Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I upgraded to this from a VeraLite. Yes, I had problems with transferring my battery powered devices and ended up having to simply remove and reconnect each of them. It's been rock solid since. Vera isn't as user friendly as the other products are. If you're the type of person who has to call someone to fix a computer or someone who doesn't know how to troubleshoot systematically, then this product isn't for you. Also, if you don't search forums or google before you ask for help, this probably isn't for you. In order to be successful in the z-wave community, you really should have some knowledge of networks, computers(Linux), SSH, wireless protocols, etc. It's all interwoven into one area with this device. It REALLY is a great product at a very good price point if you know what you're getting. If you know about coding, protocols, and like to tinker than this product is absolutely for you. If you want to have your house speak the temp only on days that are marked using your google calendar and only when the temp/humidity is a prime number, then this product is for you. If you want to simply turn a switch on using your phone, then other products can do that probably slightly easier (and probably cost a monthly fee, which this one doesn't). Good luck and hope it helps. Now..6 months later. So I figured that I'd chime in on the Micasaverde company that makes these devices to give you a honest and fair warning. First, let me defend them by saying they have a major task allowing 3rd parties to develop hardware and then supporting the software that links to these 3rd party devices. Sure, it's universal stuff, but that's not to say that the 3rd party developers know what they're doing. A word of advice, stick with known companies to initially get you started. Don't go buy 50 devices off another web site from Hong Kong for $.25 each when they normally sell for $20 each. Not a smart move when you're reliant on that devices to also act as a repeater to get to other devices. Now for the negative part about the company. Dealing with them is a little like dealing with Comcast. You know they could be doing better, but they won't for whatever reason. For instance, approximately 1 in 4 firmware versions is GOOD. Lately, it seems they're too busy adding features that they can up sell rather than hiring a quality software engineer stabilize their core firmware. It seems that many times they use their customer base as beta testers. For example: they actually pushed beta out for only 2 weeks, then put it into production only to find that the script copying would erase all "+" and "%" characters. How can you honestly have customers wait for 5 months for a beta release and then legitimately only beta it for 2 weeks???? How can you honestly not test basic arithmetic through the script editor before you even put it out to beta? I have to admit that the customer service on the phone is VERY nice and helpful when they can be. Unfortunately be forewarned, they are also clearly versed in the act of lip service. The standard answer is that every fix to all your problems is going to be released in the next couple of days with the next update. So now that I'm done bagging on the company, I still have to admit that they are the only game in town that lets you do what I've done with it, especially for the price. Sure, they have a massive advantage and have essentially passive/aggressively crapped on the very developers that create the plugins that help them sell their products. Unfortunately until a major company, or open source, decides to offer a little more techie experience with a more stable product then we get what we can get.