Any one using the Dragon Tech Dimmer and/or Switches? Does Vera support the scene functionality? Instant status?
I am using the Dragon Tech switches which I bought from zwaveproducts. There is no instant status. When I manually switch the light ON or OFF, it does not immediately show in the UI7 or Vera mobile app. It only shows when Vera polls the swtich, which is I think once a minute, so the status will update in anywhere between 1 and 60 seconds. This is true for all Dragon Tech switches, both installed near the controller, or far. Therefore, any scene execution would be delayed and not really useful. So I am only using these switches where I don’t need instant status or scene triggering.
I wrote to zwaveproducts about a possible firmware upgrade which could add instant status functionality, and they responded they don’t know if or when it might be available. As the manufacturer is in China, I doubt they will ever release a firmware upgrade, so don’t plan on it.
There are also Homeseer branded switches and dimmers which are the same hardware as Dragon Tech, but with Homeseer firmware. Those do support instant status, and they are now on sale by Homeseer at 15% off, which is almost the same price as Dragon Tech. I think today is the last day of sale, and I bought the 5-pack of dimmers for those places in my home where I need instant status. However, the Homeseer switches include some of the functionality that does not work on Vera at present, so be careful.
What does the HS version have that is not supported?
Double and triple-tap, press-and-hold scenes do not work on Vera. Also, instant status works on Homeseer controllers. Should also work on Vera, but note sure, I have not verified it yet.
Anyone know if Vera will add the double and triple-tap scene control functions?
I bought a 5 pack of these during the May sale. I don’t think instant status works on Vera. I have installed 2 dimmers so far, which is disappointing. I am not sure what the polling interval is, but it feels like a long time. They do respond very fast on my Vera plus. They ramp up and down very quickly. Most of my set up is cooper aspire. Those support instant status, and have a slower ramp up, dim down timing.
I would love to adjust these settings on the HS dimmers, but have had the chance to look at it yet.
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Are you using the ones from HomeSeer or ZWaveProducts?
HS.
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I wrote to Vera support about it:
Hi, I am looking at the new Homeseer branded z-wave wall switches which support instant status and scene activation using double-tap, triple-tap and press & hold:
The review linked above says:
“IMPORTANT: HS-WD100+ and HS-WS100 provide instant status feedback and double-tap, triple-tap, press & hold functionality using the Z-Wave “central scene” command class. The feature is supported by all HomeSeer systems, including HS3 software and HomeTroller controllers. If you’re using another brand of controller, be sure to check with that manufacturer to see if the central scene features are supported.”
So my question is, will instant status and scene activation using double-tap, triple-tap and press & hold functions of those Homeseer switches work on my Vera Plus?
And received this reply:
Our developers are working on adding support for the central scene command class. I don?t have an ETA on when it will be available, however this will be announced on our software update release notes page : http://support.getvera.com/customer/portal/topics/666697-release-notes/articles
[quote=“echino”]I wrote to Vera support about it:
Hi, I am looking at the new Homeseer branded z-wave wall switches which support instant status and scene activation using double-tap, triple-tap and press & hold:
The review linked above says:
“IMPORTANT: HS-WD100+ and HS-WS100 provide instant status feedback and double-tap, triple-tap, press & hold functionality using the Z-Wave “central scene” command class. The feature is supported by all HomeSeer systems, including HS3 software and HomeTroller controllers. If you’re using another brand of controller, be sure to check with that manufacturer to see if the central scene features are supported.”
So my question is, will instant status and scene activation using double-tap, triple-tap and press & hold functions of those Homeseer switches work on my Vera Plus?
And received this reply:
Our developers are working on adding support for the central scene command class. I don?t have an ETA on when it will be available, however this will be announced on our software update release notes page : http://support.getvera.com/customer/portal/topics/666697-release-notes/articles[/quote]
Thank you for bringing the issue to Vera. Hopefully they will get around to it
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So if you don’t get instant status with the HS version, I don’t see any reason to pay the extra for them. Or am I missing something?
When I bought them they were less expensive than under the Dragon name. BTW, they simply have a sticker over the dragontech name on the back.
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Thanks. I was under the impression they had a custom firmware as well.
It is my understanding that they do have a custom firmware. But the hardware is in fact the same
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I read the light status behavior is different (always on with HS, only on when changing with others). Is there anything else anyone knows is different in the firmware? I thought the HS version also had Instant Status, but that does not seem to be the case.
After doing some digging, (mostly on the SmartThings forum) it seems the HomeSeer version does have a different firmware. Once Vera supports the central scene command class, instant status along with the double/triple tap scenes should also work. Based on that forum, the firmware in the DragonTech switches from zWave Products do not have this capability.
Anyone know if you can mix the HomeSeer Switch/Dimmer with the ZWave Products 3-Way Aux switch? Just wonder as it’s much cheaper to get them from ZWP if they work together.
If it’s the same hardware, then yes. The aux switch does not contain any firmware, so the Dragon and Homeseer aux switches should be identical.
I’m not sure what will happen but Homeseer has update firmware for the Homeseer Version of the switch. It says it only works with their switch and I’m not sure if this is just an over paste update or if you could flash this over the dragon version and make it into a hoemseer version.
Info here:
HomeSeer HS-WS100+ Firmware v5.14
EDIT: Then again Homeseer has 10% switches with discount code “BSS-10P” free shipping on orders over 75.00 with code “FREESHIP75” and membership which gets you 10% off all homeseer brand products a 5-10% off all other hardware is only 10.00 a year. So there is always deals or atleast 10% off.
There is probley not much savings buying dragon and trying to upgrade.
Thanks for all the info. You are right with all the promotions, there is not much difference in the price of the dimmer/switch. However, there it of difference on the price of Aux switch.
Also, I’m not sure how you could update the firmware if you are not running HS.