I’ve been a Vera user since 2011 and have since been playing with domotica. I have about 40~50 so-called ‘smart’ devices in my house varying between simple z-wave switched outlets, various HUE lights, z-wave window blinds, fibaro smart implants controlling stuff etc.
During 2020 I signed up for the Ezlo beta test. I started out very small with 2 devices connected and slowly started using more, as the Ezlo platform matured and meshbots became more capable.
Today I realized I’m at a tipping point now. Slightly over 50% of my devices are now connected to Ezlo. Over the last few months I’m no longer building any new automation on the Vera platform, it’s all on Ezlo. The journey has been, well, let’s just say it’s been interesting so far…
On Vera, there is a mix of devices remaining. Some smart plugs (they are easy to migrate), so in-wall relays and dimmers (slightly harder), a few Aeotec Wallmote devices (these can be a bit painful), a fibaro smart implant with associations, complex child devices and complex settings (yikes) and several slightly complex Reactor scenes.
So now I need to decide whether to continue this slow migration and maybe be fully finished in 12~18 months, or be bold (or stupid?) and migrate all remaining devices in a single batch to the Ezlo platform
Let the community device. Please vote below on which route to take. If the migration option wins, I’ll do so and report the findings of my full migration from Vera to Ezlo here.
Oh, please do explain your view when voting. What experiences have you had to support your vote, and if I do fully migrate what insights would you be most interested in?
Move with caution and stay on Vera 3
Be bold and brave and finish your migration to Ezlo Plus
I am in the same boat. Longtime Vera user and have had Ezlo for 1.5 years now. I have 80-90 devices on my Vera, mostly lighting control, garage door control, deadbolt lock, several cameras and an Interface to my Admeco alarm panel. Majority is ZWave, IP Cams are IP WiFi and Ethernet mix.
I think Ezlo is improving steadily. Perhaps not as fast as many would like but I think we forget Vera was glacial in its releases too.
My first excitement for Ezlo was meshbots as they seem so much more powerful than Vera scenes. I had a lot of LUA code in Vera just for the simple purpose of doing AND logic in scenes. More recently I tried out Reactor on Vera and found that to be very powerful, I never invested the time in PLEG. So to me Vera with Reactor is on par with Ezlo with meshbots so blunting one major push factor (meshbots) towards Ezlo.
There are still some stability questions about Ezlo with ZWave devices and I will soon be able to test to see if the past couple releases hardened that weakness. I expect it has improved in the past year.
Ezlo has an emerging capability with IP Devices that is promising. I have developed a few Arduino based IP devices (ESP32 based) and they integrate easily with Ezlo. Its still missing a few hooks to make it fooproof but I like where it is heading. Zwave looks to be on the demise with IP devices so much lower price points. A platform that natively supports WiFi devices is becoming tablestakes.
I have also experimented with EzloPi and it is promising but again pre-Alpha in terms of code maturity so it has a ways to go still and it is dependent on cloud meshbots to interoperate with another controller. That is limiting when WAN connections go down. Once local meshbots can work across same LAN controllers and EzloPi’s then it will be more compelling. Strong concept, lacking somewhat in what it delivers at this instant.
I also haven’t been able to find an iPhone app like HomeWave that works with EzloPlus that I like. I like Homewave because it allows you to completely design your own navigation and highly customize look and feel. It also connects to Vera directly without a WAN connection to MIOS when at home. I don’t see MIOS dashboards getting me there. Unfortunately HomeWave is defunct so it is getting less reliable with each iOS upgrade cycle. Hint to Ezlo: Offer to buy HomeWave source code from developer and update/freshen it up for Ezlo and offer it as a companion app.
The biggest plus for Ezlo and it is a big one is that the product is well supported and has routine code drops with active development. So for any problem there is, there is hope it will eventually get resolved and with each code drop fewer problems exist. There is no hope anymore for Vera as it isn’t supported at all.
Bottom line for me is I am not quite ready to cut my main home over from Vera yet. If I were to guess I might consider it later in 2023 but I’ll be forced to do something in 2024 if I don’t do it this year.
I completely moved over after about 6 months. I only have around 20 devices. All went well except for my Schlage door lock. It moved, but no longer can I view the pin codes or set new pin codes. I tried everything and finally accepted that when I create a pin code I have to put in the name the pin code as well. So, I had to reset the lock and enter all new pin codes. The lock works fine so I accepted the loss of function and gained a lot with the new ezlo controller. It was a tradeoff that was worth it. I have vera in our vacation home, but only 3 devices and I will stay with vera in that house until it totally dies.