Fibaro lack of 3rd party support

[Shady Hamilton 11]

Dear All,

 

We did some discussions on several threads and i thought we put it in one thread to highlight this problem and hopefully find a solution for it.

 

Just to state that i am a VERA user, and I started using Fibaro couple of months ago and i am very happy with the interface and the product itself which i feel is superior than the VERA product and has many advantages, however there is a big problem which i faced in this short period which is making my experience with Fibaro less appealing which is the lack of support for popular 3rd party products, and the purpose of this thread is to try to push Fibaro to put more effort on supporting these products as they are a very important part of most of the smart homes.

here is a list of the problems i faced with the products, please add any product you feel that it fits the criteria of a popular 3rd party which has no or low support:

 

- Nest Thermostat:  This is the top of my list, as Nest is one of the most famous thermostat, most people are using it but it is not supported at all in Fibaro.

- Logitech Harmony: it has a very basic support, we can start an activity but thats about it, Harmony do not report back the current activity which make it very difficult to work with scenes and can't see what is running right now

- Philips Hue: it has limited support, you can't see the Hue lights as normal lights, they are not part of the lights in the room

- Amazon Alexa: it is supported but has several limitations, the response is very slow to the extent that many people are using HA-Bridge instead of the skill. Locks are not supported, only block scenes are supported.

- Fortrezz:  Fortrezz water meter is not supported, while fortrezz might not be very popular company (maybe), but since it is the only company to have a Zwave water meterso we have no other option

 

All the above is fully supported on VERA and many other hubs, which is really a shame. I like Fibaro as a product, but sometimes i am forced to use another hub because i can't operate many things in my house properly.

 

Please Fibaro can we have more support on these. that is not underestimating the great work you do on your platform for your ZWave products, but this equally important too.

 

Thank you,

 

Shady Hamilton

[akatar 208]

@Shady Hamilton

i hope  someday they make a rfxcom plugin...

[Shady Hamilton 11]

@akatar rfxcom is not supported ????!!!!

[pucki 3]

Fibaro should get Z-Wave stabill first!
When updates come then again new mistakes are in it.
Really bad.

[Shady Hamilton 11]

@pucki they should work on both fronts at the same time, both are of equal importance i guess

[akatar 208]

1 hour ago, Shady Hamilton said:

@akatar rfxcom is not supported ????!!!!

no, and i think they never will

[Shady Hamilton 11]

@akatar so we cant control Somphy for example or Lightwave products?

[akatar 208]

1 minute ago, Shady Hamilton said:

@akatar so we cant control Somphy for example or Lightwave products?

 

you can do it with a connection to domoticz ( i read it somewhere)

[Shady Hamilton 11]

@akatar so we need to install domoticz on another computer or raspberry PI then connect it to fibaro somehow?  If yes then this is another example of my issue with fibaro

[akatar 208]

2 minutes ago, Shady Hamilton said:

@akatar so we need to install domoticz on another computer or raspberry PI then connect it to fibaro somehow?  If yes then this is another example of my issue with fibaro

well, thats a yess

[SpaceCompany 21]

@Shady Hamilton I completly agree on you

Myself I am for more than 1. 5 years trying to convince people from @Fibaro to get a working plugin for NEST back. The only answer they gave was that they are working on it, However I read recently that they stopped with the reïntegration of the plugin.

Awhile ago I wrote an email to their CEO and published that email in this forum as well. I never got any response, However they did a background search on me, the dutch distributor got a phonecall to verify who I was and all my posting are under a magnifierglass by one of their moderators @T.Konopka... (I am not an interesting person to follow if you ask me) 

 

Really strange as in Holland we have an open culture Where we normally discus subjects with each other... Obviously that culture isn't familiair in Poland yet.... 

[Shady Hamilton 11]

@SpaceCompany That is strange though, usually their support is very prompt and efficient, I am not sure if this is a management decision not to support 3rd party, or put just little resource to it. It is really a shame, the Fibaro products are very good, but for example, i am forced in my next quotation to a customer to offer something else because they want Nest and water consumption.... 

I still think they can push for a solution, i don't think it takes them a lot of time to create plugins especially that it is already there with all other hubs.....

 

I don't think they should take it the bad way, the only reason we are discussing this is because we care about the product and we want to use it!

 

 

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[T.Konopka 8]

@Shady Hamilton , I want to thank you for the thread. You put your suggestions clearly and I can easily forward them to the teams responsible for improvements and developments

 

Let me address all of your suggestions:

On 6/3/2018 at 10:55 AM, Shady Hamilton said:

- Nest Thermostat:  This is the top of my list, as Nest is one of the most famous thermostat, most people are using it but it is not supported at all in Fibaro.

Plugin for Nest has been taken down due to technical reasons. It simply stopped to work properly. The issue was linked to the implementation of the plugin. I was informed that we have to build the plugin from scratch.

 

On 6/3/2018 at 10:55 AM, Shady Hamilton said:

- Logitech Harmony: it has a very basic support, we can start an activity but thats about it, Harmony do not report back the current activity which make it very difficult to work with scenes and can't see what is running right now

The lack of reports from the Logitech Harmony is not a bug nor a feature - I know how this sounds. Unfortunately, I think that we stated in other thread about Harmony that we can't change it for now, but I will check this with the team. The article on our

Please login or register to see this link.

has a note: " Notice: Remember that Logitech Harmony does not report its state to FIBARO Home Controller. Ongoing activities are visible only if triggered using Home Center system." So, maybe this explains something.

 

On 6/3/2018 at 10:55 AM, Shady Hamilton said:

- Philips Hue: it has limited support, you can't see the Hue lights as normal lights, they are not part of the lights in the room

Yes, that's true. This is how it works due to the fact that the lights are operated via the plugin and not directly via the system. I don't think that we can include plugin to the devices as it is not "a device". However, I will check this as well

 

On 6/3/2018 at 10:55 AM, Shady Hamilton said:

- Amazon Alexa: it is supported but has several limitations, the response is very slow to the extent that many people are using HA-Bridge instead of the skill. Locks are not supported, only block scenes are supported.

The voice assistants integrations will be improved and developed as we really want to focus on them. This is true that there are delays and we have to improve it within our system, I can confirm that the works for this has been already scheduled (but I am not allowed to tell you any ETA). When it comes to locks, LUA scenes, etc they are not supported due to the fact how we could integrate Alexa with FIBARO - there were some limitation on both sides. I received a link to the article in this thread 

Please login or register to see this link.

which I forwarded to the team. We'll see if we can do anything about that.

 

On 6/3/2018 at 10:55 AM, Shady Hamilton said:

- Fortrezz:  Fortrezz water meter is not supported, while fortrezz might not be very popular company (maybe), but since it is the only company to have a Zwave water meterso we have no other option

Is it not supported meaning you cannot add it to the system? Or does it not have a template? Because these are two different things.

 

15 hours ago, SpaceCompany said:

Really strange as in Holland we have an open culture Where we normally discus subjects with each other... Obviously that culture isn't familiair in Poland yet.... 

Well... In my opinion, the Forum is a way of openly discussing matters regarding the system - you can freely and openly share your thoughts, findings, suggestions and more I really appreciate that and I try to take part in as many threads as I can so that nothing will miss my attention.

However, business decisions of the company is something completely different. I think that you don't expect to take part in board meetings?

And please, keep all comments and thoughts about origin or countries to yourself.

 

4 hours ago, Shady Hamilton said:

I don't think they should take it the bad way, the only reason we are discussing this is because we care about the product and we want to use it! 

Of course we do not take it in a bad way! We appreciate discussions and suggestions from users. This way, we can see the demands for certain solutions. However, we have our own plans - as you expect every company to have In these plans, we try to reconcile both our roadmap and users' suggestions

 

---

 

15 hours ago, SpaceCompany said:

and all my posting are under a magnifierglass by one of their moderators @T.Konopka... (I am not an interesting person to follow if you ask me)

Really? The fact that I clicked to follow you means that you are "under surveillance"? I thought that everyone can follow everyone on the Forum If you feel better I can unfollow you  Shall I do that?

[SpaceCompany 21]

27 minutes ago, T.Konopka said:

Really? The fact that I clicked to follow you means that you are "under surveillance"? I thought that everyone can follow everyone on the Forum If you feel better I can unfollow you  Shall I do that?

@T.Konopka thank you very much for your open answer.

You have to admit that it is "strange" that when I place critical notes on the way of working of Fibaro, and the fact that within 24 hours, I sent an open email to the CEO, the distributor in the Netherlands, gets a phonecall about my background as well i am being followed with one of the Fibaro moderators... That is no coincidence if you ask me.

Feel free to follow or unfollow me, that is up 2 you, but for me it feels like that someone got orders to keep an eye on me and could take direct actions at the moment i would place a critical note which is in the eyes of Fibaro across the borders.

I know there is a lot of going on at the Dev department, and I honnestly believe if Fibaro would be more open on ETA as well of failures within the development, they would get more thumbs up from their users.

10 unhappy customers can ruin more that 1000 happy customers can do good to a product

Edited June 4, 2018 by T.Konopka

[T.Konopka 8]

@SpaceCompany , do not hijack the topic. The personal matters we can discuss in a private conversation.

 

EDIT:

I only wanted to indicate that me following you on the Forum was not caused by any "outside" information.

Edited June 4, 2018 by T.Konopka

[Shady Hamilton 11]

@T.Konopka  thank you for your reply, 

Let me address all of your suggestions:

 

Quote

Plugin for Nest has been taken down due to technical reasons. It simply stopped to work properly. The issue was linked to the implementation of the plugin. I was informed that we have to build the plugin from scratch.

 the plugin for Nest is working properly with the other platforms, and even if it functioned in a bad way and you have to build it from scratch, don't you think that two years are more than enough for such an important plugin?

 

 

Quote

The lack of reports from the Logitech Harmony is not a bug nor a feature - I know how this sounds. Unfortunately, I think that we stated in other thread about Harmony that we can't change it for now, but I will check this with the team. The article on our 

Please login or register to see this link.

 has a note: " Notice: Remember that Logitech Harmony does not report its state to FIBARO Home Controller. Ongoing activities are visible only if triggered using Home Center system." So, maybe this explains something.

 The harmony is reporting status on other platforms, this is not from the Harmony, it is something in the programing of the plugin, you either allow it to check in every several seconds (minutes) to report status or not.

 

 

Quote

Yes, that's true. This is how it works due to the fact that the lights are operated via the plugin and not directly via the system. I don't think that we can include plugin to the devices as it is not "a device". However, I will check this as well 

 

Hue lights are operated like normal lights on other platforms, even that they are used via a plugin, it is confusing if you have many hue lights and you can't see them among lights of a certain room.

 

 

Quote

The voice assistants integrations will be improved and developed as we really want to focus on them. This is true that there are delays and we have to improve it within our system, I can confirm that the works for this has been already scheduled (but I am not allowed to tell you any ETA). When it comes to locks, LUA scenes, etc they are not supported due to the fact how we could integrate Alexa with FIBARO - there were some limitation on both sides. I received a link to the article in this thread 

Please login or register to see this link.

 which I forwarded to the team. We'll see if we can do anything about that.

 

There is something wrong with this bit of information, the Locks and the complex scenes are working with other platforms, for example i can't Unlock my door using Alexa but i can Lock it or check its status (Alexa what is my door status: reply, locked/unlocked), i can also execute all kind of scenes (complex or not complex) because in theory, Alexa doesn't have to deal with the details of the scene, it just trigger it to start (but you know better).  saying it is blocked by Amazon is not very correct because again, it is working with other platforms, why would Amazon treat you differently from other vendors?

 

 

Quote

Is it not supported meaning you cannot add it to the system? Or does it not have a template? Because these are two different things.

 

i didn't try to add it because when i contacted the support (both Fibaro and Fortrezz) they said it can't work on Fibaro HC2 while it is working on others. so the bottom line I can't use it (as per the support) wither it has a template or not I don't really know

 

 

Now add one more popular thing to the above list, RFXcom, I just discovered that you can't control Somfy curtains or LightWave switches with Fibaro (again, a very popular brands which can be found everywhere)

 

 

the common thing in the above things is that they are all available in other platforms, which means others found a solution for it since a long time and it is possible to be worked out, however Fibaro developers didn't do that yet for some reason, that is the point of this thread, the lack of support on the 3rd party front.  

 

I simply have a very nice product in the HC2, which i really love, but it is very hard to use because half of my devices will not work with it and there is no plan to fix that!

 

I hope you can understand the frustration i am facing because of that.

 

appreciate your efforts.

 

 

[Shady Hamilton 11]

@T.Konopka Hello dear, any update on this please?

[T.Konopka 8]

Hello!

 

On 6/5/2018 at 1:55 PM, Shady Hamilton said:

don't you think that two years are more than enough for such an important plugin?

I guess that it is a rhetorical questions I am not the one to assess this. But, as I mentioned earlier, I forward each Nest mention to the team to show the demand

 

On 6/5/2018 at 1:55 PM, Shady Hamilton said:

The harmony is reporting status on other platforms, this is not from the Harmony,

I am just fetching the information I get from the team responsible for integrations As I understand, the community is sure that the integration can be done differently to provide better experience. I can suggest changes to the responsible team, but I will need examples of such integrations - I am not able to search, check and test everything on my own. And the ideas from the community are the best source for improvements!

 

On 6/5/2018 at 1:55 PM, Shady Hamilton said:

it is confusing if you have many hue lights and you can't see them among lights of a certain room.

Hue is not a Z-Wave device. This is the main reason that it is not listed as a device in our system. But, as I mentioned before, I'll ask about that. I submitted an improvement suggestion about that

 

Regarding Alexa and LUA scenes and security devices - I will double check that. There is a reason for this kind of information in our Knowledge Base. What platforms do you have in mind exactly? Can you show me an example - it can be of your own?

 

On 6/5/2018 at 1:55 PM, Shady Hamilton said:

they said it can't work on Fibaro HC2 while it is working on others.

So, it is not support by our platform, meaning that it was not tested by us. But, it is possible that we will support it in the future.

Note that as every company we focus on our products as priority. I can only guess that 3rd party devices support is added based on demand of our users. I can submit a suggestion for support for this device, but I cannot guarantee when it will be introduced.

 

On 6/5/2018 at 1:55 PM, Shady Hamilton said:

I simply have a very nice product in the HC2, which i really love, but it is very hard to use because half of my devices will not work with it and there is no plan to fix that!

 

I hope you can understand the frustration i am facing because of that.

Let's not call it a frustration Introducing support for 3rd party devices is time and resource consuming (I know that I am repeating this) and at this point I cannot add anything more but simply ask for patience. We are introducing more and more integrations. You can bet that we have others in plans as well.

I will be more than happy to forward suggestions which devices our users use the most without full support that we could fully support.