No you don’t You can access it via the local IP and / or AltUI on a local IP address…
C
I’d pay anything to gain more WAF, for which Vera has achieved 0 so far over the past decade LOL!!
Give me “WAF Mode” and here’s my wallet!
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Gonna have to start quoting 
WAF is good. The single best WAF is Alexa. This (pretty much) does need cloud. VR is process intensive and there are good reasons to do it centrally (Disclosure: I build the Operations team for the VR system that Apple use…)
Mrs C doesn’t even bother now with anything other than ‘Alexa…’ Every time I add something she immediately starts using it.
Our other main controllers (the esteemed ZRC-90s) are pretty much redundant. Honestly can recall the last time I issued a command from the bedside one. It took about 10 minutes to add reactor conditions to include a virtual switch or a ZRC-90 press to execute stuff. Then we simply don’t bother pressing buttons.
…add to that an Echo Dot is cheaper than just about any Z-wave controller, why would you?
C
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Please show me where i can enable alexa control of devices from local IP or Altui, as i seem to have missed this.
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Ahhh sorry. This is why I need to quote. So you’re correct. To enable Alexa control you do need to log into MCV. That’s the only bit (OTTOMH) that requires you to log into the MCV system and I would lay pounds to pennies that’s as a result of a design decision as opposed to a limitation that could not be overcome.
C
So did MCV add this poor excuse for Alexa integration and would you have paid for full integration @catman. As it has massive WAF.
Depends on how they sold it.
Monthly sub and we’ll let you use some stuff: No
Upgrade from FW 7.31 > 8.0 New feature: Full Alexa TTS: Quite possibly.
On the latter I chose if the feature is of value to me and when I want to spend it.
C
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Agreed, of course it would have to have value for you.
What if the sub was 10p /month?
Probably not because at that level it becomes an insult to my intelligence.
But per the other thread, I’m struggling to distance myself from the fact that this IS Vera and my answers may not be reflective of another stuation.
C
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I fully understand. MCV really let us all down.
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Use ha-bridge. 100% local as it emulates a hue bridge. I’m about to install it and remove the original Vera skill, because two scenes are not called again and the solution is to delete them and create new ones - but I’m tired.
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I will take a look. I am currently looking at doing it via node-red-contib-amazon-echo/alexa-home-skill.
Or Voiceflow.com
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I also used the Java software HA Bridge for local Alexa integration with Vera, before the native cloud integration from MCV was released.
It did also work with Google Home as well at some point but no longer.
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we are talking about 2 different issues here I think…I will attempt at clarifying them
1-Role of Cloud in HA
2-How to fund a HA company.
My views for whatever they are worth:
1-Role of Cloud in HA
-Everything should be architected to work locally if it can work locally.
- But there will be many cloud services that one might need to integrate into their HA …the ecosystem must allow that.
2-How to fund the HA company
HA is not just about hardware. Its in the main about software. Because all software must be maintained there is an ongoing cost of paying for software development teams.
a-You can charge one big amount to support a HA system for X many years (3-4 years)
b-You can charge monthly/annually to support the HA system as long as the customer is paying for it and this subscription should include seamless addition of new hardware every (3-5 years) so that the customer’s HA system is always kept upto a standard.
If you calculate a or b, they both will come to same cost and maybe b will be cheaper in the long run.
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All good points.
The differnce in cost with a and b is what life you get out of box a. The b option is set.
As a consumer i require a solid contoller, great integration and a company that is going to go the distance. I wish Ezlo all the success at achieving this goal.
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While there is a cost associated to maintenance, hardware R&D etc., a monthly subscription model might be well if you earn a salary in USD or Euros. On the other hand, if you live on the Southern tip of Africa, and have and exchange rate of 18 to a Dollar or 22 to the Euro + international fees, the idea of a subscription service is not so great. The reason for selecting the Vera at the time was that a) it runs local and doesn’t need an internet line to operate and b) there was a once of cost for everything.
As it was, at the time ~2015, when I bought the Vera, the exchange rate was about 13/1, which made the Z-wave devices and controllers quite expensive, but still affordable. I’d hate to think what it would cost to install an HA system now…
I for one would look at an alternative should it come to a monthly cost or exorbitant price per plug-in, unless I can be billed in a local currency, at local rates as some bigger international organizations do.
What percentage of the Vera user base is outside of the US and would it make a difference if they stop being Vera users?
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@andre_za
You raise a very valid point, unless you live outside the US-EU economy you just don’t realise the impact of currency fluctuations have not only on the price of software but also hardware.
We’re being shafted each time Trump tweeks.
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I agree with that. Paying in local currency is very important.
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Hi @melih this is my opinion on this topic. I’m working as exec in a one of the biggest security equipment distributors in Southeastern Europe so I’m telling this from experience.
To force people to pay for hardware and cloud is not an option at least in this part of the world but I believe this is the same everywhere. Couple of years ago Paradox (Alarm Control Panels) tried to force to pay yearly fee to have mobile app access via cloud to the panel it was something like 12$ per year, after pushing for a whole year and resistance from the customers and also competition giving free app and remote access to the panels they changed the model and they allowed to use the app and setup your own dns service of your choice and connect the panel with the app… in that case you had a remote access to the panel but no push notification because it’s not going through a cloud. So they made it possible to the customer to have access to the hardware that they paid for and also if they want added value like push notification which is normal for alarm panel if you don’t have professional monitoring they can choose and pay. Its about the choice, now we have more subscribing customers to the cloud when it became optional then when there was no option. I will not continue to talk about security industry because there every manufacturer is offering free app free cloud.
Now in HA industry… At home I have 3 fully functional duplicated systems: Control4, VERA, Home Assistant. Every system can control the same thing so if I open vera on my phone I can control everything that Home Assistant and Control4 can control and vice versa. Control 4 if you ask me has the best dashboard / app in the industry which is free, the drivers and firmware’s made by control4 are all free including driver to connect Vera with Control4. Third party drivers there few free but most of them are costing money, even in the past Control4 purchased the company that made the driver for Vera (in the time of purchase it was paid driver) and made the driver free when it became inhouse. More drivers, more plugins, more interest from users, more sales, more money its that simple. This is in context of firmware and plugin topic. Regarding cloud Control 4 charges 100$ for cloud service if you want remote access to the system and integration with Alexa and Google. (you can always make a vpn connection to home and have remote access, there is drivers which can do Alexa/Google integration with onetime payment but it’s too much hassle) I used Control4 cloud for 1 year and figure it out that was waste of money compared how much I used what I paid.
Home assistant is normally open source everything is free, but they are also charging 5$ for cloud service and Alexa/Google integrations if you want, you can also make a dns for remote access or hue bridge for alexa and google. I used the cloud of home assistant for a 3-4 months and I figured that it was waste of money compared how much I used what I paid.
My point is when you sell hardware because ezlo is a hardware company and its selling Smart Hubs, your development cost, firmware cost and other opex cost are calculated in the price of the hardware and you ongoing cost for firmware update fixes integration of new devices and other ongoing opex is covered by new sales, otherwise I will assume that you will sell 10.000 pcs in the first month and that’s it the maintenance of those 10.000 pcs and future of the company will depend solely of monthly payment of those 10.000 users and you are not expecting further sales which will make a profit for the company. I don’t see a logic in that.
Also because we are talking about home automation which the main goal is to automate and optimize someone’s home in order to save money in electricity and not just a fancy way to flip a switch via app there is no logic to charge the customer for a monthly fee and increase his expenses instead to lower them. Because this is the only selling point of Home Automation (except hobby). Why would I install smart home system which on yearly basis will save me 50$ and I need to pay x $ per year and also time for maintaining it which is at least 1-2 hours per week at least and make a 500-1000 initial investment for switches, thermostat, plugs and etc, what will you actually save and when your investment will return.
So I can justify some fee 1-2$ per month for integration with Alexa or Google, which is non-essential in the goal of HA system but more as a convenience, but to pay monthly fee for core functionality no way, I will keep my current vera on the firmware that is at the moment, I will make it dumb zwave hub because the support for zigbee at the moment is 0+ and I will continue to use Control4 or Home Assistant as automation controllers, logic and interface .
FYI at the moment I’m using vera plus the least capable controller of all three in my home for all the automation logic, because I like ease of use and making logic on a fly, and also because I want to help out and promote it to other people. Also the main driver why i use the vera as my main controller its because it has free Alexa integration.
So when you make the monthly fee prices and model - hardware + small monthly fee, or bigger monthly fee only and free hardware for x time, also the fact that only selling point at the moment for HA is savings keep in mind of your distributors and dealers what will they do if they can’t sell the hardware which is their core business because the HW is free, and can’t use the only selling point of HA - savings.
I hope that my opinion will give you some ideas.
p.s. To @Sorin please decide if this belong here or Customizable Dashboard Pricing
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