HomeGenie Forum
General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: kevin1 on October 03, 2014, 09:15:47 PM
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Trying to decide which way to go with Home Automation. I've been trying HG with old X10 gear and Win7 laptop (which now has failing hard drive). I don't want to invest any more in X10 since I am finding it unreliable and rather limited in my house (only works in 1/2 of one room). So, I need to get some Z-wave gear no matter what.
Do I stick with HG, then I need to get $40 z-stick and probably RPi since I don't think running it from laptop is going to be a good long term solution. RPi, z-stick and accessories are probably going to be close to $100.
I have an Arduino with Ethernet that I want to eventually connect a bunch of sensors to in my basement utility room. I think HG may have the advantage here based on some experimenting it should be pretty easy to have the Arduino communicate with Web API. SmartThings has a shield though, not sure how this communicates, zigbee?
Or go for SmartThings ($100) / VeraLite ($140). Neither supports X10 out of the box, but I don't think I am missing much there.
SmartThings just got bought by Samsung which could be an issue as far as being open platform. It supports z-wave, zigbee out of the box though.
VeraLite seems to have a great following already but doesn't support zigbee.
Other options ruled out: GE/Quirky Wink (limited features), Lowes Iris (monthly fee), Revolv (expensive), HomeSeer (expensive)
Any advice from people experienced with these different options?
Thanks!!!!
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Sounds like you weren't able to figure out the cause of your X10 issues? I had lots of problems initially, too. But, after figuring out the cause and fixing them, I'm at very close to 100% reliability with HG running on Raspi connected to CM15A. If you want to improve your performance with your current setup, I can find the guides and post a link. The tool that you'd want to use to locate X10 issues is actually available for free from the developer. He just asks for shipping and a deposit until you return it. I have one and it found all my issues. With the addition of a XTB-IIR (coupler/repeater/signal amplifier) and a few ebay purchased filters, I haven't had a complaint from my wife in months!
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I've decided not to invest any money in X10. Now just trying to decide whether to get a z-stick and stick with PC or go with a SmartThings hub. Just saw they have $15 GE Link ZigBee LED bulbs at local store now... that is a geat price point and may sway me to SmartThings.
HG did okay while I was on a recent trip, had my lights toggling and was able to look in with Android phone ip webcam and verify the lights were on schedule. Unfortunately later in the week I wasn't getting any response from HG web server though. When I got home HG wasn't running on the PC. It could have rebooted and then HG doesn't seem to start up and reconnect my CM11 COM5 port.
I really like HG. I don't really know C# but have experience with C so I enjoy tweaking the existing code myself. Haven't had much time to play with my Arduino yet but I want to have it communicate with HG via web api so I can get status on my basement utility room and garage door.