Vera Edge, Whats Next?

Is there any clear information on what is happening next with Vera edge and plus?

Will vera edge and alexa voice control be supported for a few years to come? I have a few clients i am setting up vera’s for but dont feel comfortable installing them when i am seeing posts about alexa not being maintained and new software being released.

Sorry if this is clearly stated elsewhere but i cant seem to find anything concrete.

For the “clearest” guidance on the fate of Edge and Plus controllers, you’d have to pull from many recent snippets posted on the Forum.

My understanding (based on those disparate sources) is that those platforms will:

  • Not likely receive a further firmware update from 7.0.31/UI7
  • Possibly become candidates for UI8 (as ezlo firmware)
  • Continue to be sold by ezlo (until supplies run out)
  • Receive tech support for the near future
  • No longer be actively promoted as the ezlo platforms emerge
  • Find their strongest advocates and userbase in this Forum
  • Not enjoy a direct migration path over to ezlo hardware
  • Suffer from the inferiority of Z-Wave/Zigbee/Bluetooth implementations on all Vera devices
  • Risk performance disruptions (OS restarts, Luup reloads), processing snags (‘got CAN’ errors, NONCE halts, etc.), up to and including premature death (non-load-balanced RAM drive failures), due to suboptimal design

If you’re an existing long-term Vera user, no doubt you are familiar with most of that list. Have you considered the alternative of testing or purchasing ezlo controllers instead of Vera ones for your clients?

Thank you for that very informative reply, i appreciate it,.

The problem i have is that most of the time i use RTI to control Vera, so i require a driver to communicate which ezlo does not have. I also require a controller that can do more than 30 devices. I have installed over a hundred vera edge controllers. Will be a shame to have to go elsewhere.

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Let us know what you chose and we will follow like lemmings :rofl:

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I moved on from Vera about a year ago, I only use it as a hub (as many others) for ZWave and do most everything else using Home Assistant. I found the learning curve not too steep. You can use Node Red ,which a method of setting up complicated automation visually, making automation a doddle. I figured I will log in to see what’s happening with Vera one year on. I appreciate forums catch more negative talk than positives, but from what I have seen I have no regrets moving on. I have a Vera Edge and a plus and they seem to run just fine with old firmware. They have no automation, I removed most of the non-zwave equipment (I still use LightwaveRF as I could not be asked to redo it in HA). I tend to not run the bleeding edge firmwares and updates on HA and I’ve had very little issues. That’s my 2pence.

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I guess I’m late to the party, as usual! LOL… I’ve just found out that Vera is going away. I’m trying to figure out what’s next as well. I have a Vera edge and around 20 devices, all working great, minimal issues. I use the Harmony plugin and run a Hue Lights Emulator on a Raspberry to gain voice control of all devices.

I would be fine most likely staying right where I am other than if/when my Vera Edge dies and can no longer buy another one. OR, remote access is also suspended. Any input appreciated.

Think I’m sticking with my Vera Plus for some time yet. I have recently moved all my logic rules to the new Multi-System Reactor engine, I have running on a Raspberry Pi.

So now I am also mainly using the Vera hub as just a Z-Wave radio.

However I do still use some Vera plugins like the Harmony and AltHue ones and a few others.

Also using Home Remote as my dashboard app on my phone and tablets around the house.

Pretty happy with my current setup. I have a Vera Edge hub as a spare unit. Might try and pickup a cheap Vera Plus off eBay at some point as well.

Unless the Ezlo Plus hub I have here at some point works with Multi-System Reactor and the Harmony plugin as is, is ported over to the Ezlo platform and Home Remote dashboard app also will work with Ezlo hubs in the future, I can’t see myself migrating all my Z-Wave devices to the Ezlo hub any time soon.

Thanks, as stated, I’m a bit confused as to how to plan for the future. I had the same thought about buying a backup from eBay. Searching for Vera Plus finds nothing, Vera Edge shows only two units at $100 and $100 plus. I thought about snatching one of those but if Vera hardware is gonna be that hard to find I think I’d rather move away from it.

I had an extra Pi 4 so I loaded Home Assistant on it last night and played with it for a bit. Home Assistant has an Integration for Vera and Harmony so basically I can do anything I’ve been doing already through Home Assistant IF I keep the Vera Edge since most everything (devices and scenes) came from the Vera.

I thought I might just get a z-wave USB stick for the radio and ditch the Vera hardware. I assume then I’d need to add all my z-wave devices back, re-create scenes and such. I could just forward the port on router to get to Home Assistant from outside and the iOS app has setting for internal and external access.

Also, I currently run ha-bridge on another Raspberry to integrate devices and scenes into Alexa for voice control. I ran this before Alexa had a Vera skill then kept using it rather than the Vera skill because the Vera Skill limited voice control over some things, locks, etc. I guess I could find something similar to use with Home Assistant or make the same software work.

I’ve never used Home Assistant. With Multi-System Reactor for my complex logic rules, I don’t really see the need for Home Assistant yet as all my devices are Z-Wave.

I’m not sure what benefit Home Assistant would give me with my current setup.