Hello!

[integlikewhoa]

Hello Everyone,

Maybe I missed it but I didn't see the Welcome thread so I figured I would post a quick Hello here.

Been a Vera user for several years Currently have 2 houses with a Vera Lite in each one and a Vera edge on deck to be installed, But I have been rethinking that.

One of my houses is larger and has a detached workshop which I been having range issues (maybe routing issues). I also have overstepped my max amount of devices there with the smaller Veralite (hence why I have an EDGE). Both are starting to get heavy with the plugins also causing problems.

So with HS3 trial installed on a (Blueiris/Plex/Backup server) and a z-stick on the way here I am.

I have a ton of questions an have just been browsing threw to make sense of whats currently foreign to me.

Whats more of a common practice around here buying software on a windows machine or buying a controller? One of my houses doesn't have a computer setup yet, but I was thinking about doing BlueIris there also. This gives me a 24/7 computer to run cameras, backup mobile and local data and run my Plex media server. I'm curious the route the majority go?

Pro vs regular? I see Pro comes with the 200.00 Touch, do I need that for each house? Alot of the plugins I use don't seem to be included anyways. DirectTV, Wather, BlueIris, Plex, Pinger, Sonos, Concord Alarm, and probley a few more I don't see on the list. If I read right only the plugins created by "HomeSeer Tech" are included right? So 75% of the ones I listed don't seem to be included with pro right?

I think I may have been spoiled with the amount of plugins with VERA and how fast or easy they can be created. I currently don't roomba, Iaqualink and a few other plugins that I normally use in VERA. Do plugins seem to take awhile or not have interest to me made on homeseer?

Thanks for your guys time and I look forward to a better HomeAutomation!

[S-F]

Brother, it's good to see you here! Been a while now, hasn't it?

Yeah Vera is cute and fun I guess but there are some very REAL obstacles with it if you're trying to do anything very interesting, or really beyond turning lights on and off with a remote control app on your phone. So the smoke signals say "dodge 'em like an angry bullet".

Now, on to your questions.

Some people do indeed like the one stop shopping of getting a HomeSeer piece of hardware. It sounds like you're already set up with a file server so I suggest you go that route. Otherwise it's often just sitting idle. This is the route I myself have gone and am very happy to have shed another piece of hardware, no matter how little power it used. Just from reading what people here are up to I think that more probably go the DIY route. But I have no numbers to back this up. Really that's all up to you. I like the flexibility of making a powerful machine. I know that HS3 is never bound by hardware limitations, like Vera always is.

I suggest you go with pro, though some here may feel differently. You are correct that the Pro license doesn't give too many plugins right now but that will certainly change in the future. There were certainly more for HS2 but it had also been around for years. If you get the Pro license you will get any and all new plugins that hit the market. And it really will only take a few to put you above the cost of just going Pro out the door or buying the upgrade later.

Yes, you will need the HSTouch license for each machine running HS3. But! The new HomeSeer Z-Wave device is an IP device. So I imagine you could connect to it over the internet and run both houses from a single machine in one location! Not sure many people have done that yet but it would be pretty cool. And it is true that many of the plugins you want now or maybe in the future will be 3rd party and will cost some extra $. I'm OK with this. You've gotta understand that the sheer amount of functionality in a single HomeSeer plugin is mind boggling when compared to the silly little Vera ones. And then the cost is incentive to keep it updated and add new features. Sounds like a better model to me than the Vera on of people making cheap, slightly useful plugins that never see an update after they hit the road for the first time.

I don't know about Iaqualink but there is a Roomba script floating around here somewhere. You don't really need a plugin to interface with something with HS3. And a script can often times be more more functional than any Vera plugin, with fancy web pages and all.

Just shout if you have any more questions!

EDIT:

You don't want to use the pinger plugin I think. It costs money and there are others which do the same or better. There is BLLan which is basically the same thing and is free and then there is the Jon remote network monitoring and control plugin which isn't free, it's donation based, and it Waaaaaayyyyy more functional. You should really check that one out!

[randy]

Yes, you will need the HSTouch license for each machine running HS3.

I sure someone will correct me if I am wrong, but for HSTouch you need the pro license to run designer, but for the rest of the machines you can use a standard license which includes the HSTouch server. If you run the default app, you don't need designer.

[S-F]

I sure someone will correct me if I am wrong, but for HSTouch you need the pro license to run designer, but for the rest of the machines you can use a standard license which includes the HSTouch server. If you run the default app, you don't need designer.

Oh, yeah. Good catch. I forgot that this has changed between HS3 and HS2.

Oh yeah, and WeatherXML is free too.

[cheeryfool]

Another thing to bear in mind is the frequent HS software sales. There are modest discounts available several times a year - often coinciding with US holidays and there are usually 50% sales twice a year (May and Nov if I recall). So, you could start with the regular version, then look for another 50% sale for the upgrade.

[integlikewhoa]

Thanks for the info guys.

S-F Thanks for the direct info on stuff like the pinger plugin and which others to use.

I'm just finding it so different and trying to make the adjustment. Without messing with the z-wave yet, I'm just trying to get plugins setup like I currently already have running. (geofencing, weather, DirectTV, ect.)

The whole Andriod app thing (touch) seems very customizable but it's nothing like have 4 or 5 different options that range from free to 5.00. I can install Imperhiome and have it setup in a few min with custom virutal devices and all.

Currently using the basic touch and its very plain with limited options. So If I understand right that means I'm stuck to building my own with the program costing 200.00.

I'm also not finding Geofencing built into any of these phone apps. I used that to control virtual switches. Is there plugins for virtual switches on here?

Some of these things I might find that there is a better way to do it in homeseer then I been used to doing in VERA but at this point I'm just a little lost on some of this.

Another I been used to is Richards Vera Alerts. How do alerts work here and what are people using to receive them and how are they listed or formated in an Android device?

[TechHA]

For geofencing and having it trigger HS, take a look at this page:
http://board.homeseer.com/showthread.php?t=158888

It's for using Tasker with your Android phone. VERY powerful!


..and welcome to the board!

[cheeryfool]

I used that to control virtual switches. Is there plugins for virtual switches on here?

I haven't used Vera, but there is the concept of a virtual device in HomeSeer - that might be equivalent. You can set them up to act like an on/off switch, but they also have many many other uses. I have several that I set to "Home" or "Away" for family members with GeoFences defined in IFTTT and then another whole house Home/Away device that is set to Away when everyone is away and Home when anyone is home.

I have other ones for nighttime, holidays and even tracking the state my theatre components are in - they can hold single or multiple values.

To setup a virtual device, click on the white on green cross in the top right corner of the Device Management page.

All devices (real or virtual) can be used to trigger events or events can set values for them.

In case you hadn't already figured it out, the search on the forum is useless. Google site searching is your friend: site:board.homeseer.com term1 term2 etc

[S-F]

Thanks for the info guys.

S-F Thanks for the direct info on stuff like the pinger plugin and which others to use.

I'm just finding it so different and trying to make the adjustment. Without messing with the z-wave yet, I'm just trying to get plugins setup like I currently already have running. (geofencing, weather, DirectTV, ect.)

The whole Andriod app thing (touch) seems very customizable but it's nothing like have 4 or 5 different options that range from free to 5.00. I can install Imperhiome and have it setup in a few min with custom virutal devices and all.

Currently using the basic touch and its very plain with limited options. So If I understand right that means I'm stuck to building my own with the program costing 200.00.

I'm also not finding Geofencing built into any of these phone apps. I used that to control virtual switches. Is there plugins for virtual switches on here?

Some of these things I might find that there is a better way to do it in homeseer then I been used to doing in VERA but at this point I'm just a little lost on some of this.

Another I been used to is Richards Vera Alerts. How do alerts work here and what are people using to receive them and how are they listed or formated in an Android device?

Yes. the remote apps for HS3 suck. HSTouch makes a fabulous wall mounted screen or sitting on a table but it's nothing like Impreihome or AutHomation. Just very different. There is BLControl by Blade which is similar not not quite there. This doesn't really bother me too much though since I tend to think that remote control isn't true automation. HS3 is so powerful that I find I rarely need to "control" anything. It's just happens automatically.

And the geofencing isn't part of any of these apps. You should look into the location plugin by sooty. It's on the board here not in the updater as it's free.

As already stated, you don't need a virtual device plugin. That one got me at first too. Ha ha!

Indeed, most things you do with HS3 are MUCH easier. But there is a slight learning curve. The event engine is a LOT different that PLEG by RTS. It's much easier to use. It's much Much easier to create very complex events (that's events, not scenes). I had spent hours and hours and hours tinkering with PLEG and I can accomplish more with HS3 in minutes. Just don't think that there is an HS3 equivalent of the PLEG "NOW" because there isn't. All HS3 events are evaluated once per second, not once per minute like with PLEG. So that mentality will result in your log showing the event running every second.

Your last point. VeraAlerts. I can honestly say that this is the number 1 thing I miss about Vera. Really the only thing. HS3 is great at sending emails so I've been getting more emails from my house than I did with Vera. But as far as I know there's still no way to make your phone speak TTS like you can with VeraAlerts. Honestly when VeraAlerts hit the scene I thought it was kind of a bastard child but it really grew on me. There's probably some way to do this with Tasker and the pushover plugin. I just haven't taken the time to dig into it.

[cheeryfool]

There's probably some way to do this with Tasker and the pushover plugin.

I am on iOS and rely on the pushover plugin, but I am not fussed about TTS to the iPhone. Pushover sends me an audible alert and any text that I want to send in the alert is immediately visible in the iOS notification banner without unlocking the phone. For TTS in the house I have just started with the Sonos plugin, which I like very much.

[S-F]

I meant TTS on my phone when away from home. With the Vera plugin we were talking about it could make your phone say something. Like I had it telling me when my daughter got home from school. I'd be working and my phone would say "Aurora is home". That's pretty cool. For TTS at home I have a Russound system. So I got that one covered.

[cheeryfool]

I meant TTS on my phone when away from home. With the Vera plugin we were talking about it could make your phone say something. Like I had it telling me when my daughter got home from school. I'd be working and my phone would say "Aurora is home". That's pretty cool. For TTS at home I have a Russound system. So I got that one covered.

Yes, I understood My (not quite) equivalent pings with my choice of the available pushover sounds and displays "Lily is home". Slightly more acceptable in my office environment but I certainly like the TTS concept too.

I swear at one point I was able to get HS TouchPad talking to me on the iPad, but it was ages ago - I don't even remember whether on HS2 or early days on HS3 trial, but I cannot find any notes on this and I see other people asking similar more recently with a negatory response.

[S-F]

Slightly more acceptable in my office environment

You just need to teach HS3 to not send you noisy talking message when you're in a location which requires corporate duds!

[cheeryfool]

True enough and easy enough I guess

[integlikewhoa]

Thanks, Yes I currently use Prowl on IOS devices and vera alerts on andriod.

I use TTS and love it. I too have home and away and only have most notifications when I'm away.

I have gotten very good with PLEG and It works for me as its all I know for now. Can't wait to dig deeper.