Responses (1)

• K

  KurtM

  Replying to myself since I didn't get a reply. Perhaps this will help someone who sees my question. I wasn't fully clear in my question. I was wanting to do dusk on schedulding without the need for an Alexa device like the Echo Dot. I purchased one z-wave light switch to see how it works before purchasing some more. Here is what I found. Using just the Alexa app on my iPhone or iPad, I was able to setup a routine to turn the switch on at dusk (sunset) and a second routine to shut them off at 1am. This light on/off scheduling works without an Echo Dot, just the Ring security base station is needed. However, other routines didn't work like using a Ring camera's motion for turning on a light. I had an Echo Dot that I stuffed in a drawer becuase I never used it and found it annoying that a device was always listening to me. I powered it up and tried again with a routine that would turn on a light when a camera detected motion and a second routine to turn off the light when no motion was detected for a period of time. With the Echo Dot setup these routines started working. So it seems like if all you want is light scheduling - no Echo Dot (or other Alexa enabled device) is needed, but for motion activation you need an Alexa device like the Echo Dot.

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  30-04-2020 06:54:02

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  D

  Drewski

  I have been using Z-wave through through Hubs, the orginal Vera 2, the Vera 3, and SmartThings. So I have some history with Z-wave hubs. You really need a hub to take advantage of the Z-Wave Devices. What you are asking about is a result in my opinion that the Ring Alarm system inhales strongly, or if you choose, exhales very strongly, as a Z-Wave controller. I moved the three approved Smoke/CO2 detectors and the Dome Siren to the Ring Alarm base. They work with Ring okay, but I lost some functionality from Smartthings, like not being able to see the battery level, until the battery was so low the device was in distress. Another thing is the CO2/Smoke Detector went off (correctly for Co2-long story) and when I looked at the logs in the app, nothing was logged. It has to do with Ring not incorporating all of the Z-Wave protocols that are made available for the device. Or at least the ones that may be important for an alarm system, like monitoring battery level. Once I made sure the Alarm system, was stable, I took an unused GE/Jasco Outdoor Z-Wave switch and added it to the alarm system. When I did that about a year ago, the IOS app had no way to set any timers, just turn it off or on. In addition, there is no way to remove the device from the Ring Alarm system Z-Wave network except to completel reset the device. Also there is no way to do a Z-Wave Repair. While it is described as "Repair", it is good practice to run the Repair on the hub anytime a device is added or removed, since Z-Wave is a mesh network, where the devices need to have their routing tables created anytime there is a change. What you are asking for in being able to turn the switch for the lights off at dawn or on at dusk, is normally part of normal capability. In fact this is basic to any computer controlled automation, as I had this capaility in the 1990s in my X-10 system. (Google what that is, if you are interested in how obsolete that protocol is). It's not just the alarm system that lacks the capability to turn on and off as the daylight changes, like it is now, each of my three floodlight cameras do not have this capaibility. So when it going from spring to summer, like now, I make an appointment about every two weeks to change the scheduled on and off times to get that effect. In short, if you want control of devices, especially Z-Wave, buy a hub. SmartThings is pretty good, but if I was buying now, I would look at Hubitat. You can also "roll your own" using a Raspeberry PI and some open source software.

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  01-05-2020 07:37:02

  J

  JinPA

  Remember, you can always push the mute button on you Alexa device if you don't want her listening.

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  08-06-2020 12:52:23