Previous post in other category: I’m in no way tied to ST and already have other Z-wave controllers including Universal, possibly Raspberry Pi, and also local manual Z-wave controllers. I also have a Leviton USB RF stick. My investment is large but need incremental results sometime before I die! I’m happy to dump ST and purchase a different controller or start over with new terminal devices, but also seek to maximize connectivity with devices from other manufacturers… in this case Aeotec Z-wave sensors and Intermatic Z-Wave local controllers (to replace existing X10 controllers by each bedside), Leviton IR remotes that commnicate with MRZs, Harmony remotes, etc.
Hoped that the Z-wave “standard” ensures interoperability, but learned long ago that this is untrue. Seems that such installation difficulties explain why Z-wave is going nowhere in terms of overall HA market share.
What controller is recommended as ST does not appear to be a workable option? FYI my only existing Zigbee device is a Philips Hue Lightstrip formerly controlled by a simple sunrise-to-sunset lighting program using the basic Lightbow app on my iPhone (that I also paid for. Latest Lightbow version crashes upon keypress on my iPhone X and developer won’t respond or remedy.) With the right controller, a Z-wave switch (or MRZ button) might control a relay or digital input to a separate Zigbee controller (Universal?) that contains the lighting program, without the need for the Z-wave controller to communicate with Zigbee directly. Had hoped that ST might accomplish this task via Zigbee, so alternate methodology seems Rube Goldberg.
Where do I begin, first connect the Leviton MRZ/M0Z with Z-wave terminal devices via the USB stick, perhaps? Or should the MRZ/M0Zs send ON/OFF signals to a primary controller programmed to execute scenes, etc. with terminal devices (preferred if latency is acceptable)? How are secondary (or primary) controllers and devices by other manufacturers (e.g. Aeotec sensors) integrated later? It would be nice if the primary Z-wave controller could communicate with X10 devices (transmit and receive) to simplify transition. Quite a requirements list! Sorry for the mouthful of questions; many thanks.
Bob