This product is dismal. I feel like I have paid $200 for a box that displays a web page that says, “Luup engine is taking longer to reload.” I tried using the reset button, but it does not work.I looked online for help, and the help site indicated that I had to install new firmware, but the firmware downloader only works with Windows XP (which is not even sold anymore), and I needed to download and install a Windows XP app from Microsoft.

I am really disappointed in the extremely poor quality of the product software. The box is ONLY made for serious tecno-geeks, and even then I think you’d be better off buying a z-wave stick and an arduino, and writing your own controller. It would probably be faster than the time you’d have to invest to get the Vera3 to work – if indeed you can.

Nothing works out of the box. Passwords can’t be set or reset. Battery pack doesn’t work. Can barely understand the tech support. I’ll keep trying for awhile, but I’m just developing Vera’s product for free.

I am very tech savvy, but I am unable to get the device to function. When it powers up it goes into a strange mode where all the lights lite up and it will not respond.
I have tried to contact technical support but have not received a response. I may end up returning it and going a different route.

Stay away!!! At least for the time being and while Vera is apparently conducting a mass beta-testing of their future version of the software on unwilling customers.

One day I was asked to update to UI6. The box has been pretty much unusable since then. Later I became clear that UI6 was a beta, however that was not what I was told when I was asked to upgrade. Also, I’ve rarely come across a public beta this unusable!

The next version UI7 is in the making. Wait for that to come out and ask around to make sure that it is stable when it releases. UI6 is NOT stable and the on-line support I’ve gotten so far have not been able to help.

Maybe others have been more luckly than I. I hope so.

Could not get it to link with kwikset locks. Got vera lite and had no problem. The problem I assume is that i had to clear the locks from the previous vera. Meaning before you can link you need to unlink even though you never linked.

I love gadgets. The more complicated the better. I consider it a challenge to try to get them up and running. This Vera 3 home controller has really driven me crazy. The first one I bought failed after a firmware upgrade. After returning it and trying to set up the second one I am still having problems after spending hours going over documentation. First of all, if you have X10 or Insteon you need to buy another part to go with this thing. It is called a PowerLinc Modem and costs 79.99. Here are the rest of my complaints.
1. This has the worst user interface I have ever seen in my life. The screens are not intuitive nor do they guide you through the process.
2. The documentation links or help links on the user interface do not work as near as I can tell. I am using this on an iMac with Safari but I really don’t think that would cause help links to fail.
3. I set up one X10 switch and I have yet to get the schedule to work even intermittently. I am able to get the light to go on and off with the software manually. Ie, use my cell phone to turn it on or off through the mobile interface.
4. The online documentation is vague. Step by step details or flow charts could help.

I have set up many devices and have worked with computers, networks and routers quite a bit. This one has me flummoxed. Unless you are prepared to spend hours figuring it out, stay away!

I own for 2 years a MiCasaVerde Vera Lite as a home controller. It took quite some trials and errors to get the Vera Lite to work but at the end it works well and is simple to use. The Vera 3 is much worse. The instructions are extremely poor or non existent. The z-wave portion of this WiFi/Z-wave controller combination is similar to the Vera Lite. However, the wifi router portion is absolutely horrible. First, you can’t access the WiFi router. Although username and password are provided (printed on a label on the bottom of the device), no URL is given. The IP-address brings you only to the z-wave controller but not the WiFi. I spent the better parts of a weekend to get this thing to work. No luck. Apparently, WiFi settings cannot be viewed or modified. I have several peripherals that are hard-wired to my WiFi router. These include a synology server. It cannot be accessed through the Vera router. I also have four network music players which use WiFi. They also do not work with the Vera 3 Wifi. There are no instructions to be found in the box or on the internet that would describe any aspect of the WiFi settings of this router. My recommendation: Stick with your current router or by a WiFi router from a known manufacturer and add Vera lite for Z-wave to it; or buy a product from another manufacturer. With this poor router Vera is killing its name in the Z-Wave world.

The current version of this is garbage. The UI6 firmware is terrible. From what I have read, the UI5 firmware works great and supports smartphone apps fine. The newer UI6 does not. I am trying to convert mine to UI5 and it is terrible. If I cannot succeed I will try to return or dump it cheap to the next guy who might have a shot of getting it to work.

Let’s start with this – I’ve been working with computers for 34 years professionally and have run my own IT services company for the last 9 years. So I have a clue about technology.

RUN – don’t buy!

Documentation is NON existent unless you count random you tube videos and user forums where you can wander around for days trying to find answers.

Was able to get a few things to work but it’s like pulling teeth out of an angry bear … just isn’t any fun having to google search for hours on end trying to figure things out.

For instance – purchased a 4 in 1 sensor – was able to pair the device. Then spent 4 hours trying to find explanations/definitions for the advance settings that can be used … never did find them. Really?

Unless you know someone who has had direct training or experience … I would not recommend this system.

On the other hand – the technical theory is very good. If they fix the zillion little bugs with the web interface and actually document the base station and all of the devices this could be a very nice little system.

Someday?

The software and interface mishmash on this product is catastrophically bad. I can’t even call it a design, as that would insult anyone who ever put ANY thought into something they created. Trying to figure out how to just set up the product involves extreme diligence and ingenuity, since it doesn’t come with instructions. There is a wiki site though that you may stumble across, but it is so poorly written that many of the instructions don’t make any sense. I found that if I do the opposite of what the wiki says, it may actually accomplish something.

When I finally got it to actually do something that it was supposed to do, it had hijacked some ports on my computer and several of my peripherals no longer worked. So I had to reset/reinstall those, which was fun. As I then stumbled around the interface, of which there a couple of different ones (for no obvious reason), I found myself guessing at what various options are supposed to do. Some did nothing, others spit messages at you for no discernible reason, while others simply undid everything you’d spent hours trying to accomplish. It honestly feels like Micasaverde had the guy from the move Momento write their interface. Nothing makes any sense, and there is no cohesion. Unlike Momento, I don’t expect this to make sense in the end.

I finally was able to get the system to turn on a light, but I now have a 50-ft cat5 cable snaking from my office to the laundry room. I then tried to get the Vera3 to work over wifi, but that is apparently asking too much. It won’t actually scan for a network and when I type in the network SSID and click save, it returns to the default non-wifi mode.

Support hotline you ask? Sure they are open from midnight until 6pm. So I can either call in the middle of the night, or take the afternoon off work. And that’s assuming you actually get through to someone. The one time I called during business hours I didn’t get through.