I had a Vera earlier in this year and I sold it because I found it difficult setting up scenes and events and their were reliability issues as there are now. I went with Insteon and Indigo software since I use a Mac. I now also use a native Indigo iPhone app to control lights. I find that Indigo is easier to use in some ways but others it is difficult. There are also not alot of the Insteon devices that are not supported. I am now thinking of going back to Vera because of the upcoming iPhone app and the ability to get texts and email alerts with sensors. The plug in ability looks interesting also. During the last couple of weeks I found a GE wireless security system that has smoke detector,carbon monoxide,water, freeze sensors as add ons to the system. All of this can be monitored by the Alarm.com iPhone app. I talked to Frontpoint Security and they said that GE is adding zwave to the system by the end of the year. The downside is the cost, it costs $40 month for monitoring and the email and text interactivity with the iPhone app. My dilemma is which one to go with.
Paintguy, since you’re faced with a decision which could put a serious dent in your pocketbook, and so much about the latest breed (Z-Wave) of home automation remains to be ironed out (changing manufacturers, discontinued product lines, ever-updating firmware, etc.) … if I were you, I’d wait exactly three more months and THEN take another look around.
Even then, you’ll have to break out a spreadsheet with both short-term (infractructure) and long-term (subscriptions, services) costs for each potential vendor. Let us all know how you decide!
Easy decision, you either choose cheap or reliable. Whichever is more important just choose that option. Vera at this stage IMHO would not be any part of my home security, even just for alerts. It is not nearly reliable enough for that service. It is really not even reliable enough to turn the lights on and off consistently. Check the forums, read the posts about people’s issues and you will see.
As a home automation hub Vera wins hands down over nearly anything.
But as home security - if you need it for non-mission critical purposes, Vera alone is fine; but remember that it can be affected by power outage or internet connection failure, so for real security you need real security system (which can be plugged into Vera, just like guessed did) - with built-in battery backup and cellular connection, so no power or internet failure can affect it.