Any Fibaro or Vera users here? pros / cons of each?
Fibaro or Vera
- Thread starter u587162
- Start date
- Joined
- 27 Apr 2008
- Messages
- 9,562
- Reaction score
- 923
- Country
We have vera at work in our training suite and use it to turn on\off the storage heating.
Not too keen on it, it often hangs.
Can't figure out how to set a schedule or calender events (not sure what vera calls it).
I can however use a web interface or mobile app.
Not too keen on it, it often hangs.
Can't figure out how to set a schedule or calender events (not sure what vera calls it).
I can however use a web interface or mobile app.
Vera all the way. Much cheaper and more importantly it is compatible with pretty much all z wave devices from every manufacturer.
There's also a huge developer community building plugins, some of which, like PLEG, give you far more control than you'll ever get with Fibaro.
Fibaro does have a slicker interface - but that is irrelevant as most of the time you'll be accessing your system via 3rd parts apps or your mobile phone or tablet.
There's also a huge developer community building plugins, some of which, like PLEG, give you far more control than you'll ever get with Fibaro.
Fibaro does have a slicker interface - but that is irrelevant as most of the time you'll be accessing your system via 3rd parts apps or your mobile phone or tablet.
Inside the Vera console, go to the "Apps" menu. Then "Install Apps". Several hundred certified apps there last time I looked.
If there is anything you need your home automation to do there will be an app for it.
I have a Vera Edge and have done for only a month or so. The entry point of the device is low in cost terms but I have to say it seems quite haphazard in operation, flaky sometimes. The browser UI is pretty shoddy. Vera Support is OK at responding but you never know when fixes you really care about will surface. They go into a black hole.
Sensors and switches and things are pretty expensive. I have 2 plug switches, 3 multisensors of one type and 1 of another type that I, or no-one else, can get working properly with Vera... despite both being supposedly certified as Z-Wave... so if you think it's a simple world of plug-and-play, unlikely. This sensor that refuses to work cost me £52 alone, I'm just waiting until someone fixes it.
I have 6 Somfy motor roller blinds hooked-up, most mornings all 3 blinds in my bedroom bay window rise when sunrise comes along... sometimes only 2 of the 3 blinds rise. It's the same Scene (code, logic) being executed every morning, it's the same house with things in the same place... it's just a bit flaky. It can't interrogate those blinds to find out their position, so it just sends an UP command and hopes for the best... if they're up all is good, if they're not, it doesn't know.
I also have it integrating with Nest and Sonos.
Still, it's all good fun...
Sensors and switches and things are pretty expensive. I have 2 plug switches, 3 multisensors of one type and 1 of another type that I, or no-one else, can get working properly with Vera... despite both being supposedly certified as Z-Wave... so if you think it's a simple world of plug-and-play, unlikely. This sensor that refuses to work cost me £52 alone, I'm just waiting until someone fixes it.
I have 6 Somfy motor roller blinds hooked-up, most mornings all 3 blinds in my bedroom bay window rise when sunrise comes along... sometimes only 2 of the 3 blinds rise. It's the same Scene (code, logic) being executed every morning, it's the same house with things in the same place... it's just a bit flaky. It can't interrogate those blinds to find out their position, so it just sends an UP command and hopes for the best... if they're up all is good, if they're not, it doesn't know.
I also have it integrating with Nest and Sonos.
Still, it's all good fun...
Is it still worth considering a Lutron or no point?
I have recently purchased a vera edge and a few bits, I have to say I was a bit disappointed with how slow the interface was, especially the app (one function I wanted was to replace an old remote plug for a lamp which had stopped working). When you load the app it would take upwards of 15 / 30 seconds before you could operate it.
I did find a solution which has so far worked well for me its an ios app called veramate, it responds more or less immediately on load. Why the official app is so rubbish compared to a 3rd part offering is beyond me.
I did find a solution which has so far worked well for me its an ios app called veramate, it responds more or less immediately on load. Why the official app is so rubbish compared to a 3rd part offering is beyond me.