There's a new-ish Diva style on/off Pico that fits better with Maestro than the 'traditional' Pico individual buttons.
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I would love to be able to get that new Diva pico working with RadioRA 2, but it doesn’t seem to recognize it when activating in the essentials software.
Exactly correct - the new Pico isn't supported by RA2, either Essentials or Inclusive. And given the push toward RA3, I seriously doubt if we're going to see any back-filling of newer devices into their older system.
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I don't have one to try. But IMO having a Caséta bridge is worthwhile to hold Picos in order to eliminate possible intra system delay when triggering RadioRA 2 devices via Picos and Hubitat actions. I also use it for lamp dimmers and outdoor plugs. Outdoor plugs as they are not available on RadioRA2 and lamp dimmers because they are a lot cheaper and don't have wires hanging off of them.
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So for Lutron, I agree with everyone. It's expensive, but reliable. I replaced just about all my light switches with Caséta and it's been great. (Just had to ditch a Zigbee switch over the weekend when it completely died where even manual operation didn't work. Installed a Caséta.)
For Eero, I'm not much of a fan. I've tried using the 5 pro, 6plus, and 6 pro. I've had issues with the router just rebooting spontaneously or just not working, requiring a power cycle. When it worked, it was fine. When it did the reboot in the middle of con calls, it was less so. I ended up with an Orbi 960 series (and one satellite). It's been pretty darn good. I've only had to reboot it once when things started getting slow. Of course you'll need to take out a second mortgage to get one, but it works.
Lots of food for thought here. I think i may be drifting back towards UniFi. I was originally thinking express, which may be the way to start any way.
Question with the Lutron. I do think that may be a bit more expensive than i can push through right now, especially considering I already have a bund of inoveli and Zooz Zwave stuff waiting to be installed. The deciding factor between those two is appearance. Most of my house is toggles (Zooz). I'm not opposed to going paddle, but that is also going to involve replacing a bunch of dumb switches at the same time Replcing 5 master switches/ Dimmers and about seventeen dumb switches. If I decide later to go Lutron (and assuming I go the inoveli/paddle route now) Is that something where I can just pull the Z wave switch out and replace it with the lutron switch? or does lutron require all the slave switches, etc?
You can use Picos for your slave switches/dimmers and you don't need any special slave switches/dimmers or the wiring.
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There could be wiring changes depending on where line and load are. If both are in the same box then minimal wiring changes are necessary but if they are split into two separate gang boxes then you will have to make changes. You will also need to cap the wires that previously went to your old dumb switches. Then a pico remote bracket and remote cover the old wiring
I have Unifi stuff in 2 locations. I also have several security (Reolink mostly) cameras too - monitored by Synology servers. I like to have ethernet cable connections wherever possible because the video streams have less lag and do not clog up the Wi-Fi. And, of course, for on line gaming, a fast network connection is important.
I'm a bit surprised when I see people paying their ISP for an extremely fast internet connection and then just using Wi-Fi throughout their house.
This. One of the switches controls lights in the kitchen. There are three separate switches that can control them. The other two switches control two other sets of lights. Each of those have 2 switches which can control them. This is why I don’t do my own wiring, too confusing. I found an electrician that does side work for a reasonable rate.
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Why is this so surprising?
If you have the right gear, it is possible to meet or exceed your ISP's provided bandwidth speed via WiFi.
I pay for gigabit internet and can get over gigabit throughput via my UniFi WiFi setup.
For the average home user, WiFi is sufficient for daily use. Even for the above average user, like myself, WiFi is perfectly capable of meeting daily usage demands.
I telework daily. My work laptop connects to my WiFi network and my work VPN. Been doing so for years and I can perform any task that comes my way. Meetings, file transfers, etc. are no issue. My wife can connect to her work and my kids can connect to school, when needed, all at the same time without any bandwidth issues.
I also have multiple streaming devices for music listening and movie watching, all connected via WiFi depending on location within my house, with zero issues.
Yes, I have hardwired devices as needed, but find that a hard line is not necessary depending on the device and its use.
If done right, WiFi can be just fast fast as a hardwired connection. Ubiquiti just released a WiFi 7 access point with a 2.5GbE uplink and 5765 Mbps throughput on 6Ghz.
I am an IT guy by trade. Been working in the field for over 25 years.
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My next questions would be has anyone used the unifi express yet? I think I’m going to end up running cable And going the unifi route. It seems like the express might be a good pouting entry. Or would I be betting I with a cloud me and WAPs? It will be a bit before I can go the UDM route.
How big is your house and how much WiFi coverage do you want/need?
What is your ISP speed?
If you are able to run cable to every location you need, the Express should suffice. Just keep in mind that you will need to run a switch, with enough ports to cover your cable runs, in addition to the Express.
One additional note, depending on your needs. When operated as a gateway, the Express devices can only manages up to four additional UniFi Network devices such as other Express units, switches, and WiFi access points.
Correct. I also like that you can flush mount a Pico and it looks just like a regular in-wall switch. Anyway, I'm an enthusiastic Lutron customer.
Yes! I have been able to mount Picos in places I have always wanted a wall switch where it is impossible to run wires. Picos are so useful.
Have one in my car on a visor mount that I use when I pull up to the house or leave to run automations.
Yes. I have cameras too (just 3) that are hardwired POE cameras. I forgot about them. I got them during COVID when I worked for a Home AV Installer and just recently set them up. I agree, cameras must be hard wired. However, they are HIK Vision cameras... I do not trust this brand and I'm trying to replace them ASAP, probably for Unifi...
I have a feeling that a lot of us that are weary of Z-Wave got burned early by going with Leviton switches. Big name in the lighting world, not so much in the home automation world...
Depending on how many you had, that was:
a) An expensive mistake
b) Probably hundreds of hours of troubleshooting and pulling of hair
I don't have a ton of things in my junk box, but it's dominated by those devices.
I grew tired of the finickiness. Want to remove a switch? Hold on. Need to tell the switch it is being removed, and tell the hub also. Sometimes it would still be on the Z-Wave list. So now you have to use advanced software for a Z-Stick that is maddening to learn for someone like your grandpa.
Zigbee? Want to remove that switch? Go ahead. Just tell me you removed it.
I have only one Z-Wave device left. It is the Dome Mouser. I bought it a long time ago and have yet to catch a mouse in it. We do have the old snap type traps in several places that get their bait changed regularly. So I guess the Mouser is so good the mice don’t even think about coming in the house. Must keep elephants away too.
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Yeah, that too. I'm down to just a few Z-Wave devices as well and I haven't had to whip out the SmartStick in ages!
Leviton Z-Wave switches are what I have. Are they different than early versions? Because they’ve been super reliable for me.
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