Dizzing array of Z-wave controlers

[royalj7]

Hey everyone.  I've been out of the HA world for a while now, but like keeping up on new products along the way.  I've dabbled with z-wave control using CQC, but really never had success getting a reliable setup.  So I've been looking around for a controller that could be the basis of a new system and the options seem pretty limitless.  Below are just a few of the controller brands that I'm familiar with that do at least z-wave.  Has anyone had any experience with any of these?  Anyone know of a resource that compares some/all of them?
 
1. SmartThings Hub
2. Vera(Lite or Edge)
3. Qolsys IQ
4. Fibaro Home Center 2
5. 2Gig
6. Zipato Zipabox
7. Home Depot Wink
 
I know Vera is pretty popular and has been around for a while.  Other than that, Qolsys and Zipato seem the most interesting.  Qolsys because of some pretty attractive pricing, and Zipato because of its expansion ability.  Anyways, would love to hear people's experiences with these (and any CQC user's approach with z-wave). 
 
Thanks,
--Jamie
 

 

[pete_c]

Welcome to Cocoontech Jamie!
 
Here familiar with Vera Lite, Leviton Z-Wave Vizia serial PIM (well the Vizia remote too), Homeseer Z-Troller, Z-Wave Aeon Stick, Almond + Z-Wave and ZWave dot me GPIO Z-Wave + device. (I am not internet automation or cellular phone automation remote control dependant - but do tinker with the stuff - cloud is cloud - there slow and fast clouds - relatively writing).
 
It's really about getting a warm and fuzzy comfortable feel for the the interface (software).  The transport communications language to the Z-Wave controller is the same; just presented differently using software or firmware.
 
Personally I like the Leviton Z-Wave PIM that works with my Leviton HAI OmniPro II device because I don't see it; rather it just works.  I also like the Leviton Vizia RF remote control device.  Same with the Almond + (but it doesn't have an RF remote control).
 
I have used Homeseer for a long time and just used to the Z-Wave interface (so I am biased).  The Z-Wave plugin configuration works with numerous Z-Wave controllers.  The software interface is very granular (more than I want to see?)
 
I have heard good things about CQC.

 

[potts.mike]

Jamie,

Are your wave devices mixed manufactures? I had trouble with zwave and CQC for years but when I consolidated everything to Leviton it has worked quite well.

 

[royalj7]

Mike,
 
My devices are a hodge-podge of manufactures.  Leviton has always been the gold standard for z-wave due to their two-way notification ability.  However, as I'm sure lots of people know, their devices are typically priced at a premium to others like Evole and Aeotec.  If I was sure switching to an all Leviton setup would mean smooth sailing in CQC, I would probably do it.  But that's not a guarantee in my mind, so I'm pretty hesitant to drop the dough on all new devices.  
 
How many devices does your z-wave network have?  Are you on the most recent version of CQC, or back a couple?  Another complication is I haven't updated my installation in about 2-years, so I'd be tacking on a good bit of troubleshooting and "re-jigging" to get everything else (movies, HVAC, weather, etc) working again.
 
--Jamie

 

[Dean Roddey]

Ultimately I don't think it's really possible to have a high quality Z-Wave setup without all of the modules (that you need to have any status for) providing async status reporting. So the V2 Z-Wave driver only support feedback via async reporting. It doesn't poll for status. Well, it polls for a few things like battery level, which it only has to do on a period of hours which isn't an issue. It makes for a much more robust Z-Wave system, as long as the hardware is solid (and frankly I don't think a lot of it is.) And a benefit is that the V2 driver understands a lot more Z-Wave'isms, i.e. the alternative functionality that many modules provide like power usage and battery level, and supports setting up modules appropriately for CQC's use and stuff like that.

 

[macromark]

Hey everyone.  I've been out of the HA world for a while now, but like keeping up on new products along the way.  I've dabbled with z-wave control using CQC, but really never had success getting a reliable setup.  So I've been looking around for a controller that could be the basis of a new system and the options seem pretty limitless.  Below are just a few of the controller brands that I'm familiar with that do at least z-wave.  Has anyone had any experience with any of these?  Anyone know of a resource that compares some/all of them?
 
1. SmartThings Hub
2. Vera(Lite or Edge)
3. Qolsys IQ
4. Fibaro Home Center 2
5. 2Gig
6. Zipato Zipabox
7. Home Depot Wink
 
I know Vera is pretty popular and has been around for a while.  Other than that, Qolsys and Zipato seem the most interesting.  Qolsys because of some pretty attractive pricing, and Zipato because of its expansion ability.  Anyways, would love to hear people's experiences with these (and any CQC user's approach with z-wave). 
 
Thanks,
--Jamie

Hi Jamie - You might consider adding one of our HomeTrollers to your list.  Here's a list of drivers that work with it: http://www.homeseer.com/homeseer-plug-ins.html  
 
HomeSeer was the very first controller company to support Z-Wave (back in 2003) and our HS3 software is the only Z-Wave Plus certified software currently available.
 
Mark

 

[pete_c]

Yeah here my original Homeseer Zee was the first commercially sold automation software running on a Raspberry Pi. 
 
I personally purchased it to use Linux rather than Wintel for my automation. 
 
I did try the RPi Zee software on Intel / AMD based Ubuntu computers at the time and it ran just fine.
 
Everything automation wise sold commercially or open source for the RPi came after the introduction and sale of the Homeseer Zee.
 
Today my Hometroller Zee S2 Z-Wave Plus RPi2 POE powered device is in the attic cuz I am trying to melt it. 
 
It's been up there ticking fine now for over a month with temperature peaking at around 140 ° F. 
 
Note this is not recommended.
 
Note too that the Zee S2 will work with many different types of Z-Wave controllers new Z-Wave + and Z-Wave (GPIO, Network'd, Serial and USB).  I run Homeseer 3 plugins and some side scripts a la carte.   IE: that temperature thing is just a 1-Wire 9097 read using built in ubuntu stuff.
 
You can manage the device in it's entirety via the Homeseer 3 web GUI and do not really need to know Linux.
 
Current Date/Time:    8/22/2015 3:23:55 PM CDT
HomeSeer Version:    HS3 ZEE S2 Edition 3.0.0.198 (Linux)
HomeSeer: Is Registered
Attic Humidity  - 22%
Attic Temperature - 109.2 ° F
 
It is hardly working right now...
 
Linux ICS-RPi2-Zee 3.18.11-v7+ #781 SMP PREEMPT Tue Apr 21 18:07:59 BST 2015 arm                         v7l
Last login: Tue Aug 18 23:45:31 2015 from xyz
Uptime: 3 days 15 hours 41 minutes (rebooted after an update)
CPU Speed: 900 Mhz - Load Average: 1min 5% 5min 3% 15min 2% - Cores: 4
Free Memory: 778 Mb
Free Disk Space rootfs: 9.1G
SD Card: Written 3197M Read 0G
Network Traffic eth0: Sent 104.1 MiB Received 230.3 MiB
root@ICS-RPi2-Zee:~# ^C