At the time I was looking into this, the Vera Plus was $150 and the Samsung SmartThings Hub was $100. We steer you to products you'll love and show you how to get the most out of them. Unpair and try again? The system is very responsive and has no latency issues. If you can’t remember, it’s probably because it came with a different name. The Best Smart Hub A smart hub is the centerpiece of any smart home. in the ten years I have had Vera, I have not written any code to program them. I've used a Vera awhile back and it was a hub that would talk to devices ALL local, actually worked but too basic, and programmed in LUUA. Featuring the latest Z-Wave Plus chipset - further, faster, more secure Z-Wave control. View on Amazon. I put it all behind me, because now it was time to set up some devices to work with the VeraPlus. There is a Google Nest Hub Max variant that does offer a camera though. You are the titular Vera, a 16-year old who has the power to read people’s minds, but only the thoughts that are rattling around their skulls in that moment. The Vera Plus is the latest addition to the Vera Smart Hubs Series and brings on board several additions from its predecessor the Vera Edge. Prime members enjoy FREE Delivery and exclusive access to music, movies, TV shows, original audio series, and Kindle books. I bought the VeraPlus Controller as an R&D project in home automatino. Vera Edge - North American One Application Control - Vera Edge Home Control Hub Vera Control. On the Vera hub’s surface, indicators show the status of your internet, power, Z-Wave, Wi-Fi, and Service. Honeywellâs Lyric and all Nest thermostats are supported, but First Alert is the only certified smoke/carbon-monoxide detector youâre likely to recognize. This can be particularly helpful for debugging. Meta. Youâll see lots of Samsung smart appliances, but no other brand is represented. Instructions told me to type in serial numbers and MAC addresses printed on the bottom of the device, after which I was able to proceed. Very few smart home hubs can claim they function locally. Reboot? The Ultimate Platform: The DIY Vera Home Automation System Review You may have seen Vera some years back. There's a problem loading this menu right now. landscape and outdoor lighting. If you have a Mac or Linux PC, SSH is built-in and you can open a console and enter: ssh [ip address of vera] Best Google smart home hub: Google Nest Hub Buy now: store.google | $89 Connectivity: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Thread (on Max). Prompts are easy to understand and follow. I don't mind switching to Z-Wave and already had many Z-Wave devices, so I was still able to try Vera with those. Reviewed in the United States on October 30, 2018. My brand new Vera Plus never again connected to my network. For anything more complicated, you'll probably have to resort to scripting. Reviewed in the United States on April 5, 2016. If I was still in my return window, I would return this item and go with SmartThings. I have tried Homeseer, CastleOS, SmartThings, Home Assistant, and OpenHAB so I have some basis for comparison. Your recently viewed items and featured recommendations, Select the department you want to search in. TechHive |. I do everything with scenes and plugins. Most were made for an older UI and are not compatible with the newer UI and are no longer supported by the developer. Vera device ids to exclude - Vera imports detailed Z-Wave devices into Home Assistant. You can create scenes, groups and more, as you would with most hubs. The trouble started on the first screen, as the setup routine was unable to auto-discover my new VeraPlus unit. Vera Plus Smart Home Controller is a good improvement from its predecessor, the Vera Edge. Copyright © 2021 IDG Communications, Inc. Reviewed in the United States on July 10, 2016. Navigating the busy dashboard is simple enough, but key things such as setting up notifications are less intuitive than they should be, and a variety of drill-down menus rapidly take you into bewildering screens full of dense technical parameters that an average user wonât have a clue what to do with. The Vera Edge and the VeraPlus are, what I would label as traditional smart hubs, whereas the Vera Secure is something a little different. At that point, it became a no-brainer for me. $69.95. Christopher Null is a veteran technology and business journalist. (In fairness, perhaps this is the fault of Fibaro, not Vera.) This tour is a short drive outside of Austin Texas. Part of Vera’s mission is to provide easy to use and affordable smart hubs. I thought the hub just had a weak WiFi capability but the problem occurs whether the hub is three feet from my router or in the next room. He contributes regularly to TechHive, PCWorld, and Wired, and operates the websites Drinkhacker and Film Racket. Finally, a $150 price tag renders the VeraPlus 50-percent more expensive than either Wink or Samsung SmartThings, two rock-solid hubs that each cost $99, set up simply, and do what they promise. Note: When you purchase something after clicking links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. Vera Plus is an advanced internet gateway that lets you stay connected to your home Named "Top 6 Smart Home Hub" by Ezlo Innovation The "brain" of your wireless smart home/security system works with most brands & models including Nest, Schlage, Yale, kwikset, first alert & more Google Nest Hub Max. So my Vera hub is the EU version which works on the 868.40 MHz frequency and all my Z-Wave sensors are also of the same frequency. Yeah, not so much. The hub supports all the important smart-home protocolsâ802.11ac Wi-Fi, Z-Wave Plus, ZigBee, Bluetooth LE, and even Insteonâand with a universe of 1700 certified devices, you shouldnât have trouble finding popular brands, right? VeraPlus Advanced Home Controller review: This expensive hub fails to deliver We can’t recommend this smart home hub to users with any level of experience. 4. Please make sure that you are posting in the form of a question. Hubitat is an exception. I didn't have mine long enough to get into this because I figured if I was going to delve into a world with less device compatibility and the need to create my own automations for even simple tasks but sitll wanted local execution (unlike most of SmartThings), I might as well return the unit and try OpenHAB or Home Assistant (for free, plus the cost of the hardware and my time) instead. I upgraded to this from a VeraLite. The VeraPlus is one of those imperfect solutions. Looking for more information about the Vera Smart Hub lineup.Today we are going to look at the VeraEdge, VeraPlus and do an in depth review the VeraSecure. For years I was able to control via PC or my Android phone, but this past December my Android phone died, but the Vera 2 unit kept going. Even then it remained decidedly buggy, with temperature and light sensors working well, but the motion sensor working only erratically. For better control over your home devices, … Keeping with their reputation, VeraPlus is another product of excellent quality that checks all the right boxes. As with many smart home hubs, the VeraPlus connects to your router via an ethernet cable. Connected Dome Valve - minor problem but just had to keep hitting button quickly to get it to recognize in Vera. waking up, going to sleep, dinner parties, etc.).. That is, the Firmware is SO OLD in the devices out there that it should not be updated when prompted to do so. Thereâs a Z-Wave doorbellâand dozens of sensorsâfrom Aeotec, but the Ring Video Doorbell isnât listed. $99.95. However, you can use voice commands, touch … Vera control is one of the most popular and renowned companies in this industry. One of the problems was that the apps for Vera 2 on IOS did not function correctly as they did on Android. Review summary for Vera Control VeraPlus US Smart Home Controller Hub Black, based on 329 user reviews: OVERALL - 5.2/10. Ezlo Atom Ezlo. Again, setup was tedious and a little arcane (this is the first time I can recall having to type out âCaliforniaâ in a setup field), with multiple validation emails/text messages and the ever-popular firmware updateâin this case, two of them. Unfortunately, I found the user interface quite odd, a little buggy, and a bit dated (even though it's a fairly new redesign), though a third-party alternative interface (AltUI) was a bit better. Grouped commands are useful, allowing you to automate a series of actions from one statement. I come to find out that I can't even find most of the products that are supposedly supported or they have been discontinued and are still listed on the Vera compatibility site. This page works best with JavaScript. 523. Added water sensor (Fibaro FGFS-101), no problem. Could it be a plugin to vera instead of running on a separate server? Its connection to the servers at Vera is offline almost as often as it's online. Mobile Apps and other ways of controlling Vera Remotely. This smart hub by GE is Alexa compatible though it needs to be purchased separately. Some of my older devices occasionally need re paired but overall this system is awesomely reliable. If you're the type of person who has to call someone to fix a computer or someone who doesn't know how to troubleshoot systematically, then this product isn't for you. There is also no integration for WiFi smart products like plugs and outlets that are extremely popular and cheap. Unlike SmartThings, there don't appear to be any pre-built automations for common tasks (like turning a light on with motion and then off after it stops), but there is a simple automation builder where you can do that yourself. The manufacturer commented on this review, Reviewed in the United States on October 13, 2018. After viewing product detail pages, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in. Vera has a HUGH problem with the Vera Plus and possibly other models. Imperfect, but better than most. I felt that I should upgrade so I can use the home automation with the slightly used phone I was given. It remains off line and âbrickedâ as I type this review. I performed the initial setup over the web, but used both approaches to set up sensors and smart devices. Top subscription boxes â right to your door. So they work together very well. If you need some help I'd be happy to troubleshoot with you. First was a three-in-one sensor from Fibaro. And you can create one-touch settings for up to 50 events (e.g. I chose the Plus because it has ZigBee support, and having used SmartThings, I have a lot of ZigBee sensors (like the Iris v2 motion sensor and many ST-branded CentraLite sensors) I was hoping to switch over. Upgrade Vera Legacy Controllers from UI5 to UI7 Firmware UI7 - Vera Software Update - VeraProtect - Version 7.0.30 (1.7.4832/1.7.4833/1.7.4834) - November 20th, 2019 Quick Guide to Ezlo Atom Vera switch device - By default your switches will be added to Home Assistant as switches, however, if some of them are light switches, you can tell Home Assistant this by providing a list of light ids. If you want a paid monitoring service, purchase the Vera Secure model. Vera runs Linux and you can watch the logs if you want to see what's going with Vera. I've also had issues with almost every third party app I've installed. Disabling it will result in some disabled or missing features. Discussions about Plugin creation and management. Vera Control VeraPlus-US Smart Home Controller Hub, Black Vera Control. Also I have never paid any money for monitoring services. If you don't understand what it means to "exclude" and "include again" a Z-Wave node, the VeraPlus isn't the right smart-home hub for you (and it might not be even if you do). The hub has a lot of trouble staying online. Strike one. You donât need to be an expert to set up any of the DIY smart home controllers that are enjoying the most success in the marketplace: Samsung SmartThings, Wink, and to a lesser degree, Iris by Loweâs. Regardless of what youâre doing with it, Veraâboth the app and the web management toolâis agonizingly slow, and its frequent error messages are so obtuse as to be wholly unhelpful. Once youâve done that, youâre walked through a setup routineâeither via a web interface or a downloadable app. Discussion about Scene Scripting, Plugin Development, the Luup engine and Development in general. Then, the SmartThings hub went on sale for $50 leading up to the holidays. What does it mean, for example, to âexcludeâ a problematic product from the network? While I can get the controller to work with the Internet unplugged - at that point the browser UI quits. Unfortunately, most of these did not work, as Vera's ZigBee support is still in its infancy as of the time of my writing. I was given a hand me down IPhone to which I had an adjustment period to deal with. Reply tbeckwith79 08 December 2017 17:07 It's been rock solid since. Uninstall it? I control the HW heater, swimming pool, locks, thermostats, sensors, alarms, indoor lighting. I was not completely sure about making this purchase considering a couple of the reviews. … Vera Control VeraPlus-US Smart Home Controller Z-Wave Wireless... Vera Control VeraPlus-US Smart Home Controller Z-Wave Wireless Security, 7.71" x 5.0" x 1.33", Black. The hubs provided by Vera have to be some of the most advanced consumer-friendly hubs available in the market. Plugins & Plugin Development. I can not really rate this device as purchased, because Vera Bricked it less than two hours after it arrived at my home. It’s built-in Wi-Fi and Geofencing capabilities make it an ideal choice for those who want their smart hub to seamlessly transition between preprogrammed … Read our full Google Nest Hub review I added this to my home network (directly to router) and went to their website per instructions. The use of MiOS servers for self monitoring is included in the price. Our Pick: Samsung SmartThings Hub 3rd Generation. It works with more than 270,000 devices including your TV, satellite or cable box, Blu-ray player, Apple TV, Roku, Sonos, … I also am really frustrated because, even though the hub touts its ZigBee support, it is not compatible with the vast majority of nice, cheap ZigBee products on the market. I have a Mac mini home server, vera 3 with UI5, iphone 5, and extensive zwave network (lights in all rooms, fans, locks, thermostat, appliance modules, multi sensor) If all you need is something to turn the lights on and off, this is a great … Add Smarter Security Services: 24/7 Monitoring, Panic Buttons. All in all a few hours to set everything up but never ran into any serious problems. Reviewed in the United States on February 24, 2017. To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we donât use a simple average. Strikes a decent balance between complexity and capability. At one point, there is an animated icon telling me my firmware is being updated (found out later even THAT is mis-leading). Added scenes to tell valve to close when water detected, no problem, email notification - no problem. Topics include History of the Orchard, State of Texas Olive Industry, Farming Methods, Harvesting Practices. One out of three ainât bad, eh? I went out and bought a Wink hub 2, which set up great but did not have the functionality of the Vera 2, but I lived with the quirks until I noticed the nodes started to fall off the network. 13. Along with the name change, Vera Home Automation System has been redefined to give you a platform for endless … Google is fast catching up to Amazon's Alexa as a bona fide voice assistant-based, smart home hub, but it still lacks a few key features - most notably the ability to have smart home Routines trigger automatically.. I had fewer but still significant issues getting an Aeotec Smart Switch to pair â until I Googled how to perform a factory reset of the switch, which hesitantly got things working again. The majority of VeraEdge owners indicate that they are very happy with its design. Processor 880MHz Dual-core MIPS SoC Flash Memory NAND 128 MB Flash memory RAM Memory DDR3 512 MB RAM memory Unlike SmartThings, Vera also doesn't seem to have a way to add custom support for new devices ("drivers" or "device-type handlers," as ST calls them). These products might have fewer certified products in their ecosystems, limiting how elaborate your smart home can ultimately be, but only the most passionateâand patientâsmart-home enthusiasts should venture into the Vera Plus Home Controllerâs arcane ways.Â. This is not the case. I eventually settled on Home Assistant, and I have to say it's much harder to set up than Vera, but it's just as flexible, if not more, and actually worked out-of-"box" with more of my devices than Vera. $99.95. Vera isn't as user friendly as the other products are. Next generation of Smart Home Hub Controller Our smallest, most affordable controller is the perfect way to get started with Vera and discover how home control … There isn’t a single […] Yes, I had problems with transferring my battery powered devices and ended up having to simply remove and reconnect each of them. Here is how the VeraPlus stacks up: The manufacturer commented on the review below, Reviewed in the United States on November 3, 2018. It's all interwoven into one area with this device. Integrating into ELK Security system with back and forth communication - no problem. Pros: Not reliant on the "cloud" - Everything runs on the hub, no reliance on cloud services. 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