtual motion plugin to get motions in vera but no images.

Just keep reading and take one thing at a time. There is more then one way to accomplish your goal and we all have different opinions on which is the best. A post like this is to spread out and you would be better tackling one thing at a time in the appropriate sections. Alarm panels for one. That can be a huge topic in all it’s self. I only threw out 2-3 sentence answers but in reality you need alot more to get the understanding. Keep reading and good luck.

Hi integlikewhoa,

Welcome to Home Automation. I’m a newbie myself so I don’t have a lot of answers but thought I’d help where I could:

Q1 - Can’t really say from a Z-Wave home automation point a view, But as an IT professional anytime you have a device exposed to the Internet you run the risk of it being hacked. Complex passwords and unique users names decrease that, but its a risk. The tighter your security the less chance someone will try to hack you. Using VPN to access all devices inside your network as was mentioned by others is the safest bet outside of no external access at all.

Q2 - Can’t say, but the Vera units can be customized a lot you just have to learn the programming language

Q3 - Again customization just depends on how much work you want to do and how much your willing to learn.

Q4 - Don’t know on this

Q5 - Again customization, I use a piece of software on my Android tablet and phone called ImperiHome which allows limited speech recognition without the need to program, note the “limited”, but they seem to be very responsive to user requests for enhancements. I don’t know if it’s available for iOS.

Q6 - I am using multiple type of motion/door/window sensors. Any recommendations for a Alarm panel that interacts with Vera and the sensors, and maybe will also work with present wired sensors, that will act like a full alarm panel and notify / call (no monthly fees) if triggered?

Q7 - Not sure

Q8 - When I bought my house I was going to setup an Alarm panel to integrate with Vera, but have found it’s not really necessary. There is a virtual alarm panel available in the apps, (I haven’t played with it yet), but you can just set up your sensors with scenes. Since I have no experience with Vera and alarm panels I can;t say how much easier it would be, but other than arming/disarming functionality I’ve found I really don’t need it.

Q9 - No clue

Q10 - I have Foscam cameras, WiFi and POE and they work fine with Vera. I have Blue Iris, but have not tried using it with Vera, (I didn’t know there was a plug -in). When I setup my cameras and installed the VistaCam PT&HD IP Cameras app/plugin Vera picked up my cameras all I had to do was add the userid /password etc.

Hope this helps.

Gordon

[quote=“owensct, post:6, topic:190809”]Hi integlikewhoa,

Welcome to Home Automation. I’m a newbie myself so I don’t have a lot of answers but thought I’d help where I could:

Q1 - Can’t really say from a Z-Wave home automation point a view, But as an IT professional anytime you have a device exposed to the Internet you run the risk of it being hacked. Complex passwords and unique users names decrease that, but its a risk. The tighter your security the less chance someone will try to hack you. Using VPN to access all devices inside your network as was mentioned by others is the safest bet outside of no external access at all.

Q2 - Can’t say, but the Vera units can be customized a lot you just have to learn the programming language

Q3 - Again customization just depends on how much work you want to do and how much your willing to learn.

Q4 - Don’t know on this

Q5 - Again customization, I use a piece of software on my Android tablet and phone called ImperiHome which allows limited speech recognition without the need to program, note the “limited”, but they seem to be very responsive to user requests for enhancements. I don’t know if it’s available for iOS.

Q6 - I am using multiple type of motion/door/window sensors. Any recommendations for a Alarm panel that interacts with Vera and the sensors, and maybe will also work with present wired sensors, that will act like a full alarm panel and notify / call (no monthly fees) if triggered?

Q7 - Not sure

Q8 - When I bought my house I was going to setup an Alarm panel to integrate with Vera, but have found it’s not really necessary. There is a virtual alarm panel available in the apps, (I haven’t played with it yet), but you can just set up your sensors with scenes. Since I have no experience with Vera and alarm panels I can;t say how much easier it would be, but other than arming/disarming functionality I’ve found I really don’t need it.

Q9 - No clue

Q10 - I have Foscam cameras, WiFi and POE and they work fine with Vera. I have Blue Iris, but have not tried using it with Vera, (I didn’t know there was a plug -in). When I setup my cameras and installed the VistaCam PT&HD IP Cameras app/plugin Vera picked up my cameras all I had to do was add the userid /password etc.

Hope this helps.

Gordon[/quote]

Think you put the wrong name at the top. I’m not the OP

hello everyone!

Thank you all for the input!

Q1 - There is a lot on the web about Zwave hacking. So far, as a wireless protocol, looks that only the Lock doors exchange security keys, rest is made by pure text, I assume. I tried to make changes on UI7 under Settings / Net WiFi , but without any luck - once Vera restarts, everything goes back to default. Need more info on this - do I need a relay? how do I block all access except LAN? VPN is not a problem, it’s in place, and no port forwarding is establish either, but as far as I can see, since Vera can be accessed at myhome.vera, only https communication can help.?

Q2 - I will look into veramate plugin more also, vera alerts, that I use right now - Plan is to have custom notifications coming into my server, where my virtual assistant will pick them up and read them. Will look into plugins, and squeezebox.

Q3 - Echo Amazon and echo / hue bridge plugin? no other work? Will be able to get voice commands? I need to look into this a lot more - I thought that I need some raspberry pi, or something, and a lot of headaches to get echo work with vera.

Q4 - I will get to pass HTTP as soon as I get PLEG figure out. But is good to know that it can pass commands.

Q5 - PLEG is doable, I think I can manage it, once I get the hang of it. Thank to all pointing to PLEG.

Q6 - I will look more thoroughly, maybe I’ll call Honeywell and have them give me some explanations about Vista Models. The “paid” part comes on many systems “IF” you want to use a phone service. I want my alarm to be able to act like a alarm and call my number without paying any fees to a company - just connect to my phone and call and say that pre-recorded message.

Q8 - Range extender - Well, I have about 25 Dimmers, a few On/Off Switches, over 20 Window / door sensors, 10 motion detectors and 5 alarms. Ad 2 flood sensors. I believe that’s all. and 3 Kwikset lock. A few sensors are a little far, and if a range extender will push the signal 4X, it will work for me.

Q9 -I guess I’ll play geofence and iBeacons a little later, when is all put together, right.

Q10 - I need to get BlueIris sensors to activate something in Vera. Like a scene - I thought the plugin will do that.

Thank you for the input!

Sorry about that integlikewhoa,

I guess I engaged the fingers before the brain came online.

Gordon

Igroup,

One bit of advice in respects to your Kwikset locks, (which I have two of and love), if the locks and Vera can’t talk directly to each other and you need devices between them for your mesh network make sure the devices are capable of beaming, (Beaming = can transmit an encrypted signal) all the way back to Vera otherwise they won’t maintain a connection, (I learned this the hard way) the GE/Jasco outlets and switches are beaming capable. I had to buy some and install one between my garage door lock and the Vera (in an upstairs office) and one between the front door lock and Vera in order to get reliable communications between them. Since installing the GE outlets and switches my locks have worked flawlessly.

Gordon

Seconded. This goes for all z-wave compatible locks. I have a GE/Jasco switch or outlet within a few feet of each of my Schlage lock to ensure the lock can use it as a relay. All those GE/Jasco devices are talking to Vera directly and are capable of beaming.

Thank you!

My locks are fine, and everything else in the house, as a matter fact. My understanding is that a “range expander” is just a funky name for any device almost that is wired in, live 120V power. It does not matter if, for example, is a switch, if it’s on or off - it will work as a repeater / range extender up to 4 hops.

Mostly everything else that is battery powered will not repeat, don’t have that capability. In my case, I have a few GoControl door / window sensors and alarm (Found the set on sale a few days back at Homedepot from $ 100 to $ 50, so I picked them all up) that are battery powered. I want to install these in my back yard, maybe about 50 feet away from the house, where there is a shed and a enclosed trailer - unfortunelly … does not work to great. My only option, as I see, is to install some lamp device or something similar into a outlet by the house, and maybe will send the signal to these devices.
If anyone has any reccomendations to any other type of product that will actually perform better, please point me towards that and explain why.

Thank you again. I got the hang of HTTP, I might have questions down the road. Now I gotta figure out custom notifications sent to my server, to be read aloud by some TTS or something.

Look for a GE outdoor outlet. You can put one on the house and one in the shed. Those should be able to relay to and from the sensors…

Thank you,

The only thing I found is a outdoor … extension outlet?
This:

https://jascoproducts.com/products/ge-z-wave-wireless-lighting-control-outdoor-module

I was not able to find and GFCI 20Amp outlets z-wave or switches. For outdoor, GFCI it’s a code requirement. I was planning on changing all the outlets in the house for full control soon, but when it comes , once again, with GFCI, used in kitchens, basement and bathrooms, no luck, so far, so I’ll guess I’ll wait till something new comes up. But I might give GE module a try, If looks too funny I’ll use it for something else.

[quote=“Igroup, post:14, topic:190809”]Thank you,

The only thing I found is a outdoor … extension outlet?
This:

https://jascoproducts.com/products/ge-z-wave-wireless-lighting-control-outdoor-module

I was not able to find and GFCI 20Amp outlets z-wave or switches. For outdoor, GFCI it’s a code requirement. I was planning on changing all the outlets in the house for full control soon, but when it comes , once again, with GFCI, used in kitchens, basement and bathrooms, no luck, so far, so I’ll guess I’ll wait till something new comes up. But I might give GE module a try, If looks too funny I’ll use it for something else.[/quote]

There is no Z-wave GFCI outlets, but you can change your breaker to a GFI breaker or your can put a GFI outlet in and then plug this GE z-wave outdoor modual into that.

That is the unit I was talking about. Unfortunately there is no GFCI outlet in zwave. I have one of these in my screened porch plugged into a GFCI outlet that has a cover over it so I am both up to code and up to my standards. :wink: Alternatively, as already stated, put a GFI breaker on that circuit.

I can’t say enough about GFI/GFCI. They work! In my old house I managed to attempt to cut through the extension cord with my hedge trimmer. The GFI breaker tripped immediately and the trimmer stopped. Most importantly, I did not get shocked. :wink: The cable was only partly chewed through but bad enough to be KIA. so any wet areas in my current home got an upgrade to GFCI outlets ASAP. The house has a somewhat weird wiring setup, points rather than rooms. All outdoor outlets are also GFCI.

Well, Just came from local hardware stores (Lowes / HomeDepot) and I was not able to find the outdoor plug. Instead, I got a Appliance module, and installed that on the Outdoor enclosure (unfortunelly metal) and … I guess that’s it.

I don’t see as mentioned before any signal strength to the devices, from Vera, nor I know how to see / alter routes between sensors. My understanding is that overnight healing will do that automatically, so I hope. I got the door / window sensors out from the shed and the trailer and set them close to the outdoor outlet where the Appliance Module is installed, and keep my finger cross that Vera will be smart enough to route the signal through the module to my sensors, and the module will be strong enough to cover the distance. I will be nice to have a Live signal strength on these sensors. I am sure that I could probably find answers to my questions, like, what’s the node route, what are the neighbors, what can I do to improve what vera does already.

As far as security goes, I believe I got the hang of it. I did not got the chance to play from outside the network much, but I’ve tested the ports and they’re closed, there is no remote access - port forwarding done to Vera. Network wise (talking about my home network security) everything looks good. So, I assume that unless network penetration from outside happens, I should be fine. Passwords are strong also, so that should be good, till a point. Question is, vera is broadcasting a Wifi signal, and I can’t stop that. Any settings done under Net / Wifi get lost after vera restart. So, I’m running Automatically configure, I tried to change to Manual, with firewall on and access over the LAN, but keeps failing. I don’t know about thru a Wifi or access point stands for, I did not play with that. A little help here will be great!

This becomes a expensive hobby! But I love it!

[quote=“Igroup, post:17, topic:190809”]Well, Just came from local hardware stores (Lowes / HomeDepot) and I was not able to find the outdoor plug. Instead, I got a Appliance module, and installed that on the Outdoor enclosure (unfortunelly metal) and … I guess that’s it.

I don’t see as mentioned before any signal strength to the devices, from Vera, nor I know how to see / alter routes between sensors. My understanding is that overnight healing will do that automatically, so I hope. I got the door / window sensors out from the shed and the trailer and set them close to the outdoor outlet where the Appliance Module is installed, and keep my finger cross that Vera will be smart enough to route the signal through the module to my sensors, and the module will be strong enough to cover the distance. I will be nice to have a Live signal strength on these sensors. I am sure that I could probably find answers to my questions, like, what’s the node route, what are the neighbors, what can I do to improve what vera does already.

As far as security goes, I believe I got the hang of it. I did not got the chance to play from outside the network much, but I’ve tested the ports and they’re closed, there is no remote access - port forwarding done to Vera. Network wise (talking about my home network security) everything looks good. So, I assume that unless network penetration from outside happens, I should be fine. Passwords are strong also, so that should be good, till a point. Question is, vera is broadcasting a Wifi signal, and I can’t stop that. Any settings done under Net / Wifi get lost after vera restart. So, I’m running Automatically configure, I tried to change to Manual, with firewall on and access over the LAN, but keeps failing. I don’t know about thru a Wifi or access point stands for, I did not play with that. A little help here will be great!

This becomes a expensive hobby! But I love it![/quote]

You should be able to turn off the Wifi broadcasting. You need to make the change and let it sit a while, then hit the reload luup the let it sit awhile, then refresh browser and it should take.

I was able to modify the Net / Wifi Settings! Good news.
I also installed Info Viewer, what a life saver! I learned:

Small Appliance Module plugged outside:
Range-Extender-Temp → zw node: 64
Capabilities: 211,156,0,4,16,3,L,R,B,RS,|37,39,43,44,114,115,119,134,145,
Version: 3,3,52,0,5

Listens : yes
Routes : yes
Has a Beam receiver : no
Can transmit a Beam : yes
Routing slave : yes
Security device : no
Basic Device Class : Routing slave
Generic Device Class : switch binary
Specific Device Class : Scene switch binary
Z-Wave Library Type : SLAVE_ENHANCED
Z-Wave Library version : 3.52
Device firmware version: 0.5

So it can transmit the beam!

Then, the door / Window Sensors:

Trailer Back Door → zw node: 60
Capabilities: 83,156,0,4,32,1,R,B,RS,|48:1,113:2,114,128,132:2,133,134,
Version: 6,3,67,4,84

Listens : no
Routes : yes
Has a Beam receiver : no
Can transmit a Beam : yes
Routing slave : yes
Security device : no
Basic Device Class : Routing slave
Generic Device Class : sensor binary
Specific Device Class : Routing sensor binary
Z-Wave Library Type : SLAVE_ROUTING
Z-Wave Library version : 3.67
Device firmware version: 4.84

And surprising, The battery powered siren:
Siren1 → zw node: 52
Capabilities: 83,92,0,4,16,0,R,B,RS,W1,|37,112,114,128,134,
Version: 6,3,42,1,65

Listens : no
Routes : yes
Has a Beam receiver : yes - FLiRS 1000
Can transmit a Beam : yes
Routing slave : yes
Security device : no
Basic Device Class : Routing slave
Generic Device Class : switch binary
Specific Device Class : Not used
Z-Wave Library Type : SLAVE_ROUTING
Z-Wave Library version : 3.42
Device firmware version: 1.65

So, They all routes, all can transmit a beam and the siren has a beam receiver too! I’m not sure that means that they all can route, work like extenders. I have a feeling that if there is no beam receiver, there is no extender. So my Appliance module is not helping.
I took a alarm and set it in the trailer, barely works but it does. Will leave the setup overnight to see what happens after the healing. Maybe the alarm will be my best bet with what I have now as a repeater.

Thank you all!

Net Wifi Configuration was reset again to defaults.

I have the following:

AutoDetect Devices -on
Fail safe tunnels - on

Connection - Manually Config

Net Connection - DHCP ( my router gives it a static IP in subnet)
Firewall - active (only allow LAN connections)
LAN DHCP server - off
Wifi - on, custom WPA2 password, no signal broadcast.

After a while, gets back to defaults. Even now, if applied (save and restart), I am able to acces Vera from outside the network from home.myvera website and from both apps, Vera and VeraMate.
Any suggestions?