new to micasaverde, but experienced zwave user, questiona

Community Playground General Discussions
#1

am building new house.
have existing vacation home with homeseer, and zstick.

am looking at stuff for new house, the micasaverde seems cost effective, I want to do controls of plugins (intermatic), thermostats, and eventualy schlage lock (I have an earlier non-z-wave deadbolt from them and may get new locks for new house

QUESTION
MicasaVerde - does it come with both the zwave USB stick AND the main control box?

QUESTION
findvera.com -
It is now FREE? (no charges monthly?)
CAN I access the Micasaverde, INSIDE my house, through LOCAL network, without findvera.com going out to the internet and searching

QUESTion
can I hook it to my wireless router?

QUESTION -
CAN the settings be backed up, so in event VERA blew up, and vera got replaced, the settings could be copied from a file to the new vera?

QUESTION
scripting, I see the LUUP discussions, is this scripting, and is there a simple manual explaining it? I am familiar with programming, but could not figure out the HomeSeer stuff as I only have the BASIC version of software

QUESTION
this device versus HomeSeer, how do they compare with controlling the zwave stuff?

Thanks to all for replies

#2

QUESTION
MicasaVerde - does it come with both the zwave USB stick AND the main control box?

Answer: Yes

QUESTION
findvera.com -
It is now FREE? (no charges monthly?)
CAN I access the Micasaverde, INSIDE my house, through LOCAL network, without findvera.com going out to the internet and searching

Answer: Yes its free. Yes you can access vera without going to the internet. Just type in the 192.168.x.xxx address.

QUESTion
can I hook it to my wireless router?

Answer: Yes, Just plug it into one of the switch ports on the router.

QUESTION -
CAN the settings be backed up, so in event VERA blew up, and vera got replaced, the settings could be copied from a file to the new vera?

Answer: Yes

QUESTION
scripting, I see the LUUP discussions, is this scripting, and is there a simple manual explaining it? I am familiar with programming, but could not figure out the HomeSeer stuff as I only have the BASIC version of software

Answer: There is a wiki with some information. Your best bet is to grab a Lua book and ask for help on the forum.

QUESTION
this device versus HomeSeer, how do they compare with controlling the zwave stuff?

Answer: I used homeseer for awhile, I didn’t like having to leave a PC on all the time. This is plug and go! Vera controls Z-Wave just as well if not better than homeseer. Vera has support for devices quicker than homeseer. Example 3 weeks after the schlage link lock were released MCV had support. It took Homeseer 6 months.

Now the strength of Homeseer is the plug-ins and HStouch. DotConnect is working on a iPOD control system to work with vera. They are also working on an Adobe Air version that you could run on a touch panel.

Thanks to all for replies

#3

originally, I used home remote Pro.I switched to Vera and I am much happier with that product. The customer service is great. This forum is an exceptional resource.

While you’re supposed to be able to use your original router. I had a terrible time with losing my Internet service and wireless. Also,my speeds were extremely low. After spending a few weeks monkeying with my system, I got rid of the router.The connection to theInternet stopped. The upload and download of files in my other programs increased incredibly.

#4

to all,
thanks for reply, I am probably going to buy this and try.

QUESTION -
lua manual, or reference - good links to this?

QUESTION
any place to get cheap intermatic plain on/off z-wave plug-in-on-off boxes? I used those at my otehr location as cheap repeaters for the zwave network, and owuld like to do that in this new house also

nick

#5

[quote=“aoz, post:4, topic:165330”]QUESTION -
lua manual, or reference - good links to this?[/quote]

Start here: http://lua-users.org/ - probably the most comprehensive resource for Lua programming language. Consult with MCV’s Wiki and Forum for Vera’s specific use of Lua+UPnP=Luup

[quote=“aoz, post:4, topic:165330”]QUESTION
any place to get cheap intermatic plain on/off z-wave plug-in-on-off boxes? I used those at my otehr location as cheap repeaters for the zwave network, and owuld like to do that in this new house also[/quote]

First of all, you can buy from http://shop.micasaverde.com - not the cheapest place, but will sponsor MCV, which is good for continual improvement of Vera…

You can scout internet stores for deals on Z-Wave devices - sometimes those happen (sales, discounts, closeouts…)

Or if you can’t wait and you are in the US, “recommended” retailers are ASIHome and SmartHome-Products…

#6

Take this with a grain of salt, but aren’t we all paying (not paid) MCV beta-testers? The pre Flash UI is really not production quality, nor the firmware. I know it is much cheaper than Homeseer, but is it really a finished product?

I bought MCV because I want to program to it. That didn’t work very well either. I am seriously thinking about trying out Homeseer, despise it’s much higher cost, and the need of a Windoze PC running all the time. (I switched to Macs).

MCV customer service is great. But I don’t see the product as anywhere near finished. I have no experience with Homeseer, but it “looked” much more robust. Is it really more robust? Anyone out there used both and have thoughts on the topic?

Thanks,
P.K.

#7

I own homeseer.

was too complex for me.

I prefer vera that just works and is simple to set up and use (well at least on the current versions- not quite there yet with the BETA Flash UI release).

I am not happy that for simple AND type triggers that I need to learn Lua. (Like turn on light if it’s dark AND motion sensor triggers).

But overall to me I much prefer the ease of use and setup and the fact it’s basically running on a tiny little router rather then some windows pc.

#8

Homeseer has had a lot more time to become what it is using Z-Wave since 2003. Vera hasn’t been around for that long and has come a long way in its time.

The first Homeseer releases probably weren’t completely polished and without issues. I know that it was the HS community that was responsible for most of the development and plug-ins. So things really aren’t that different with Vera, its just that HS had a head start.

#9

[quote=“pkshiu, post:6, topic:165330”]Take this with a grain of salt, but aren’t we all paying (not paid) MCV beta-testers? The pre Flash UI is really not production quality, nor the firmware. I know it is much cheaper than Homeseer, but is it really a finished product?

I bought MCV because I want to program to it. That didn’t work very well either. I am seriously thinking about trying out Homeseer, despise it’s much higher cost, and the need of a Windoze PC running all the time. (I switched to Macs).

MCV customer service is great. But I don’t see the product as anywhere near finished. I have no experience with Homeseer, but it “looked” much more robust. Is it really more robust? Anyone out there used both and have thoughts on the topic?

Thanks,
P.K.[/quote]

Not everyone who uses Vera is dying to program it. I’m quite happy with how it works( and I just don’t jump on the f/w release bandwagon too fast).

Is the current UI ‘great’? No, but trust me, I’ve seen worse.

.979 has been ROCK solid for me. Running since release with no hiccups.

It works a LOT better than dealing with the HA07 master control. And I wasn’t impressed with ControlThink either (still have that dongle sitting around somewhere).

I’m actually nervous that the new UI will be ‘new and improved’ only to some people. I’ll wait for some feedback before I jump.

All in all, I give Vera 8.5 out of 10 stars. So far, it keeps getting better.

#10

Completely agree 1000% :slight_smile:

It is really frustrating to see that such a basic function for “AND” is not availble which should have been the case in Alpha version of “FIRST” release - again being so commonsense requirement and as an user we have to ask for an enhancement and wait for “NEXT BETA”.

my 2c

#11

Completely agree 1000% :slight_smile:

It is really frustrating to see that such a basic function for “AND” is not availble which should have been the case in Alpha version of “FIRST” release - again being so commonsense requirement and as an user we have to ask for an enhancement and wait for “NEXT BETA”.

my 2c[/quote]

DITTO :wink:

An FYI…an item can ONLY be New OR Improved…never New AND Improved. Think about it. It’s either New or it’s Improved…NOT both!!

Let’s hope Vera continues to improve with some new ideas! :wink: