Alright, to start this off here’s my list of hardware/software:
CQC
HAC07A Master Remote
Intermatic HA06C Switches
Intermatic HA22 USB Interface
TZ16 Z-Wave Thermostat
First off, the TZ16 apparently can’t be controlled by the Master Controller. I can add the Thermostat to the network fine, but it won’t let me assign it to a channel. Essentially I’ve spent $250 to replace a $15 thermostat that does the exact same thing with no added benefit. Since I can’t get my Master Controller to copy to CQC (more later), I’d be content to control the Thermostat with the HAC07A’s built in timer functions but I can’t even do something as simple as that.
Secondly, despite CQC supporting an older release of Z-Wave’s SDK, newer Z-Wave hardware does not seem compatible with that SDK. In this case, I can not copy the network from the HAC07A via the HA22. CQC can see the HA22 and recognizes it as a Z-Wave interface but it just isn’t able to understand this Master Controller. I’ve reset the MC, I’ve tried copying from different distances, nothing. I also tried an older ACT serial PC interface and I had the same problem.
Now I could understand this if I was running very old hardware or software. It isn’t reasonable to expect backwards compatibility with things that are years out of date but let’s be reasonable here. Z-Wave is hardly old enough to be having issues like this. This stuff has been around for what, 1-2 years at the most? Am I really expected to pay out the nose every time I buy a new device to update all my devices so that they can talk to each other? I understand the dangers of being an early adopter but this is just poor planning through and through.
In addition to the hardware not supporting each other, the barriers in updating software are absurd. $4,500 was the last price I heard for the full blown Z-Wave SDK. Does Zensys really expect to make money on the SDK? Wouldn’t it be smarter to sell the SDK for under $1000 to expand the amount of software that supports Z-Wave and opening it up to a larger user base? Razor companies use the exact same strategy to get people to buy new razors in that they give away the handle for free and make their money on selling replacement heads. This isn’t rocket science, I imagine most people find a software package (CQC, Homeseer, etc.) that does what they want to do and as they expand into other areas of interest they purchase the hardware that is supported by their software package. The amount of money I’ve spent on CQC dictates that my hardware purchases hinge on what CQC supports, not vice-versa. I’m not dumping CQC to find something else that supports Z-Wave when CQC does everything I need it to with the exception of supporting Z-Wave. Give the software away for dirt cheap and the hardware will follow. No software support for Z-Wave means no hardware purchases from people in the same boat I’m in.
Ultimately, I’m just peeved off that I have all these things that I want to do and should be able to do but can’t because Z-Wave can’t talk to itself. I have a thermostat I can’t control, and software that is prohibitively expensive to upgrade.
At the rate I’m going I thinking about dumping Z-Wave altogether and going with UPB despite the price difference. After all, wouldn’t it be better to spend more on hardware that actually works than spend less on hardware that may possibly, if I’m really, really luck, work in the future? I’m just really angry at how difficult this seems to be when coming from something like X-10 that was pretty straight forward. Z-Wave was supposed to be an easier, more reliable alternative. In my case, it has been neither.
So now that I’ve got that off my chest (although I don’t feel any better), let’s hear some Z-Wave success stories. Or horror stories for that matter.
CQC
HAC07A Master Remote
Intermatic HA06C Switches
Intermatic HA22 USB Interface
TZ16 Z-Wave Thermostat
First off, the TZ16 apparently can’t be controlled by the Master Controller. I can add the Thermostat to the network fine, but it won’t let me assign it to a channel. Essentially I’ve spent $250 to replace a $15 thermostat that does the exact same thing with no added benefit. Since I can’t get my Master Controller to copy to CQC (more later), I’d be content to control the Thermostat with the HAC07A’s built in timer functions but I can’t even do something as simple as that.
Secondly, despite CQC supporting an older release of Z-Wave’s SDK, newer Z-Wave hardware does not seem compatible with that SDK. In this case, I can not copy the network from the HAC07A via the HA22. CQC can see the HA22 and recognizes it as a Z-Wave interface but it just isn’t able to understand this Master Controller. I’ve reset the MC, I’ve tried copying from different distances, nothing. I also tried an older ACT serial PC interface and I had the same problem.
Now I could understand this if I was running very old hardware or software. It isn’t reasonable to expect backwards compatibility with things that are years out of date but let’s be reasonable here. Z-Wave is hardly old enough to be having issues like this. This stuff has been around for what, 1-2 years at the most? Am I really expected to pay out the nose every time I buy a new device to update all my devices so that they can talk to each other? I understand the dangers of being an early adopter but this is just poor planning through and through.
In addition to the hardware not supporting each other, the barriers in updating software are absurd. $4,500 was the last price I heard for the full blown Z-Wave SDK. Does Zensys really expect to make money on the SDK? Wouldn’t it be smarter to sell the SDK for under $1000 to expand the amount of software that supports Z-Wave and opening it up to a larger user base? Razor companies use the exact same strategy to get people to buy new razors in that they give away the handle for free and make their money on selling replacement heads. This isn’t rocket science, I imagine most people find a software package (CQC, Homeseer, etc.) that does what they want to do and as they expand into other areas of interest they purchase the hardware that is supported by their software package. The amount of money I’ve spent on CQC dictates that my hardware purchases hinge on what CQC supports, not vice-versa. I’m not dumping CQC to find something else that supports Z-Wave when CQC does everything I need it to with the exception of supporting Z-Wave. Give the software away for dirt cheap and the hardware will follow. No software support for Z-Wave means no hardware purchases from people in the same boat I’m in.
Ultimately, I’m just peeved off that I have all these things that I want to do and should be able to do but can’t because Z-Wave can’t talk to itself. I have a thermostat I can’t control, and software that is prohibitively expensive to upgrade.
At the rate I’m going I thinking about dumping Z-Wave altogether and going with UPB despite the price difference. After all, wouldn’t it be better to spend more on hardware that actually works than spend less on hardware that may possibly, if I’m really, really luck, work in the future? I’m just really angry at how difficult this seems to be when coming from something like X-10 that was pretty straight forward. Z-Wave was supposed to be an easier, more reliable alternative. In my case, it has been neither.
So now that I’ve got that off my chest (although I don’t feel any better), let’s hear some Z-Wave success stories. Or horror stories for that matter.