cactus

Your model may be to let customers be beta testers but I have enough respect for my clients (and my reputation) not to risk it without a very specific need case, which hasn't existed.

I use the "external antenna" option, with the Zwave antenna mounted outside of the enclosures at the top, above the rack. Nice to ASSume what you dont know. The "problems" I've had are with Zwave devices dying, having to rebuild the database, and the way devices sometimes "disappear" from programs when changes are made. Other than the 2 enerwave devices I do not have communications errors on the zwave side. Insteon is another matter, but that seems to just be a "pre-failure" symptom of insteon modules. As soon as I see an Insteon taking several attempts to "write updates" I know it's going to be dead within 1-6 months. So on the Zwave 500 board I don't see an external antenna port...does that mean the option has been removed? So to run 500 I lose option of pre 5 firmware and external antenna, but if I keep 300 I can't run a "final release" v5? What a nightmare it is to wade through all this.

Thank you, I will study that this evening. I have to get back to work now. At some point I also have to research why everytime I start "AC" as you all like to call it, it gives me an error and closes but if I launch it second time it comes right up. Also occationally get some "Java unsigned" error (maybe 1 in 5 launches). Also need to find out why I have these 2 enerwave Zwave outlets that continually report communication errors in "AC" but yet otherwise seem to work fine. I wish I had the time to make this my fulltime job, but i just do not and its VERY frustrating.

Thank you now I know "AC" means Administrative Console. I ruled out Air Conditioning or Alternating Current, but otherwise had no clue. However in my first post if stated I went into About and listed the Z-Wave number it showed. Fantastic or not, people still reported problems and it WAS STILL A FRAKKIN BETA RELEASE! NO BETA RELEASES ARE ACCEPTABLE FOR LIFE SAFETY. NO BETA RELEASES ARE ACCEPTABLE FOR PAYING CUSTOMERS WITH MILLIONS OF DOLLARS OF MACHINERY AT STAKE. You people forget not everyone is a "home automation hobbyist" some of us can't risk it screwing up. If it was so "GREAT" why still in Beta after 3-4 (lost count) years?!?!?!

Well reading pages and pages of responses of previous 5 releases showed problems. Heck even in rc3 they are still fixing problems (something about elk conditions not evaluating. I do not want to be a beta tester, I DEPEND on my stuff to work... So when it comes to life/safety systems in my house my rule is NO BETA SOFTWARE. Likewise for my clients who (unfortunately) I have recommended ISY devices for in the past (which I stopped doing after the 2nd year of "BETA" 5.0). So while it was in beta I wasn't going to risk problems with things not working at my house while I was away and couldn't correct it. Now that it is FINALLY to release candidate stage I can consider it. So please excuse me for not having followed literally HUNDREDS OF PAGES of posts between the first 5.0 beta and today. I actually have a life and responsibilities and do not have the time to waste (BTW, I did spend a couple of days last Xmas tryiing to read those posts but after 2 days of reading/scrolling I had to get back to the REAL WORLD.

1. See my previous reply. ISY physically not accessible to me. 2-4. I don't have time to wade through page after page of replies in the hopes my questions are answered. My hope would be UDI would be professional enough to cover this pertinent info in the announcement post. Item 4 in particular could be easy to some up by someone in the know... 1. See above 2. THIS is the MOST USEFUL INFORMATION. THANK YOU!!!!!!! If only that was in the UDI announcement in the first place, it would have saved a lot of effort. I have 4.55 so now to investigate getting the 500 upgrade. So remaining question, if I get the 500 module will my existing 300 devices still work or are they garbage? Contrary to popular opinion, new technology should not automatically obsolete everything that came before it. That's a notion perpetuated by marketing & advertising, "planned obsolescence" engineering, and our "throw away" society. But that is a soapbox for another forum...

1. My ISY is inside an electrical cabinet, behind an equipment rack, in a closet...so physical access is a PITA. However I do seem to recall a blue LED on it. I don't know what "AC under Zwave" means. On the about it says "Z-Wave: 21100" (which I stated) but I see no guidance from UDI on how to interpret that. 2-3 I'm fine with 5.0.16rc1 I suppose... I'm on 4.8 now, what kinds of migration issues will I encounter? I have avoided all forks of 5.0 because of the "beta" label implications of "not being ready for prime time" I get that a lot of people on here like to tinker with this stuff infinitely and home automation is their "hobby"... I used to be that way to a certain extent. But now I have plenty of other "hobbies" and enough going on that I can't dedicate hours and hours to this. I just need something stable that "just works." This used to be that. I do wish I had never began using Zwave devices because they'e been nothing but trouble and when the ISY wigs out nothing works EXCEPT my Insteon direct-linked devices. For as much trouble as I've had with failed insteon modules I will say when they work, they work... Now I've had Zwave devices long enough to have some fail and 2 wall switches have failed in a mode where they rapidly switch the load output on-off continuously until I cut power. Not the greatest failure mode behavior.

1. So how about someone actually ANSWERING the question "how do I find out what zwave module I have?"? Someone asked and rather than saying how to find out the reply was that THAT PERSON'S Zwave is 300. So now I have to ask also, how do I check? (HINT: MAYBE PUT THIS IN THE UPGRADE INSTRUCTIONS SINCE THIS IS APPARENTLY IMPORTANT!) Mine says "Z-Wave: 21100" in the about box. 2. If I have a 300 module, does this mean upgrading to RC3 will render my Zwave devices inoperable? After waiting YEARS FOR A FINAL 5.0 RELEASE?? Ugh. 3. If I have a 300 module, does this mean I am limited to running RC2 until I upgrade Zwave dongle and live with the Elk bugs in that version? 4. If I upgrade to the 500 module and RC3, will my existing Zwave devices still work (many of which I assume to be 300 since I've had many for over 3 years)? I am thankful that after YEARS OF WAITING a final version 5 release is on the horizon, assuming of course that the release candidate stage doesn't also go on for several years also...