Re: Wil I be able to use a Z-Wave controller

[nobody@xxxxxxxxxxxx (Dave Houston)]

"Dan Wright" <nospam@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

>Some thoughts:
>- Every network must have a master controller.  Its a hand held in many
>cases, though there are several serial ones out there that can be master
>- Once setup, the lights will work with the master powered down, but without
>some sort of command device (handheld, computer, etc) how are you going to
>initiate actions?

Does this imply that you need to either carry a remote around or that you
need a remote in each room?

How much do remotes cost?

>- The routing algorithm in the master "knows" all devices and provides some
>level of routing optimization.  How "smart" the routing actually is seems to
>vary, and most vendors are a little cagy on it.  This also means that unlike
>X-10 you can not add and remove without updating all the controllers in the
>network.  You also must have devices join the network in their intended
>physical location.

How difficult is it to update all the controllers after changes?

What happens when a device "removes" itself through failure?

How long does it take for the master to find a new route from A->B->C->D if
one of the nodes in the routing is not responding? The marketing hype
implies this occurs seamlessly, on-the-fly.

Can a user fiddle with the master routing table to manually improve (or not)
on its optimization?

>- I've done both better and worse than 25ft between modules.  However, I am
>yet to see a home where I could not get things to work properly.

So my suggested "20-25ft for reliability" is reasonable?

How many nodes is typical in your installations? Do you have a rule of thumb
for the number of nodes needed for small, medium & large residences? What's
the typical cost for various sized residences?

>At this point I am only installing ViziaRF. Levition has worked out the
>kinks within their own product line quite well and will fix things when
>issues are found without fingerpointing.  HAI has teamed with them as have
>other HA vendors like Somfy to insure working solutions that do not require
>a lot of X-10 style hacking.

What other brands, if any, have you tried?

Do you know why the Z-Wave thermostats have been discontinued?