Leaving Fibaro for an other system?

[remcoploeg 10]

Hello,

I am now for one year a user of the Fibaro system. Before that I had for seven years Homeseer. This was a technical system (used X10 in that time) and not always working. Two years a go I started to find a new system, Homeseer wasn't improving anymore. I ended with a choice for the Fibaro 3 system. I liked the interface and I looked that this company was innovating every time. Now after a year of using the system I am still not really happy:

1. Still a buggy system; every time I run an update I have huge problems. The systems crashes, lights are suddenly turned on.

2. I-pad app is terrible. I have 3 ipads on my house to control the system, it is terrible, crashed, slow, interface is strange and cannot be customized (like in Homeseer)

3. Innovation; yes version 4 is coming (when??), but I really don't like the innovation. Protocols like RFXCom don't work (yes via a raspberry) and no Windows Apps (other don't have it also...)

4. Events / logging; this is really terrible. The logging is so basic, I can't check why a light suddenly turned on or other things

5. Roadmap and information; yes you are a company and don't want to share all your information, but please give us something. Already for months you are saying that version 4 is almost coming and I see the innovation in that system, it looks now not very innovating.

6. And so on and on

I am really trying, but why I need to stay with Fibaro and don't go to Zipato with KNX, 3G, Backup, RFXcom and much more?

[MSB 0]

Actualy I am in the same situation as you. There is always problems with the fibaro. After update i lose history and the system always crashes so support needs to reset and slash even more of my historic data. As if that wasn't enough the system in itself can't even do what it promised 1,5 years back. I am actualy frustrated. I have waited about 1.5 years to get support for the greenwave powernode but nothing. I even put solution up in bugtracker.

Although i am very impressed by the devices take for instance the wall plug or maybe the sensoreye. Impressive!

If you compare fibaro with apple both companies have good ideas and solid looks, but only apple devlivers. So what is alternative?

I only need some scriptong and sql/mssql support for historic data. Then support for switches and powermeassurer, thats about it.

I would at least like to give a really big thanks to support and alpha team they do a fine job supporting a not so very stable product.

I am waiting on an usb-stick to run homeseer, domotiga or domoticz.

The fibaro goes on sale.

[Dalle1985 16]

I've just ordered a razberry to build my own controller... This will enable far better customization and I can create better integration with my custom built tablet interface.

Also, powering off the HC2 will save me around 30€ per year in power consumption. So after two years i will have paid for both the RPi and the Raz.

I do have to point out though that I haven't had any major issues with stability of the HC2. I don't like their app and I don't think they have a proper interface for home automation, but the box itself is performing very well. It just isn't capable of doing what I want. I won't wait for v 4 coming up whenever, and then still not delivering all I want, so I'm building exactly what I want for myself.

[ARIAS 2]

.......

[Lauri 6]

Dalle, let us know how raspberry handles many z-wave devices. I have been using this only for multimedia purposes and it seems quite unstable and not very fast. I overclocked my raspberry and added better cooling wich made this better but still I need to restart it sometimes and quite often rasp. makes restart by himself.

[Dalle1985 16]

Dalle, let us know how raspberry handles many z-wave devices. I have been using this only for multimedia purposes and it seems quite unstable and not very fast. I overclocked my raspberry and added better cooling wich made this better but still I need to restart it sometimes and quite often rasp. makes restart by himself.

Will do... I am using raspberry for other purposes and have no problems at all with performance. I have a webserver with quite a bit of data throughput and see no performance issues. XBMC is a heavy application for the raspberry to handle.

It might not have the level of performance of the fibaro hc2 box, but I don't expect to see any issues as it will only be handling the data transfer back and forth with my php scripting engine which will handle all the functionality. So the zway module will only provide an API for interacting directly with the devices. Fibaro doesn't allow that to the same extend. But I look forward to start testing this!

[MSB 0]

If one needs true performance one could buy a z-wave stick and the intel NUC fykh 2820 which is by far a lot faster than even the current hc2 and takes only 1/4th the power for 99 euros

[fergalmccarthy 5]

Guys am a recent convert to the HC2, been using HA for a long time now, what sort of areas do you find the HC2 deficient ?

[Dalle1985 16]

I think a lot of the gripes that people have is that Fibaro promised a lot of functionality that people have been waiting for, for a very long time.

Furthermore, some people experience a lot of crashing, but this is probably due to the individual setup with scenes running suboptimally and many scenes running at once. But there is no proper memory handling, so the Hc2 won't kill of scenes to free ressources. It will just work itself to a grind.

I personally is actually pretty satisfied with my HC2, my reason for migrating is purely due to me wanting a direct interaction between my own interface and the zwave devices - cut out the middle man, to reduce lack and allow for a bit more functionality.

[Guest shapa]

Forget about zipato.

I have some really bad experience. Used for 2 month...

It is very slow, can be managed only via cloud, not working properly without internet connection, etc.

Fibaro v1 software more stable and reliable...

[HeroS 0]

Zipato has improved there systeem a lot and is running fine now. And offcourse there are some problems once in awhile. But no deal breakers.

But no systeem is perfect. Domotica is just starting to come alive and has to grow a lot more to became stable.

[Guest pmviana]

I had Micasaverde Vera Lite for more than a year but when my network started to grow it was always breaking the configuration and and freezing some services.

I find HC2 more stable but also more limited: Vera has all kind of connectivity and plugins that make it easier than HC2 for any person at any skill level, it has also lots of different APPs on Google Play - ImperiHome it's very very good.

After having HC2 for more than 6 months I think it has a prettier interface but I should have chosen Micasaverde Vera3 instead. I could have save some money or purchased new Z-wave gadgets.

[harrytasker 1]

I had Micasaverde Vera Lite for more than a year but when my network started to grow it was always breaking the configuration and and freezing some services.

I find HC2 more stable but also more limited: Vera has all kind of connectivity and plugins that make it easier than HC2 for any person at any skill level, it has also lots of different APPs on Google Play - ImperiHome it's very very good.

After having HC2 for more than 6 months I think it has a prettier interface but I should have chosen Micasaverde Vera3 instead. I could have save some money or purchased new Z-wave gadgets.

I had Vera too, but i exchanged it for a HCL, i am much happier now, i only use my HCL for basic stuff, only a few scenes, nothing fancy, works fine most of the time.

Had lots of troubles with Vera, installing apps is sometimes a pain in the ass to get working (if you like fiddling around i guess its fine) besides that all the apps i bought in the appstore (IOS) are horrible, i bought 4 of them, all look like they are made by a 5 year old kid!

When i started domotica i already use to buy Fibaro modules, cause they are, small, look nice and work really good. With the Vera quite a few features didn't work of those modules and the interface from Vera was really crappy if i may say so. Now with the Fibaro everything works and communicates fine, as long as u use the Fibaro modules. I am really happy with it but i can understand people wanna use different brands on the Fibaro and running into problems.

[wienog 107]

I can understand people getting frustrated with Fibaro.

I myself have 5 year experience with Homeseer and other products (Incontrol, Mcontrol, Z-Cloud, Vera...) None of them were always stable.

If you follow some rules HC2 is quite stable and, for instance, much more stable than Homeseer.

I have some 150 devices/200 scenes connected to my HC2 and it has been working flawlessly now for over three months, something I couldn't say of Homeseer which started having serious problems with dead nodes etc after a few weeks.

So, I'm not ready to change my Controller again. I do know that all the systems available on the market have issues and many more severe than HC2.

[Guest shapa]

Well, technically, after the moment I split my network with 2xHCL + HC2, everything is 99% reliable.

From the stability perspective Fibaro is the most reliable for today, as all other competing products (except home seer) are really limited in processing power (for example zipato is only 200mhz) and technically very outdated (the same as Vera3...)

[Starbug 0]

Well, technically, after the moment I split my network with 2xHCL + HC2, everything is 99% reliable.

Hi Shapa,

Im interested in your setup of multiple HCL/HC2. How is that setup? Do you split the load of your devices by associating them with a different HC box? Do the HC boxes then communicate and update status via IP? Fibaro documentation is non existent in this area

Thanks!

[harlin 0]

I have a love and hate relationship with Fibaro. After many years with homeseer (x10 & zwave). A year ago exchanged everything for HC2, i stick with it for a while. 90% of my hardware is fibaro.

The love part

Graphics are good, nice interface on ipad/iphone

System is quite easy to understand

Scripting is great

easy box, its quite stable

The hate part

Dead nodes, mostly older fibaro modules (version 1.4) show up dead randomly until power recycle.

Stupid thing with multisensor which become unusable isn't solved for quite some time

After a security breach, alarm show up randomly even the system is safe/reset

Simple functions are not implemented quickly. Ie like before sunset & after sunrise. Come on, after sunset doesn't make any sense for lightning and curtains.

Detailed logging, when thing fails its always a guess.

From a commercial perspective. It must be more reliable and easier to use.

[Guest shapa]

Starbug, exactly.

Everything works like a single solution, all scenes are configured on HC2.

HCL just connecting z-wave devices via IP to HC2.

Attaching PDF with full "screenshot", you'll see color frames on many devices - it means they managed by HCL's (different colors - different HCL)

There is no any other powerful solution on market today which can do the same. Vera3 can make bridging, but the hardware is extremely outdated for today.

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[Starbug 0]

Starbug, exactly.

Everything works like a single solution, all scenes are configured on HC2.

HCL just connecting z-wave devices via IP to HC2.

Thanks Shapa, thats what I was hoping to hear and thanks for the screenshot looks great.

I think this should solve my Garage issue also, its a bit overkill but I have no z-wave range to a detached garage (but have IP connectivity) where I want say 10 z-wave devices. Plus also with multiple HCL it offloads the z-wave from the HC2 which can just run scripts/virtual devices/camera's etc

Is it just plug an play in terms of adding the extra controllers (under gateway connections) and HC2 just imports all the HCL devices?

Thanks!

[Guest shapa]

It is very pnp / straightforward

Yes it will definitely help you to increase range, technically you can install HCL in a different country and to manage everything like a single system

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