I just bought the Vera3. I ordered it from zwaveproducts.com, they were easy to work with and they did everything they said they were going to do.
I decided on Vera over the Nexia. The Nexia looks to be very ridged and is lacking in both product class & manufacturer support. I also looked at the Verizon system. That one is also zWave, but like the Nexia, it looks very limited.
As soon as I connected to Vera I upgraded the firmware. It took almost 45 minutes to finish and for a while I thought I had created a brick. After a while I was able to use the UI and connected my first device with very little difficulty.
I’ve got some fun ideas and can’t wait to get started.
I’m sure I will be asking tons of questions in this forum…. So thanks a lot in advance.
Welcome to the crazy that is home automation Bill!
If you have questions, feel free to ask, there’s a ton of people here with wide-and-varied experience in the space.
PS: Sometimes the upgrade process actually completes “on time” but the UI doesn’t capture that it’s completed. I think we’ve all run into that in one form or another over the years.
I was able to install a Quickset door lock. It is just physically in place and works as a standalone device. I tried to add it to Vera, but it did not work the first time. It was crazy late and I had to go to bed. I’ll be trying again later today.
Also - I hit a nice millstone yesterday, my front lamp timer cycled correctly. I was able to make two different scenes on different schedules. It all worked great. I’ve also got a small handheld remote control that I want to link with this lamp. It will be really nice to be able to override the timer (I was never able to do this when the lamp was on a traditional timer).
And by the way, great community here. You can be sure that I’ll be needing plenty of help! : Thanks in advance!
I finally got my lock working; once again the problem was between the device & the keyboard….
After I had the lock physically installed, I was hitting the wrong button to pair the lock with Vera. The instructions for connecting the lock to a network were on a different set of instructions still in the box.
Anyway, once I read the directions, everything fell into place.
The system is working exactly as I hoped and I’m looking forward to getting the next devices….
I’m Thinking about a motion sensor next, any recommendations?
As far as your remote control is concerned. If it’s a standard Z-Wave remote control, you can pair it with Vera as a secondary controller and assign that light to one of it’s buttons. I have A GE remote on my nightstand that has a number of lights programmed and as well as a few scenes. 'All outside lights on ’ being one of them. I also have an Intermatic remote on my coffee table to control a number of lights.
I can also control my devices remotely via my iPhone (RemoteVera) and HP Touchpad running ICS (AuthomationHD and HomeBuddy)
[quote=“kermit88, post:6, topic:171676”]I finally got my lock working; once again the problem was between the device & the keyboard….
After I had the lock physically installed, I was hitting the wrong button to pair the lock with Vera. The instructions for connecting the lock to a network were on a different set of instructions still in the box.
Anyway, once I read the directions, everything fell into place.
The system is working exactly as I hoped and I’m looking forward to getting the next devices….
I’m Thinking about a motion sensor next, any recommendations?[/quote]
@kermit88 do you have an alarm system? Or are you planning to get one. THe reason I ask is because if you integrate the Alarm system with Vera you can leverage the Alarm motion detectors within Vera.
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Thanks in advance!