I have been following MI CASA VERDA for a few years. I have a Z-Wave network set up on the Ranch. Should I go for the VERA, 2? Is it the best solution?
It all depends on what your needs are. How are you controlling your devices now? Are you using a generic controller? E.g. Intermatic, Leviton, etc? I will be honest with you. I just picked up a Vera2 a few weeks ago and have 9 devices already paired up with it and more being added very soon. I have joined the beta testing team to help with getting MCV’s new UI4 stable and production worthy. So I am taking risked in having things break or not working as they should to help see a product succeed. So far I have been very happy with the unit and ZWave in general. I am really excited to have a home automation setup in my home. This was something that I have dreamed of.
Back to your answer. Do you want something that uses low power and small? If that is the case Vera is your only option. If you do not mind running software on your computer, you have many choices. But those choices come at a very high cost. All in all you can not beat the price of what the Vera has to offer. I’ll be honest and say it does have a few short comings, but that will hopefully be fixed in the near future with UI4. I say read up on the forum and do some research.
Do not get discourage by many of the posts on the forum regarding issues. People with problems tend to be more vocal then people who are satisfied. Just take your time in doing research and read as much as you can. The best thing you can do is ask as much questions as possible. We have many friendly people on this forum that are willing to help.
- Garrett
Vera 2 is the newer platform and would be the one to get.
I am in the same boat. I have ordered vera2 and may not install it yet because I cannot afford any downtime. My Vera controls a rental condo in Florida, but I am in TN. Vera, at the moment, does everything that I need and I do not want to go messing with it when UI4 is not stable yet.
Overall, I think UI4 is stable enough for reliable use.
I almost never have to manually ‘reboot’ my Vera box (Vera 1). I tend to think that for the most part, the problems people are experiencing revolve around ‘timing events’. To monitor and control your house, Very is extremely reliable right now, IMHO.
I’ll admit, I stopped relying on Vera to control many items based on time or event. The things I DO have set to automatically control devices do work as expected overall.
I suggest giving it a try, and slowly introducing more functionality. I bet (hope) you’ll be pleasantly surprised.
-Robert