http://relay.winkapp.com/ surprised nobody posted this yet!
Because it's connected directly to your grid, the routines you program will work even if your Wi-Fi goes down, making the Relay a nice back-up for the mobile app, especially if you have Time Warner internet like me. It's also helpful you have children or guests visiting that don't necessarily have the Wink app on their device.
That would be REALLY cool. $300 is a lot for a switch, but it also does an awful lot of stuff for the price, which is pretty cool!
EDIT: I wonder.. does the Schlage lock report battery life over ZWave? If it does, that's something that Wink should definitely integrate.
I just checked my Staples Connect app, and a lock battery alert is not on my list of scene/activity triggers for the lock. Not sure if Staples didn't implement it, or if Schlage doesn't make it available. Has anyone tried this with the Nexia system that supposedly fully supports all Schlage functions?
But I agree, this would be an awesome feature to have!
The vera lite showed the battery level of my schlage handle set and didn't exhibit the communication problems people are seeing with the wink. It has gotten a lot better but I honestly rarely use the wink app for the locks.
I really like that relay device but it's a bit more than I'm willing to pay. Looks like the msrp will be $300, I'l jump on it if it ever gets to $175...
I wouldn't be so sure about Home Kit being 'the thing' that crushes all. It's advantage is also it's greatest limitation. The Apple ecosystem. There are large swaths of people, many of them techy tinkerers who prefer Android or other OSes who won't buy into Home Kit.
I'm surprised you had issues with the Lutron Caseta stuff. I have almost a whole floor converted to them and they have been working the best of all the Wink enabled stuff.
The vera lite showed the battery level of my schlage handle set and didn't exhibit the communication problems people are seeing with the wink. It has gotten a lot better but I honestly rarely use the wink app for the locks.
Ooh, thanks for pointing that out! I'm glad to know Schlage makes all of that available. The Wink folks need to iterate faster and more fully develop the integration with the products they support. Realizing how poorly they actually "support" certified products makes me even more inclined to jump ship for something like Indigo.
I don't use the apps too much for just controlling the lock, but I'd certainly like to get more value from my connected lock by allowing more detailed notifications and integration with activities/robots/scenes. I like that I can automatically turn on my exterior lights at night with the Staples app when I unlock my front door to step outside. With the Connect system, that all happens so fast that my front light is on by the time I finish turning the door handle. The Wink app currently does not even recognize that I manually unlocked the door! And if I can do even more with Vera or Indigo, the Wink system will be just a toy to root and never use again.
Do you know if vera works well with the Schlage locks as far as remote locking & unlocking goes? I'm avoiding Wink due to the problems it has with them.If you want a zwave controller that is powerful and tweak-able I suggest getting a vera lite but it's biggest downfall is the ugly/unintuitive desktop and app interface. They've been running special pricing on the Vera's recently and It looks like a newer compact version has been released. http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...?EdpNo=8682386
I may go back with a Vera or get a almond+ if it's ever release and keep the wink hub as a secondary controller for my lutron switches.
Do you currently have the Vista system? If so how do you like it? I'm strongly considering buying it, and hooking it up myself. Did you?I suspect it isn't, but does anyone know if it's possible to arm/disarm a Honeywell Vista security system via Wink and the Honeywell Vista Automation Module (VAM)? If I could get home and launch a "home" robot to open the garage door, disarm the alarm, and turn the lights on, that would be awesome.
Do you know if vera works well with the Schlage locks as far as remote locking & unlocking goes? I'm avoiding Wink due to the problems it has with them.
Do you currently have the Vista system? If so how do you like it? I'm strongly considering buying it, and hooking it up myself. Did you?
If you want a zwave controller that is powerful and tweak-able I suggest getting a vera lite but it's biggest downfall is the ugly/unintuitive desktop and app interface. They've been running special pricing on the Vera's recently and It looks like a newer compact version has been released. http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...?EdpNo=8682386
I may go back with a Vera or get a almond+ if it's ever release and keep the wink hub as a secondary controller for my lutron switches.
Yesterday I was going through the the Smart things forum and one of the main guys mentioned they will be announcing a new hub early next year. I'm sitting on my hands right now waiting to see where Wink goes and how Smart Things turns out with Samsung buying them.For $50 (actually $70 with a 65w spot), I figured it was time to jump in. While following it for years, this is my first try at modern HA. Played with X10 back in the day, but I couldn't ever really make it useful. The growing pains with Wink can't be worse than X10!
I'm also interested in SmartThings. For real-world comparison, I might do both. How bad would it be to have two controllers for the same device set? Heck, I might even add a RaspberryPi w/Razzberry into the mix.
Whoever brings an affordable (which probably means non-Somfy) blind/shade motor and controller will win me.
just saw this ad! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egIY7ushchU
$15 for a bulb from GE, thats not bad at all.... doesnt seem to change colors like the phillips though. or at least i dont see that in the vid