Not sure who you were referencing to but the homeseer brand or SmartStick+ stick doesn’t have a battery. Neither does the Z-net. Most of my including was all done from the spot where it’s going to stay. Only for the garage devices did I have to move it as they couldn’t be found.
My USB stick is plugged into a PI which I plugged into an outlet (The pi needs usb power) in the garage when I did the including for the garage devices and patio stuff.
For portability the Z-net is a better option as it’s an all in one Pi and Z-wave shield. It still needs usb power same as your Android phone, but I would assume you have an outlet in every room or can source a portable usb power pack if you choose. This wasn’t worth the price to me for a one time initial setup.
Yeah, it must have some kind of rechargeable battery inside it. You just hit the button on top of it, and it’s instantly ready to start including devices. You hold the button for like 3 seconds and it’s ready to exclude. I would say it’s a good 20 times faster to do it w the stick than with Vera.[/quote]
As far as I know only the Aeon Labs Z-Stick has that options.
I think people get to carried away with the one time setup that they will save 20min vs. the long term effects. (if I would have carried my stick around and then had to come back a rename every device after (guessing which is which) it would have taken me alot longer. Homeseer has a phone app just for including devces so you can go around and include name and such by yourself.
With a z-stick you can’t transfer your setup to a new stick or do any backups. When the stick stops working, has issues, battery goes bad (first gen ones already have, but I think around a 5 year lifespan on the battery is pretty good) you need to re include all the devices again vs. just transferring or restoring a backup to the new stick or replacement stick. Also range was an issue on the aeon stick not sure because of design or chip.
Ok, so now I’m more confused.i would have thought the stick was basically the antenna, and you configuration was saved on the PC where you had Homeseer installed, which would also make the PC the controller?
That’s the way I see it also, but that’s not really true. Technically the 40.00 usb stick is a controller, but yeah when I think of a controller I think of the brains of the operation and the stick is not. Neither is the Z-net.
But an antenna without a z-wave chip is just a wire. or coil of wires or how ever you shape your antenna. So really its more then just an antenna. It’s an antenna and zwave or in our case a z-wave plus chip.
EDIT: going back to configuration and where it’s saved.
See on vera you have normal backups (which is what homeseer software has) then on vera you have the check mark that ask for a z-wave network backup, which is equivent of backing up the usb z-wave controller/antenna. All the devices that are z-wave and their communication info is stored on the usb zwave “controller” but all your names, plugins, rooms, logic/events, and all the rest of things is what homeseer is and backs up.
If you use homeseer USB stick you can also backup the z-wave network (again equivalent of checking that box in vera backups for also backing up the z-wave network). If you use another stick that doesn’t support it and something goes bad you can’t restore the z-wave network only all the logic and stuff in the software.
HomeSeer see’s z-wave as a plugin or add on. You install the z-wave plugin and all your z-wave controllers (usb sticks, z-nets or what ever your using) shows up in the list. I’ll share some pics of what it looks like with my USB stick installed.
[quote=“JasonJoel, post:26, topic:191408”]Guys, this is RIDICULOUS. Take the discussion offline, or over to HOMESEER forums.
Have an ounce of respect.
Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk[/quote]
I don’t think it’s ridiculous. Some of us have been through thick and thin with Vera for years, and have been on here helping each other make Vera better. But, now that Vera is pretty much hopeless, I think it’s great for us to help each other find better alternative solutions.
[quote=“jumper4000, post:27, topic:191408”][quote=“JasonJoel, post:26, topic:191408”]Guys, this is RIDICULOUS. Take the discussion offline, or over to HOMESEER forums.
Have an ounce of respect.
Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk[/quote]
I don’t think it’s ridiculous. Some of us have been through thick and thin with Vera for years, and have been on here helping each other make Vera better. But, now that Vera is pretty much hopeless, I think it’s great for us to help each other find better alternative solutions.[/quote]
It’s also a public forum not maintained by VERA. Nothing bad is being said here about vera that hasn’t been already said.
It might be a public forum, not maintained by Vera, but the forums have a purpose and are grouped by the purpose. Last I checked this wasn’t the ‘homeseer’ forum.
But whatever, I’ll just take my own advice and not read this thread any further.
[quote=“integlikewhoa, post:28, topic:191408”]It’s also a public forum not maintained by VERA. Nothing bad is being said here about vera that hasn’t been already said.
[quote=“ChrisK, post:31, topic:191408”][quote=“integlikewhoa, post:28, topic:191408”]It’s also a public forum not maintained by VERA. Nothing bad is being said here about vera that hasn’t been already said.
The “OpenHab binding” uses Vera for it’s radios. So yes, it is using and requires Vera firmware and hardware.
OpenLuup, as I understand it, emulates Vera’s firmware. It doesn’t talk to Z-Wave devices directly so it is not competition to Vera.
Homeseer is a for profit company that is in direct competition that in no way uses Vera. Please, get your facts straight.[/quote]
Wasn’t thinking profit or non profit, homeseer also doesn’t talk to z-wave devices directly either. It uses a z-wave plugin and a Z-wave adapter of your choice or brand. Could be a usb stick a vera or what ever silmiler to openluup. It runs on your own hardware. Bottomline is this forum isn’t just for promoting VERA or only posting things that profit for VERA. It’s about sharing information, facts and experiences related to Home Automation and Vera. I own 3 vera’s and also own Homeseer paths cross, questions get asked then anwsers, facts and opinions fly.
Openluup and openHab are about getting the off the weak under rated Hardware of VERA and getting onto your own hardware that has more power behind it. Yes you can then use vera just for the z-wave controller, but your don’t have too.
Same for Homeseer Run your homeseer on Linux or Windows based software on your own hardware with a z-wave controller or multiple z-wave controllers of your choice.
There is competition all around and if you see it as a bad thing then your blinded.
If someone doesn’t like the topic, then they shouldn’t read it. Many of us have been PAYING loyal Vera customers for years. I just wasted another $150 on a VeraPlus that’s now sitting in my wiring closet collecting dust, so I’ve paid my dues to Vera. Since Vera’s controller is pretty useless these days and the only good things about it are these forums and the people here, I don’t mind one bit sharing my experience with other paying but unsatisfied Vera customers, and learning about Vera’s competitors. These forums are not just about Vera’s controllers. They are just as much about the ENTIRE Home Automation Systems we’ve built around it. If the brain of the system is not functioning properly, we have no choice but to discuss replacement brains, even if they happen to be Vera’s competitors. Obviously the OP of this post has been around here for years, and just like many of us, if Vera wasn’t so dysfunctional these days, he wouldn’t have looked into other options. I give him props for sharing his experience with HomeSeer and I will do the same
Oh get real! This is a site for Vera’s customers and potential customers. Vera pays for this site, Not Homeseer.
BTW, integlikewhoa, you mention Linux, check out Homeseer’s support for Linux, or should I say lack there of. The product was designed for Microsoft Windows, not Linux. It is no secret that Linux is not fully supported. They treat Linux users like second class citizens. I know, I tried it and talked to one of their support engineers.
So you like Homeseer and want to talk about it, use their forum.
[quote=“ChrisK, post:34, topic:191408”]Oh get real! This is a site for Vera’s customers and potential customers. Vera pays for this site, Not Homeseer.
BTW, integlikewhoa, you mention Linux, check out Homeseer’s support for Linux, or should I say lack there of. The product was designed for Microsoft Windows, not Linux. It is no secret that Linux is not fully supported. They treat Linux users like second class citizens. I know, I tried it and talked to one of their support engineers.
So you like Homeseer and want to talk about it, use their forum.[/quote]
I do use Windows myself thanks for asking. Their lower end units use linux and I think the problem is more with linux plugins which maybe what your referring too.
Also thanks for your option in this topic on HomeSeer, glad you can get that in on this public forum.
And how does Vera pay for it??? By taking our money and not delivering a working product :)[/quote]
It wasn’t so long ago that you were begging them to take your money. They do have a 30 day refund policy. Seems like you would take them up on it and move on.
Joking? Willful ignorance? No matter. This thread is getting out of hand.
Let’s try to be respectful of the forum’s owner host and each other. I’d hate to see this forum turn into a curated or moderated corporate shill platform(see Fibaro), but I could see why a company would choose that route when these kind of threads start flaming up.
Even I, the guy who loves to complain about Vera, thinks this thread is going too far… lets keep it to a comparison between Homeseer & Vera for those who are interested. I told you guys not to buy Vera Plus… did you listen… no. Don’t complain now.
I was on Homeseer before I moved to Vera… what pushed me away was:
It was buggy as hell, yes, worse than Vera… back in the early v2 days (the code was antiquated and they were simply slapping on new bad code over the old bad code.)
3rd party plugins were (and IMO still are) way overpriced. In the v1 days most of them were free or $5-$10… which is great. Totally reasonable… you buy 10 plugins or so and you are golden, you pay for only major releases (which most plugins didn’t have) and that was fine. BUT Homeseer got greedy and decided to monetize the work from others, so that $20-$30 you are now paying for the plugin, a LOT of that money goes to Homeseer.
The mobile app was total garbage and expensive… 100x worse than Vera’s.
So if the first issue has been resolved and HS3 is stable then maybe, just maybe, it is time to evaluate HS again. If HS wanted to lure people over they should give a hue discount to Vera converts… including a huge discount on the plugins.
If I need to spend more than $300 to re-do what I have with Vera then there is a problem. As I see it right now, it will be at least that, even with 50% off of HS3 price. PLUS, I’m running it on a PC, which I can do but that is still an associated cost (which I’m not including in the $300 price point)
I’m hoping OpenHAB matures more quickly than it has been and I can move to it… but it it still for coders IMO. It needs more work to be user friendly. I don’t have time to learn a new methodology and hand-write code, even if it it in plain language. It needs a GUI for branching logic then I’m in!
