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Global Reliability of Zibabox

William Noël shared this question 5 years ago
Need Answer

Hi,

I'm using a Zipabox since 2013. 39 modules (shutter in-wall modules, wall-plugs, heater in-wall modules, smoke detectors, doors detectors, motion or temp sensors, etc) and 50 rules.

brands : Fibaro mostly, Qubino, Everspring, zipato and coolcam.

I had chosen this box because it was the only one who had a "without script puzzle system" more user friendly and with a strong marketing announcement "Do it yourself" meaning no need of a professional.

After many issues and despite some temporary solutions, and the support team should remember me (also Sebastian Popovic), my main issue is not solved (it disappear after a reboot but after some hours it reappear). I mean "latency", random latency.

Maybe my first generation of Zibabox is the cause but nobody confirm me that. I consider that is general with all Zipabox.

Latency make the system unreliable and uncomfortable for a daily use.

  • This morning : command to turn on lights... executed 30 minutes later.
  • in stairs, motion detector detect me but no light (yes if you wait 5 min or more)
  • command to close shutter executed after 15min and sometimes never.

I can't do a ZWNTUT every days, that make no sense.

At my last support request I received this answer "This is a DIY installation with various brands, For further checks you will need to request a professional hour or checkup." No, that was not the deal. I didn't signed to pay professional services but to be able to do things by myself. But that need explanations.

I considered using the Zipabox as an alarm but I can't trust in a system with so much latency (e.g. you arm the alarm but it is really armed 30min later... :( ). Subject closed for the moment.

I'm using Google home to send commands to Zipabox through Google Assistant/IFTTT.

There are many vendors supported by google assistant and it appears that new connected house are using WiFi versus Z-Wave. The question is why to continue to use z-wave network when many connected devices can do the job, more and more (like Shutterbox)?

I begun to buy some WiFi connected wall-plugs and bulbs and it works very well. My WiFi is a solid Uniquiti Network.

I will be very happy if support or the whole community help me and confirm that Zipabox is really a relevant and reliable solution for my home automation. Because my opinion at this time is "it works but not correctly. 10 devices or module is OK, but not for 40 modules (and I don't have automated all I want).

I would love to have your comments.

Do you have also this latency issue? Do you know why and how to avoid that effect?

Regards,William

Replies (7)

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Hi William

I have currently 45 Z-Wave devices and about 60 virtual devices running. 90+ rules which also send commands via web or inhouse to other devices.

I only realised that there are delays on commands at the time I sync rules or do a backup. Obviously the box is "preparing" things in background. Otherwise my zipabox works constant more or less +/- 1 second at the same speed.

Maybe check with Support if they can read protocoll of box if you can tell them the exact time when your problems did happen.

Hope this helps.

Kind regards

Beat

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Ive have similar issues, not so long delay as 30min but i often notice delays.

One big issue for me is plugs with power meetering sending updates way to often. Ive changed in the diffrent devices parameters but some of them loose the setting if there is a power outage. So every other month i need to set the parameters again.

Check events in dashboard if you have any device that spams the z-wave network.

After i changed this, i still notice delay with turning on/off lights, but its better.

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Hi Mattias,

thanks for your reply. what do you advise? what parameters to change on device? e.g. report frequency in seconds ?

I will try to change all my fibaro wallplugs from 30 to 60 seconds (option 43).

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I'm facing same delays (10-45 sg) very often, with all nodes on-line, when I reboot everything works fine for a few hours, I submited a few tickets and it was said that these problems should be related to my installation,.. I doubt it as nodes are OK, it is not related to any specific node/device and rebooting solves the problem. But it's a a Zipatile.

Any one with similar latency problems ??

Best Regards

Gerardo

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I cannot comment on the relevance or reliability of Zipato itself; I am one of the very frustrated customers with their lack of responsiveness in their customer service.


That being said, I am passionate about the differences between WiFi and Z-Wave. My main job is in cybersecurity and from a security perspective, there is no contest between WiFi and Z-Wave. With a Z-Wave setup, your sensors are essentially in an isolated environment with controlled device registration. Especially with S2, your devices are communicating using encryption with only known devices. The hub (in this case Zipato) is the main spot where you have to be concerned about hacking. If you trust the security of Zipato hub/api/website, you can be comfortable about the security of your whole system. On the other hand, each WiFi device has to maintain its own security and is vulnerable to attack. Most of these devices are inexpensive and poorly coded from a security perspective.

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Hi Vernon,

Interesting argument. I cannot say I 100% trust in Zipato as far as they can monitor my system and they have a full access to my configuration.

what do you mean by "S2"?

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Z-Wave S2 framework is an update to the Z-Wave standard. Here is a quote from the Z-Wave Alliance:

"The Z-Wave S2 framework was developed in conjunction with the cybersecurity expert community to give the already secure Z-Wave devices new levels of impenetrability. By securing communication both locally for home-based devices and in the hub or gateway for cloud functions, S2 also virtually removes the risk of devices being hacked while they are included in the network. By using a QR or pin-code on the device itself the devices are uniquely authenticated to the network as well. Common hacks such as man in the middle and brute force are virtually powerless against the S2 framework through the implementation of the industry-wide accepted secure key exchange using Elliptic Curve Diffie-Hellman (ECDH)."


More about it can be read in this article: https://www.i-scoop.eu/news/z-wave-alliance-s2-framework-better-smart-home-security/


I am not certain if Zipato has implemented S2 yet; I asked a year or so ago and their response was typical of Zipato. According to the Z-Wave Alliance though, the ZipaBox/Tile 2 should be since I would assume the Z-Wave Alliance certified them after April, 2017. That being said, I am also not certain that if you have older non-S2 compliant devices in your Z-Wave network that S2 will be available. No matter what, Z-Wave is MUCH more secure overall than a WiFi setup.

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Hi,

I'm using a 50+ - devices installation (Zigbee and CoCo (433 MHz) and virtual (Http)-devices. For more than 5 years. The longest "latency" i have seen in the past 5 years was +/- 1 second. So no latency at all. What I supspect in your Z-wave installation is that your Z-wave mesh network is completely "messed" up. So try to find out your network topology (which device is connected to which device. There are some tools that can do the job (just google for them on the internet)

Best Regards,

John

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Hi John,

Thanks for your reply. any tool to advise ?


Regards,

William

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Hi William,

In the past i used the z-wave toolbox from zwaveproducts. It did the job fairly good. It showed the poor connections and mal-functioning devices. But the tool cost some money and there are probably other tools on the market that are cheaper. But now, since i have switched to zigbee, i am using different tools.

However when poor response times are an issue it is always caused is a malfunctioning device/ bad connection or another device that is jamming 868 Mhz.

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With the zipabox and 100+ devices and 200+ rules I had also big problems but then I bought the zipamicro and what can I say, it works very well.

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Hi Alexander,

Is zipamicro replace zipabox or is it added in the network?

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The zipamicro replaced the zipabox.

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OK, I didn't know this zipamicro.

:( It is a complicate choice: zipabox is extensible but not so powerfull and zipamicro is powerfull but not extensible... and I'm willing to have enocean technology or 3G...

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The zipamicro have additional a integrated akku and a possibility to usb a 3G Stick.

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Zipabox 2 will be available in 2 weeks

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In France ?

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https://www.domotique-store.fr/domotique/usages/creer-son-installation/box-serveurs-controleurs-domotiques/1001-zipato-zipabox-2-box-domotique-modulaire-et-multi-protocoles.html


Quote on the seller's page:

En date du 16/01/2017 : Nous déconseillons maintenant fortement l'achat de cette box pour la gestion du chauffage avec thermostat physique. Suite à plusieurs modifications apportées par Zipato, cette fonction est maintenant limitée, mal gérée et de nombreux bugs sont présents.

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