Best Z-Wave Controller?
- Thread starter Deane Johnson
- Start date
drvnbysound
Senior Member
Deane Johnson said:
Have you tried calling Leviton directly about the issue? They have a special automation division that works with Zwave devices; I had to call them to get clarification about the Leviton dimmers, when they first added beaming to their dimmers.
SidneyShaw
New Member
@NeverDie: If I understand your problem correctly you just want to extend the range of the remote connections? Or do you want to have like a failover cluster - like for database servers (if one controller fails it should utilize the other one)? In case you just want to have a more reliable connection I could recommend Z Wave range extenders since Z Wave is fully mesh networking compatible. This is the Aeon Labs Aeotec Z-Wave Range Extender/Repeater which works quite well:
Deane Johnson
Active Member
Talked to Leviton Tech support. The tech said the stick was defective and should be returned.
I'm wondering if I should order a hardware controller and a new stick and if the new stick doesn't work, return it, if it does return the hardware controller. I want to get some action started.
I value the comments made in this thread and welcome any others.
Deane
I'm wondering if I should order a hardware controller and a new stick and if the new stick doesn't work, return it, if it does return the hardware controller. I want to get some action started.
I value the comments made in this thread and welcome any others.
Deane
ddennerline
Active Member
The latest VRUSB (with square recessed LED) only works reliably with latest RFIT 1.1.3.0 if you start out from scratch. Somewhere along the upgrade route compatibility was broken between older sticks and newer versions of software.
If you used an older VRF file with new RFIT, the software would crash.
I got tired of the crashes and started over from scratch with latest RTIT, VRUSB, and new VRF file.
The crashes with latest version have disappeared (although there are defects that need to be corrected).
If you used an older VRF file with new RFIT, the software would crash.
I got tired of the crashes and started over from scratch with latest RTIT, VRUSB, and new VRF file.
The crashes with latest version have disappeared (although there are defects that need to be corrected).
Deane Johnson
Active Member
I'm a little disappointed that a company as substantial as Leviton fumbles around so badly with the Z-Wave stuff. It's been the original amatuer hour from the beginning.
There's a lot of Z-Wave stuff on the market, including excellent products from Leviton, but the control thing seems to completely escape them. Surely they have the substance to hire some programming done that will have a decent GUI, and more importantly, some decent integration with a control stick.
As I have gone through this mess over the past several days, I've come to realize that the control issue with Z-Wave is in the dark ages. Under no circumstances should one have to be a computer programming guru to patch together enough software and hardware to get it going. Think Steve Jobs. Did anything from Apple ever work this poorly?
There's a lot of Z-Wave stuff on the market, including excellent products from Leviton, but the control thing seems to completely escape them. Surely they have the substance to hire some programming done that will have a decent GUI, and more importantly, some decent integration with a control stick.
As I have gone through this mess over the past several days, I've come to realize that the control issue with Z-Wave is in the dark ages. Under no circumstances should one have to be a computer programming guru to patch together enough software and hardware to get it going. Think Steve Jobs. Did anything from Apple ever work this poorly?
Dean Roddey
Senior Member
If you really want 'just works' and retrofit friendly, you sort of have to move up to the level of something like Radio RA2. It's very solid, commercial grade stuff and everything basically just works. With the pro-sumer or consumer grade stuff, it can be made to work well, but it's more hit and miss, and sometimes the quality of the solution changes over time without obvious reasons for it.
And the difference also exists on the automation system interface side. The RA2 interface, though not the best of all time, is simple and straightforward and reliable. Supporting Z-Wave is an exercise in frustration and requires extensive effort and understanding of Z-Wave, because it was never designed to be integrated, and Zen-Sys in fact made no effort to do so. It was all done by third parties, by effectively just exposing the raw Z-Wave network to the automation system, making it deal with all of the complexities of Z-Wave. That's never the way it should be done.
And the difference also exists on the automation system interface side. The RA2 interface, though not the best of all time, is simple and straightforward and reliable. Supporting Z-Wave is an exercise in frustration and requires extensive effort and understanding of Z-Wave, because it was never designed to be integrated, and Zen-Sys in fact made no effort to do so. It was all done by third parties, by effectively just exposing the raw Z-Wave network to the automation system, making it deal with all of the complexities of Z-Wave. That's never the way it should be done.
ddennerline
Active Member
To be fair, two VRUSB sticks were defective; that’s not a Z-Wave issue. In addition, there’s a small possibility that since the VRUSB was ordered from same vendor, the batch may have been hit with same manufacturing defect (or the same defective stick was sent back).
If you do get a working VRUSB with supported OS, then hopfully your opinion will change.
I do agree that whoever designed the Z-Wave installation process made some short-sighted design choices. It would have been much better to use a spoke-and-hub (similar to RadioRA and ZigBee) instead mesh network. The 20-30 foot range is too short. Recent Z-Wave versions have added Explorer frames, support for high powered inclusion, network wide inclusion, and 100Kbs increased network speed. Unfortunately, manufactures such as Leviton are not always transparent when they upgrade their hardware. As someone recently showed me, Leviton has updated some of their products to support security/beaming. The newer version uses a green instead of blue box. In addition, the new VRMX1 dimmer, supporting CFL/LEDs and advanced Z-Wave features, is two times the price of its Incandescent version.
If you do get a working VRUSB with supported OS, then hopfully your opinion will change.
I do agree that whoever designed the Z-Wave installation process made some short-sighted design choices. It would have been much better to use a spoke-and-hub (similar to RadioRA and ZigBee) instead mesh network. The 20-30 foot range is too short. Recent Z-Wave versions have added Explorer frames, support for high powered inclusion, network wide inclusion, and 100Kbs increased network speed. Unfortunately, manufactures such as Leviton are not always transparent when they upgrade their hardware. As someone recently showed me, Leviton has updated some of their products to support security/beaming. The newer version uses a green instead of blue box. In addition, the new VRMX1 dimmer, supporting CFL/LEDs and advanced Z-Wave features, is two times the price of its Incandescent version.
drvnbysound
Senior Member
Deane Johnson said:
This...
d.dennerline said:
ASI is also another good source.
Not that there is anything wrong with Amazon, but I don't order any of my automation hardware from there - they provide 0 support. Both AO and ASI would have probably been able to determine it was defective the day you received it. They both have good tech and customer support.
Deane Johnson
Active Member
I'm sort of a slave to Amazon with my Prime membership. I get $3.99 overnight shipping, which usually isn't necessary, but in a project like this where I want to keep things moving, it's very handy.
I thought the stick was probably defective, but wasn't sure. I'm still not sure, that's simply the conclusion of the tech guy on the Leviton end reading off the screen he had in front of him.
I thought the stick was probably defective, but wasn't sure. I'm still not sure, that's simply the conclusion of the tech guy on the Leviton end reading off the screen he had in front of him.
Generally, Z-Wave Sucks.
Too many nodes do not support Z-Wave associations or reverse associations and too many controllers require that they be the primary controller.
The requirement to be within 3 feet and all the garbage about associations and reverse association is just not a workable and scalable solution.
There must be something better.
-jim
Too many nodes do not support Z-Wave associations or reverse associations and too many controllers require that they be the primary controller.
The requirement to be within 3 feet and all the garbage about associations and reverse association is just not a workable and scalable solution.
There must be something better.
-jim
drvnbysound
Senior Member
Jim, let me know when you find another easy to install, retrofit solution for deadbolts and locks.
drvnbysound
Senior Member
-jim said:
I don't know the answer to that; I honestly haven't looked into it that much, because I don't have any issues with setup and configuration right now. I'm not a fix it until it's broke type of person
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