[HH] Home remote control - not exactly hardware hacking.

[Tom Metro]

Palit, Nilanjan wrote:
> Any experience on this list with the following?
> 
> Z-Wave USB devices:
> http://www.z-wave.com/modules/Products/?id=54&chk=0f048a0c1b1b9bfc5a733ca6d53fb254

No direct experience, but the OpenZwave folks, last I checked,
recommended the Aeon Labs Z-Wave USB Adapter.

See other recommendations here:
http://code.google.com/p/open-zwave/wiki/Controller_Compatibility_List

If I remember correctly it comes in two flavors, one with a button that
allows you to put it into learning mode and carry it around detached
from your computer.

(With Zwave the learning process uses a lower-power communication for
security reasons, so you need to be in close proximity to the device
being added to the network. Building your network could be a pain if you
don't have a master controller that you can physically move to where the
device you want to add (say a light switch) resides.)

Also listed at your link is a ControlThink interface. I believe it is
generally recommended against because they withdrew their developer SDK.

I suspect most of the other interfaces listed there have been discontinued.


> Z-Wave Commander:
> http://melloware.com/products/zwave/

Nope.

In summary, it uses a ControlThink interface and some server software
running on a Windows machine, which you can then remotely control via a
client running on your smart phone.

Personally, I'd stick with open source tools (the above is semi-open
source) and in particular tools that used open protocols, like xPL[1].

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XPL_Protocol

 -Tom