Homeseer Z-NET Z-Wave bridge

HomeSeer introduced a device called Z-NET, which is an IP-based Z-Wave network interface for other Home automation systems. It's basically a bridge to z-wave if an HA system doesn't support it. I know Indigo does, but this works with locks, so it may be an easier alternative for those with z-wave locks than a Vera. Of course a plugin would have to be developed, but since this is specifically designed to be used by "something else" my guess (hope) would be that communication would be somewhat straightforward. From the case, it looks like a Raspberry Pi.

http://cocoontech.com/forums/page/index ... z-net-r802


Terry

[matt (support)]

Good suggestion, thanks for the tip Terry. I'll see if I can find any dev/API docs for it.

Gents - the Z-NET is a simple pass-through device that's designed to work with controllers that already support the Sigma Z-Wave API. It does not include a device management function; that would be handled by the controller connected to it. Z-NET is intended to function as a remote Z-Wave interface.

If you're looking for a bridge that would include device management, our A2Z-Link product would be more appropriate. A2Z-Link works with both ASCII and JSON protocols and it supports everything our full systems support. If anyone is interested in writing and Indigo to A2Z-Link driver, the developer docs may be found here: http://homeseer.com/support/homeseer/HS ... efault.htm

Mark
HomeSeer

[matt (support)]

Hi Mark,

Thanks for the info – the A2Z-Link definitely looks like it would work. Will the commercial price by the same as the current engineer price (US$199.95)?

Hi Matt,

The intended target for this product is OEM distribution; contact me directly offline, if that interests you. I doubt that we'll offer it for direct retail unless there's a big enough demand. Until we get that sorted out for certain, the engineering sample will remain available as a fully functional unit..

... forgot to mention: Next month, these units will include built-in 500 series Z-Wave module (6.5x ZDK) with support for Z-Wave Plus.

Hi -
Can't believe I didn't see this message until now (>1 year later.) I'm really stuck as far as wanting to have a single automation platform (Indigo, running on one machine) but having many outbuildings that are way too far away for even the strongest repeaters. Having the A2Z-Link or the Z-Net Remote able to function as either Z-Wave-over-IP bridges, or as multi-controller endpoints for Indigo would be really, really useful. In fact, I see no way around my current problem other than this solution model.

I'd happily pay $200 (per "zone") for a device that gave me that flexibility. Was there any work on this in the past? I'd even buy one for development (sent to Indigo developers) if that would mean work would be done on it...

JT

[jay (support)]

Using multiple Z-Wave controllers at the same time isn't really on our radar at the moment.

If the Z-NET has a separate API, then it's entirely possible for someone to write a plugin to talk to it (or multiple for that matter). It's not really something we're interested in doing now as demand is quite low (particularly compared to other priorities) but with an API it should be possible for anyone to do it.

I don't know if this factors into this discussion directly (although it seems that it does.)

Sigma has announced that it will open up the Z-Wave spec ("Z-Wave Public Spec") and "In addition to exposing the Z-Wave interoperability layer, Sigma is announcing open APIs for its Z-Wave-over-IP (Z/IP) specification, as well as middleware for accessing Z-Wave’s comprehensive command classes." [Source: CE Pro Magazine}

Seems like a pretty big deal for those of us using Z-Wave.

Sounds very interesting, but there will need to be hardware devices that speak Z-wave-to-IP on one end and convert that to radio, even if Indigo can be made to speak the protocol on the other end of the wire. The HomeSeer A2Z-Link looks like a reasonable middle ground, since it has a JSON and ASCII interface set, and it would "merely" require getting an Indigo PlugIn written to support "virtual" Z-wave devices that would be associated with that remote device.

I've got a few hundred dollars and an A2Z-Link for whoever can write a PlugIn that can functionally create Z-wave devices on an A2Z-Link. The difficulty would be extracting and converting the various hardware-specific settings from all of the built-in supported Z-wave devices in Indigo and then translating them so that they would map onto the A2Z-Link translated layer... at least, that's the first thing I can think of.

PS: do you have a link for that press release?

JT

Here's the link (it might be pay-walled.....I'm a subscriber.)

http://www.cepro.com/article/sigma_designs_opens_up_z_wave_interoperability_with_public_spec_no_licenses?utm_source=CEPWeekly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=content&eid=344673487&bid=1514619

Matt & Jay, if you're not cool with a link to CE Pro, feel free to hit me with the forum eraser.

[jay (support)]

You can get it directly from the horse's mouth: Sigma's page that discusses the public spec.

It's way too early to know how this impacts Indigo other than to say it would have been immensely more helpful for us several months ago. I will say that this doesn't change our plans (or lack thereof) for supporting multiple Z-Wave controllers at the same time.

Dave -
Thanks for the link - it works. Looks very interesting, but possibly will be a distant opportunity.

JT