SmartStick+ Z-Wave Plus USB Interface

I run the Homeseer software on an old Windows 7 Pro system, to automate my home. This product is the connection between that and my 20-30 wireless devices I've installed all over my house. My old Z-stick from another manufacturer died on me, so I ended up ordering this. The signal strength and networking are much stronger on this device than my old Z-stick. It adds devices much easier (due to the updated Z-wave software I think). It links into my Homeseer software seamlessly. I've been running it for several months now, and it works great. I would advise newbies that this is a fairly complicated system, but it has the power professionals and advanced amateurs (like me) need.

Hardware works fine. Only wish there was some better SW to support some of the newer secure locks.

I bought this to replace an Aeotec Z-Stick S2 using my HomeSeer HS3. The Z-Stick was having problems pairing with devices and communicating with some of the Z-wave devices on the other side of the house. After a quick transfer of the information from the Z-Stick to the SmartStick+, everything worked fine, and I haven't had any issues with pairing or communicating with devices since. Definitely worth the cost for the swap.

My 10-year old $135 Z-Troller died suddenly this week but I should have seen the symptoms.. random lighting devices (32 total) would stop responding until I optimized them, which was often. 3 were totally unresponsive. So the SmartStick+ came to the rescue with free overnight shipping. Worth every penny and I wish I’d made the switch sooner. This stick was simple to install, even for a Mac user who only keeps a cheap PC to run Homeseer 3 Pro. I had an old backup of the Z-Troller so I had to manually add newer devices. It was a breeze. The whole setup time was only a couple of hours. I’m amazed how the SmartStick works with 10 year old Intermatic devices and the range is fantastic. We have 3200 square feet on 2 floors. The big bonus of course was having 3 older Z-wave switches start working again.. about $100 worth! Now Alexa is happily turning our lights on and off again. Thank you, Homeseer!

Would not re-connect with Honeywell thermostats once setup. This system is not worth the time it takes to learn it and I am an Engineer!

No software included for those who want to manually config everything. A wink hub is much more user friendly and cost only a little more.

I am running HomeSeer 3 on a virtual machine using VirtualBox. I was running a third-party serial-to-usb device with an old z-troller which worked okay. However, I wanted to upgrade from the old (10+ years) z-troller to newer technology. I decided to upgrade to the SmartStick but was unable to make it work in my virtual machine setup. I ended up returning this device and ordering the much more expensive z-net Ethernet Z-Wave interface which is working fine. I am giving it a three because it does not work with a virtual machine, which it should. Judging from the other reviews, in a normal computer setup, it evidently works fine.

Very pleased with this. I was skeptical as it's form factor made me nervous, I wasn't sure it would have appropriate range to communicate with my Z-Wave devices. I did have some trouble at first but that's because I had it plugged into the back of the computer which was itself in the back of a closet. There was simply too much electromagnetic interference, I suspect. I put it on the end of a 5 foot USB extension cable and tacked that to the wall and it's bee working perfectly. That's not the fault of the design or the item in question, just the reality of stationing a RF antenna on the back of a electronically "noisy" PC. I would happily buy this again. I was replacing a Vera Lite and I'm sorry I hadn't done this sooner. The Vera Lite barely had enough power and range, and had severe issues with latency in contrast to this controller.

I have been using this for the last two years and it has worked flawlessly. Highly recommend this product.

The description is not clear that you need HomeSeer license to use this. Unless you have HomeSeer I would not recommend buy this one.