Serving a "remote" building

I use USBAnywhere devices at work which do the same as VirtualHere.
Probably got 5 or 6 in total though only 2 are currently in use due to change of systems.


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[jay (support)]

The RESTful API would work too, but I am not sure if that is supported in the basic license.

In any event, there is only 1 license level as of Indigo 7 (no more Lite) and we only sell Indigo 7 licenses.

In any event, there is only 1 license level as of Indigo 7 (no more Lite) and we only sell Indigo 7 licenses.

I hadn't realised that.

FYI, the title of the Indigo Store page (http://store.indigodomo.com/indigo.html?mode=list) is still "Indigo Pro & Indigo Lite".

Peter


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[jay (support)]

I'll let Norm know...

I ended up buying the VeraEdge. Short summary, it does exactly what I wanted. Virtually no lag in either direction. Problem solved.

However, after dealing with Vera, I cannot imagine how anyone could ever switch FROM Indigo to Vera. Well, maybe for complete noobs who want a totally point-and-click interface, but seriously... I should also note their tech support is useless and their product seems to have been designed by engineers who have no idea how people will ever use their product.

Conclusion: as a Indigo Z-Wave bridge to a remote location, it works, and it works well. For anything else you'd seriously need to have your head examined if you even thought of using it.

After setting up the VeraEdge in my remote building I found I had installed one more Fibaro plug than I needed. As an experiment I placed the plug in the main structure, our home, and tried to control it from the Vera in the remote building. It worked! Yet, my Z-Stick was unable to even see devices in the remote building, even through a range -extender and other powered modules. I assume a large part of this is the ability to locate the Vera in an optimal location -- it can go anywhere there is Ethernet. While the Z-Stick has to be tethered to the Mac with USB. However, I don't think that is all. I suspect the transmitter/antenna combination in the Vera is stronger than the Z-Stick.

Has anyone tried using the Z-Stick on something like a Pi with software like [url=https://www.virtualhere.com VirtualHere[/url]? That would give the ability to optimize the Z-Stick's location regardless on the Indigo server's location.

For anything else you'd seriously need to have your head examined if you even thought of using it.

LOL, I couldn't agree more!!!

Has anyone tried using the Z-Stick on something like a Pi with software like [url=https://www.virtualhere.com VirtualHere[/url]? That would give the ability to optimize the Z-Stick's location regardless on the Indigo server's location.

I put my Z-Stick temporarily on a Silex USB-WIFI bridge in order to do secure syncs on a couple of my Kwikset 910s after I got several failures trying to get it done through the Z-wave relay that operates them fine once they are synced. And I also used the same Silex to test and isolate some signal noise problems by putting a powermodem in a galaxy (a barn actually) far far away from the mac over a 900 Mhz wireless link. But Matt and Jay both said that while that may have worked in the short term, they had grave doubts about it's long term stability.

I have exactly the same issue - ZWave sort of works randomly back to the main house, but it's unreliable enough that my Indigo logs are full of errors.

Based on the follow-up report, I'd go headlong down the Verabridge solution, but there's a wrinkle which stops me - one of my sockets (TKB TZ88E) also monitors power consumption, which I use to tell when if my automower is charging (and if it isn't when it should be, which means it got stuck somewhere).

The VeraBridge plugin readme says "[it supports] on/off devices (relay), dimmers, and thermostats. You will also be able to control locks and execute Vera scenes from Indigo. All other device types will need to be moved to direct Indigo control."

So while the socket IS a relay device, and so I'd expect to be able to control it, it's not clear whether I'll be able to see the power consumption.

Anyone able to enlighten me?

[jay (support)]

The code in the plugin that populates usage data is commented out. I can't remember exactly why, but I believe it's because the library used as the basis for the plugin didn't handle it correctly (but I could be misremembering).

The source is available in case someone wants to try it out - uncomment lines 126-128, 140-142, and 317-320 in the plugin.py file. I think you'd need to recreate any devices to have the changes picked up.

It might work, but it also might not.

The code in the plugin that populates usage data is commented out. I can't remember exactly why, but I believe it's because the library used as the basis for the plugin didn't handle it correctly (but I could be misremembering).

The source is available in case someone wants to try it out - uncomment lines 126-128, 140-142, and 317-320 in the plugin.py file. I think you'd need to recreate any devices to have the changes picked up.

It might work, but it also might not.

Well, I guess it could work. I uncommented the lines you noted and do not see the usage data. But, with debugging turned on, I see that the plugin is getting the data. So, the question is why it doesn't display. BTW, the plugin also does not update on changes in brightness either. I'll look into it later this week. Thanks for the pointer.

And a question. When I first looked at my installed plugin I found plugin.so and veralib.si i instead of the expected plugin.py and veralib.py (and *.pyc). After downloading, patching and reinstalling, it looks as expected. Any idea what was going on?

Ya know the thing that would REALLY be great would be if somebody would be able to figure out how to build a WIFI to Z-wave (or Insteon would be cool too)repeater... with a pair (or greater number) of those, you could cover a whole lot of area in large houses, outbuildings, playgrounds...

I have continued the discussion of the Vera Bridge plugin and usage data in theVera Bridge topic under Open Source Plugins.

[jay (support)]

Well, I guess it could work. I uncommented the lines you noted and do not see the usage data.

Did you recreate the device as I mentioned above? I think the only time it sets the appropriate properties is when it creates the device (though, again, I could be wrong - I haven't done any real work on that plugin for years other than move it to github).

And a question. When I first looked at my installed plugin I found plugin.so and veralib.si i instead of the expected plugin.py and veralib.py (and *.pyc). After downloading, patching and reinstalling, it looks as expected. Any idea what was going on?

That would have been an older version of the plugin that shipped with Indigo. We just moved that plugin over from your Indigo 6 install when you upgraded to Indigo 7. You haven't gotten a new version from github so you still had the old one.

If you make changes, fork it on github, then issue a pull request and I'll accept and create a new release for it (don't forget to bump the version number).

...Did you recreate the device as I mentioned above? I think the only time it sets the appropriate properties is when it creates the device (though, again, I could be wrong -....

But of course.