Alternative to Leviton Zwave controller VRCOP and Stick VRUSB
- Thread starter liberty
- Start date
Dunno what to suggest then. But at the end of the day the VRC0P is just a secondary controller. I would think you can go buy a Wink Hub to use as your primary and add the VRC0P as the secondary (i have both, so i might need to try this).
My experiences with Z-Wave were ... less than stellar. In fact, it was so bad that I still have like $1K worth of stuff sitting in a box in my basement. The VRUSB and RFIT has to be one of the worst products ever released for 'professional' use.
edit: i haven't tried this yet, but the Wink actually has a full set of z-wave controls including 'Shift Controller'. I think you would be more than fine picking up any random Z-Wave Master Controller, replicating your devices over to the VRC0P, and then letting the Elk handle what it needs straight from the VRC0P.
My experiences with Z-Wave were ... less than stellar. In fact, it was so bad that I still have like $1K worth of stuff sitting in a box in my basement. The VRUSB and RFIT has to be one of the worst products ever released for 'professional' use.
edit: i haven't tried this yet, but the Wink actually has a full set of z-wave controls including 'Shift Controller'. I think you would be more than fine picking up any random Z-Wave Master Controller, replicating your devices over to the VRC0P, and then letting the Elk handle what it needs straight from the VRC0P.
Dogman
Active Member
I have been slowly converting all my VIZIA RF+ to Lutron Radio Ra 2. It does take a bit more to do this ie some training classes required in order to get the Lutron Essentials software but they work flawlessly and integrate much easier with CQC and ELK in my opinion. Also like you I had over 30 nodes and the VRCOP+3 would get overwhelmed due to network traffic and status updates to the ELK were not always accurate. Now my hybrid system of Vizia RF and Radio Ra is much more reliable but can't wait to get all the VIZIA RF+ out and Radio RA 2 in except for my Zwave lock which I will keep. Pricy change though hence my slow transition. Another bonus is the Radio Ra devices feel better when manually operated in my opinion.
d.dennerline said:
Why do you say it does not support locks? I think you just need to update the installer software on the stick. I had this problem initially, but found that some people had used it for locks. After further reading, found that there was an update to the programmer stick software for some lock support. I've since used it to add a Kwikset ZWave lock to my Lumina system.
obviously things may have changed, but this is the only reference i can find regarding the VRCPG and locks:
http://communities.leviton.com/thread/1959
are you talking about the VRUSB USB Stick?
http://communities.leviton.com/thread/1959
are you talking about the VRUSB USB Stick?
jkmonroe said:
Yes, the VRUSB (I said software on the stick, but actually, it is installed on the PC.) There was an update to the software in 2013, so maybe their plans changed from that comment.
This is the later software announcement: http://communities.leviton.com/thread/3687, while the announcement is for 1.1.1.0 version, it seems they are really up to a newer version.
cobra said:
yeah, im pretty sure im on .3 (maybe .2). i could never get the VRUSB/RFIT combo to work right either.
on a good note, i did just get SmartThings successfully working as a primary controller replicating to the VRC0P as secondary controller, complete with support for associations. this is going to be the route i go for my own setup.
im considering organizing a VRUSB Demo party, where we all go on Google Hangouts and take turns destroying that POS. :rockon:
Interesting...jkmonroe said:
I share you revulsion wrt the Leviton VRUSB+RFIT thing. I am pretty much convinced zwave as a whole is broken in all possible respects and that I made a mistake 5 years ago by going with that protocol.
While I am trying to convince myself to convert to RadioRa2 completely, I do have some devices like locks that are not supported by RadioRa2 (plus RadioRa2 is not perfect from a non-technical point of view either due to Lutron market ideas). So, I am very much interested in alternative zwave controllers such as SmartThing. Please share your experience, both positive as well as negative. Was it hard, for example, to clone your zwave network from the ST controller to VRC0P or was it pretty much straightforward? Also, as I recall, ST used to rely on cloud-based approach that I do not consider sensible. Did they change that ? Is it possible not to use their "cloud" now and rather control the controller remotely via VPN ?
Thanks.
well, SmartThings as a zwave controller would be wholly local and not cloud reliant if all you do is replicate it (use it as a primary controller).
hard? no. complicated? yes.
all of my zwave devices are currently fully represented (reporting status and controllable) from both SmartThings and CQC via the VRC0P.
hard? no. complicated? yes.
all of my zwave devices are currently fully represented (reporting status and controllable) from both SmartThings and CQC via the VRC0P.
jkmonroe said:
It's certainly got it's lumps... Although I just repaired my lock delays with it. No status was coming back when the lock was open or closed and I thought it was setup correctly. But when I viewed the reverse associations in RFIT (that's the PC software?) I was able to see the reverse association was pointing to a non-existing device. I removed and added the correct association back to the VRCOP and status started working in the automation controller...
Of course the only reason it was broken was because I had torn the ZWave network down and rebuilt it last time I had problems. But it seems stable since I've put the VRCOP on a UPS. That seems to be the real problem. A couple discussions I read suggest it is susceptible to surge and brownout corruption. On the UPS, it seems not to have lost it's mind in a long time now.
yeah, RFIT is the RF Installation/Installer Tool.
ive never really had any issues with the VRC0P, but it's always been hanging off a conditioner, so maybe that's why. all i know is i now have a reliable way to get zwave devices into my setup via the VRC0P, which is exciting.
ive never really had any issues with the VRC0P, but it's always been hanging off a conditioner, so maybe that's why. all i know is i now have a reliable way to get zwave devices into my setup via the VRC0P, which is exciting.
ddennerline
Active Member
The latest RFIT supported version is 1.1.2.0. For 2-3 months, they had 1.1.3.0, but they pulled that version. I still use that version.
Do you have any Leviton Scene/Zone (4 and 2 button) controllers? Ideally, if a company would be a VRUSB/RFIT primary controller replacement that configure network 100% same as a Leviton, I would be buyer. I only need device to setup/heal/troubleshoot network.
Do you have any Leviton Scene/Zone (4 and 2 button) controllers? Ideally, if a company would be a VRUSB/RFIT primary controller replacement that configure network 100% same as a Leviton, I would be buyer. I only need device to setup/heal/troubleshoot network.
