Migrating from SmartThings to Vera Plus

I use WW-DRT on my old router strictly to make it an access point (I don’t lose 50% power this way) and my Asus as my main router. It works great.

I used to run DD-WRT but too many bugs. I really think the ASUS fw gives it a run for it’s money feature by feature. You’d be surprised what’s packed in there.

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I was about to say the same thing! Great tip on the mobile app @bamarayne. I am thinking now to flush out my wwdrt

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I upgraded to Dd-wrt so I can run the presence scripts only to realize they became useless because I have network extenders all over My house and we hop round between 3 access points. The one advantage of dd-wrt is now for me is I was able to run in access point mode and have a VPN server so I can connect to my network remotely. Doing that with the stock Asus firmware makes you jump through hoops if your in access point mode.

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Checkout AsusWRT:
https://asuswrt.lostrealm.ca

I was a DD-WRT user for over 10 years and finally gave up when all my iOS devices kept dropping frequently all day - something in DD-WRT was causing it. I bought an Asus but really wanted the VPN server back plus some other features the stock firmware didn’t have. AsusWRT was the answer. It’s based in the stock firmware but has more capabilities. You can run the presence script on it too:

But like you I have another AP so it doesn’t work.

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Maybe I should buy a V+ and keep it as a backup for

The next time I have to rebuild my system I hope it will be a different one :fearful:

Interesting… Why not Merlin’s Asus FW???

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Probably an oversight.

I’ve heard good things about the Merlin FW. For me, I no longer use non-production FW, I need things to be reliable. I got tired of manual updates. I really think you can do almost everything with the stock. OpenVPN, routing rules. Maybe not scripts, but I don’t like to get that dirty anymore. :slight_smile:

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Got my Vera yesterday. Initial setup was great, and it was nice to be in the browser. I will say that the thermostat control leaves more to be desired, and UI7 has some weird behavior when changing setpoints, or turning on lights. You press a button and it kinda jitters around until it gets a confirmation from the device. So setting a setpoint from 70 to 72 takes a while with each button press.

However, today (less than 1 day of ownership), I can’t log into the device. Local IP access shows me my devices and allows me to control them, but I can’t do anything else. When I go to log in,it sends me to the cloud and it says my hub is offline. If my hub is offline, then how am I able to access it locally? Hmmm :thinking:

On top of that, the scheduling kinda sucks when it comes to thermostat controls (can’t set separate cooling setpoints vs heating setpoints, etc.). Hey - at least Vera has something in place. ST I’d have to buy a SmartApp to get thermostat scheduling.

I didn’t want to believe the bad reviews, but I’m experiencing some of them… so I think I might put it back in the box.

If anyone from SmartThings is listening, I’m hoping they understand that people would like a local non-cloud option. Something that can run on a Raspberry Pi (or whatever branded OEM model ST gets), that has local processing, local scheduling, and only use the cloud for DDNS access or something. I’d buy that up in a second.

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20 posts were merged into an existing topic: Ways to control HVAC? (Mode, presence, motion etc)

No benefits on v2 for scheduling that I am aware of…

I upgrade because I figure companies care about their new products more than their old ones, and I support small companies who do interesting things like SmartThings.

If I were you, if I had 89 bucks hanging around, yes do it. Otherwise save it until v3, or the next big thing with v2 (hopefully a whole lot of local goodness).

Well with this Vera going back in the box… :wink:

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Thank you for testing. This thread made me consider it if/when my v1 is no longer usable.

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I’ve been giving a huge amount of consideration about moving to vera+

I’ve decided I’m out… Gonna just stay with ST. Overall I’m happy with my system.

Yes, there are glitches and bugs… But you get that if you go hiking too, and this is a lot less work…

Plus, my family likes it as well. Well, most of the family anyway… My wife pretty much hates it and I’m constantly worried that she is going to shoot Alexa… Especially now that Alexa gives some really snarky responses.

But yeah, I’m staying…

Unless this upcoming update crashes my whole system… But I’ll probably stay then as well… I’ll just bitch a lot.

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In the last week I’ve tested HomeSeer, Home Assistant, Home Genie, Vera Plus, domoticz and one other one that I can’t remember.

They all have their pro’s and con’s.

I’m realizing that as much as I want local processing and local hackability, SmartThings is the winner in terms of modern maturity. HomeSeer would have won. Easy to add devices, and tons of ways to customize events; but their 1995 UI (both web and mobile) really is a deal breaker for me. For the price of HomeSeer, they need to hire a UI designer and revamp the whole thing.

My wife loves SmartThings, and that’s also in the deciding factor. The app is easy to use. For as much as I want to geek out on other platforms, there’s something to be said for the wife acceptance factor

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Hey when you get a chance, run a zwave repair. I think you’ll start your bitching earlier than expected…

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Nope! I’ve seen your posts… Not gonna happen!

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I actually haven’t posted it yet :slight_smile:

Have you seen these zwdebug notes before? I didn’t do anything to enable zwdebug…

Did you put in a support ticket on the Z wave repair problems you were having? If so, support probably turned on the advanced debug.

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