MiCasaVerde Vera Plugin

[matt (support)]

Note the public beta of Indigo 6 now supports the Z-Stick 2 and some Z-Wave devices (with additional device support in the works). It doesn't natively support communicating with the Vera, but if you have Z-Wave modules and a Z-Stick you might want to give it a try.

I currently have zwave implemented via two (because of range needed) Veras. My quick search tonight did not yield an answer as to how the network can be extended with the zstick. Do you know if it is possible to extend the range with two zsticks or any other means?

If not, can I continue to run the Veras and just add a separate zwave network with the zstick?

Great job with the new version!!!

Terry

[jay (support)]

Z-Wave is a routed network so you shouldn't need two primary controllers - device nodes should route messages to devices that can't be reached directly from the primary controller. As long as the devices are routing slaves that is. Most newer devices are. I believe all the ones that Norm carries are routing slaves.

Bottom line - you shouldn't have needed two Veras as long as you had devices that could be reached via other devices. You don't need two Z-Sticks for the same reason.

Indigo doesn't support multiple primary controllers for multiple networks for this reason

You can, of course, continue to run the Veras along side the Z-Stick's network, though I don't know what side effects there may be (if any) running like that.

I agree that's the theory but I first started with one Vera and a bunch of the plugin modules (ge I think). It could be my location but with all things wireless I have found reality and theory to be somewhat different. Then I got into locks and I read that they needed to be close to the host?

I will give the zstick a try as the Vera with the plugin have been flakey as to status reporting. My main need for the Vera is the lock. I hope locks are high on the list.

Me too re locks terrydew. Hopefully we have same. I have 3 Yale.

[jay (support)]

Locks are very difficult to implement - they are high on the list but because of the difficulty may not happen as quickly as we'd like.

If you have routing slaves that support "beaming" (the security protocol) then they don't have to be close to your primary controller. It's all about picking the right features in the devices you want to use.

[matt (support)]

As Jay mentioned beaming is a bit special. The locks are battery operated, but unlike motion sensors/door-window sensors, they have to wake very frequently to listen for incoming beam commands. So you need a routing module that supports beaming to be very close to the lock itself, which will then act as a relay between the lock and the rest of the Z-Wave network.

How do you know which modules support beaming? I researched the appliance module Norm has for sale. It says it is a repeater but does not mention beaming. Can you refer me to an item that you know has beaming?

Will I still be able to run indigo 5 if I upgrade to 6? I have some mission critical plugins that if they didn't work I would have to go back to 5.

[jay (support)]

While we haven't actually tested yet, all the devices that Norm currently sells claim to support beaming and are routing slaves. One of the things that the device will tell us when queried is whether it supports beaming and routing. In the manufacturer's documentation it's sometimes claimed as "Security Compatible" rather than "beaming" (that's the case for the Evolve devices).

You can run Indigo 5 after installing Indigo 6 - it doesn't touch the Indigo 5 install so you can just shut down the Indigo 6 server then start Indigo 5 back up if necessary.

Delighted to see z-wave support in v6. Big fan of indigo, been using since v2 but just bummed as i bought a Vera 3 two weeks ago because I got sick of all the Insteon Europe announcements and missed dates, over 4 years worth. So I'm ordering my z stick tonight

Great work guys, keep it up

Guys just wondering if there is, or will be a list of supported hardware for Indigo. With the venture into Z-Wave and obviously with Insteon and X10, given that not all devices would be supported straight away, is this something that exists or any plans for ?

[matt (support)]

We'll definitely get more compatibility details published when we get a bit further into it. See the main beta announcement for the details of what currently is working (2nd set of bullet lists). It doesn't list specific models, but rather the categories of devices that currently work. We'll gather more data on specifics as we hear from folks testing it.

One of the things that the device will tell us when queried is whether it supports beaming and routing. In the manufacturer's documentation it's sometimes claimed as "Security Compatible" rather than "beaming" (that's the case for the Evolve devices).

I have been researching some GE plugin modules as to if they support beaming or not. Can't find an answer. You mentioned above that when a unit is queried it says if it supports beaming. Where does that answer show up in indigo?

Never mind. I found it in the write to log feature in device dialog. Amazing how reading directions helps. The ge I have added so far does support beaming,

I can say for sure now that the responsiveness under the beta 6 implementation is light years ahead of the vera plugin implementation. With vera you had to wait up to three or four seconds for a control to get through then many times the status wouldn't change. With beta 6 the response is instant so far. Will delete the remainder of vera units today (except) locks) and see how the long range response works. This is great. Thanks guys.

Now have 10 devices (all plugin type ge and evolve) over 4 floors and all units are almost instant response. Much much better than the vera system. Only thing left on vera is locks.

[matt (support)]

Great -- I'm glad you have it mostly up and working.

I'm not 100% confident yet that when Indigo reports a module supports 'beaming' that it truly does. I think so, but I'll know more when I get into working on Indigo's support for beaming.