I’m a nerd. A professional nerd. Not a programmer, not a networking guru, but a nerd with a solid understanding of most computer shit. I’ve built airplanes, military airplane systems, guitar amps, worked with software devs to make incredible software… I’m not trying to do this on a tight budget, or hack goofy stuff together. Yet Homeseer conquers me.
My setup: -HS4Pro latest version, on old windows 7 pro laptop -Znet interface on Ethernet connected to -Netgear GS316EP switch -5xWX300 Switches/dimmers -3xZooz Zen34 battery powered switches -2xZooz Zen17 Universal Relays -3xTuya WIFI plugs can
It’ll work fine for a month or two, then stuff just stops working, and I have to spend literally an entire day dealing with it. It’s almost always the physical hardware. I lost three WX300 switches in one month, one after the other. They would die, then would lose programming, and wouldn’t come back after power loss. I called Tyler at HS customer service, who was awesome, and he’d remote in, do his diagnosis, and say “dude, I helped develop zwave standards, I’ve done this for ten years… And I’ve never seen anything like this- I have no idea”. So I returned those switches, or tried to, because it took HS 3 MONTHS to make the return process happen. (Admittedly I didn’t push super hard, but still)
The WX300 would diagnose as good, they’d communicate back and forth, but the load could not be controlled remotely. The whole system was convinced that it worked correctly, but the physical lights wouldn’t turn on and off. So I replaced the switches in June. Six months later, same shit.
But also, the HS4Pro software is GARBAGE. I am not an Apple fanboy- I don’t need restricted, proprietary software that only works in one way, but damn, this software is difficult to navigate. What’s the difference between settings, advanced functions, and device diagnostics? No clue, because the Homeseer documentation is GARBAGE. Ohhh, I didn’t click on the root device, I clicked on the thirty-seventh level function, which displays the same exact menus, but none of them actually load. Cool. Should have known that. /s
“Search the forums”… Riiight. When I do that I find a bunch of people like me, who ask a question, and get zero response beyond “hurrr, what software version are you using?” And then they sell their 50+ devices because it’s so ridiculously unreliable and difficult.
Their YouTube videos are also equally as useless as anything other than marketing. I really couldn’t imagine documenting a system like this so poorly.
I appreciate u/homeseermark for everything he does, and Tyler too, but it’s so stupid. It really doesn’t have to be this difficult, and shouldn’t.
I feel like Homeseer will fail, and fall into obscurity if something drastic isn’t done to correct this. It’s such a shame, because daaang, the possibilities are amazing, but fall flat.
Rant over.
I have to tell you this seems like a lot of frustration. I don’t know what’s up with your setup but HomeSeer is the most rock solid part of my HA setup. It just runs. My biggest problem is that I only ever touch it every year or Two and forget how I have things set up.
The hardware has nothing to do with HS (unless maybe you bought through their online store? But that’s like blaming Amazon for the product you bought.). And why on earth would you complain about Z-wave to homeseer? Do you complain about WiFi standards to Apple?
The software interface is indeed dated and a little kludgy but it gets the job done. But once set up you never need to touch it. I’ll do very simple things in Alexa, but if I need any complex logic or integration with weird crap, I always go back to homeseer.