Nexia Z-Wave Start Bundle, SK101, Includes Bridge and Light Module

I have had an American Standard Thermostat for several years (free Nexia subscription). I decided to add an electronic lock, so I expanded on the Nexia funtionality that I was currently using by adding the bridge. The first oddity is the limited crosstalk between the thermostat and the other automations. The thermostat uses a vacation mode, but it is not the same vacation mode that the HA (Home Automation) uses. Both have day and night, home and away, but they are not the same thing. You can change the thermostat temp setting through the HA, but you can't set the HA to vacation mode and have the thermostat recognize it (and revert to the vacation settings).All that said - this is a really simple system to install. I also use a system sold by a large Korean cell phone company called ST in my vacation home. If your someone looking for true functionality that can be setup in a matter of hours, this Nexia system is the product for you. I setup a Schlage lock on Nexia in about an hour compared to a few weeks on ST. In the end the Nexia lock implementation has more functionality than does the ST implementation. The downside is of course, there is less selection of "wiz bang" products for Nexia. The Nexia automation setup is unbelievably simple. The tutorial videos are on the side of the setup screen - it doesn't get any better than that. The Nexia support is a little slow. When considering a camera, I sent a support email to Nexia asking about how camera motion detection worked. By the time I got a reply, I had ordered another brand of camera and had received it (standard shipping). By contrast the ST support is always fast and reliable. This probably is a function of the product complexity/demand. Most of the Nexia stuff is easily figured out by the user, so they don't need much support staff. So in the day after I received the bridge, I had a functioning electronic lock that turns on the lights when we open the door with a known code. I can track when people enter and exit, and if they locked the door. I have a link to my generator that will notify me if my generator malfunctions. I have a link to my Alarm system that will send me a notification long before the alarm system dials me up. I am now adding a camera that will record video when the door is opened, and record video when the alarm is activated. I probably would have bought a Nexia camera and been done with it already if their support people had been responsive to my questions.The monthly price is the one thing everyone talks about. It is my theory that you get what you pay for. Consider this - most low end home automation systems do a large part of the device control/notification on servers in the cloud. If those cloud servers are just an overhead to the company - How long will they keep upgrading and adding bandwidth to the server farm? Nexia has been in the business for a relatively long time, so they have recognized the requirement for constant upgrades.

If this saves anyone from the hassle I went through, maybe my experience will be worth something.I first ordered this kit from Amazon directly, not an Amazon partner. Ignoring the fact that I paid extra for expedited shipping and it arrived late, the unit was DOA. I spent 2 hours troubleshooting it solo and another hour troubleshooting it with assistance from Nexia support (who were generally helpful), but it simply wouldn't work and they deemed it DOA. From the rep's comments, this didn't sound entirely rare. Nexia offered to replace the unit under warranty, but that would take 7-10 business days, so I requested a replacement unit from Amazon. The second unit had clearly been opened before and it had loose parts rattling around inside, so it was also non-functional (unsurprisingly). I shipped everything back and even that was a hassle with Amazon.You may be thinking my experience represents more of an Amazon issue than a Nexia issue, and I might agree were it not for the frustration I experienced using Nexia's website, their product instructions and their online help materials in the process of trying to get these devices working. The Nexia sign-up process seemed straightforward enough, but it turned out to be seriously flawed. After going through the effort of providing Nexia with 2 pages of information about me and my house, I was asked to setup a username and password, then start registering devices. But here's the rub: if you can't get any devices to successfully register with your account (starting with the Nexia Bridge), your account setup can't be completed. Eventually, after failing to get the first DOA unit to register, the website booted me out with a timeout. When I tried to login again, I was told my username and password were invalid. Note that I never received an email from Nexia confirming my account setup, so it was clearly incomplete.So I tried a 2nd time. Again, I had to fill out 2 pages of details before selecting a username and password. And (you knew this was coming) when I tried to select the same username, I was told it was already in use. Again, the system timed me out while I performed troubleshooting, and I lost that account as well. For whatever reason, I tried again with a 3rd login and the same thing happened. So after providing Nexia with numerous details about me and my house 3 times, I have 3 half-completed accounts that will never be used. I asked Nexia to delete them from their systems, but I'll have no way of knowing whether that was ever completed.Lastly, without going into gory details, note that the setup and support documents were poorly written. Only after an hour of troubleshooting did I find a note buried deep in the advanced network documentation noting that port 8879 must be open on your home router/firewall for the Nexia Bridge to communicate with their cloud service. Of course the documentation doesn't specify if it must be open inbound, outbound or both, nor if it's TCP, UDP, or both, so I tried a few combinations. The support rep told me he thinks it's TCP 8879 inbound and outbound but he wasn't sure. He also said I should have been able to login to any of my half-completed accounts and the website should have prompted me to continue setting up my equipment, but I can't believe that's true given that I tried 3 times and all 3 accounts were useless. He promised to escalate the issue, reset the password on my preferred account and get back to me when that was completed, but by the time that happened, I had already shipped back the 2nd dead Nexia bridge.On paper, this looks like a good product and service, but it just doesn't pass the smell test. Remember, Nexia charges a minimum of $10/month for their cloud service, so it should be great to justify that premium over competing products, many of whom don't charge for their cloud/device apps. I'm sure there are some happy Nexia customers out there, but given the experiences I had, I'd bet there are even more customers who, like me, unsuccessfully tried Nexia and moved on (I ordered an Insteon rig from SmartHome).Lastly, FWIW the Amazon rep that dug into the issue for me suggested that this product may be discontinued (true or not, I don't know). She said she believed I received 2 used/defective units from the discontinued/liquidation section of the fulfillment center, and that whatever new stock they still have is likely mixed in with the rejects, which doesn't sound like a good sign. Caveat emptor, folks.

Package arrived FAST from Amazon! Easy to connect with to home network.This product accompanied with a wifi zwave lock is perfect for families with middle schoo/high school aged children that come home prior to us arriving home from work. If they lose the key, but have a smart phone then they can unlock via the app (install, activate, and test before use).***Note: as an IT engineer I would advise that if you are unable to establish a connection between Nexiahome online portal and the gateway that you should unplug the power cord and remove the battery from the gateway for about 60 seconds. Then plug in power cord to establish a connection with the router and online portal. Then insert battery. This process will renew the IP Address on the router and establish a solid connection.Great product! Love 21st century Tech.

I just received this today and got it all setup. I setup my train X624 thermostat first with the bridge and then setup the provided appliance module. When I setup the thermostat the system offered me a zero dollar subscription. On the website it is listed as "Subscription Plan HVAC Dealer Thermostat Monthly." I am not sure if you bought your thermostat separately (i.e. It didn't come with your new HVAC system) if that would be the case but, at least for me, this product didn't require a monthly fee for the thermostat or the included appliance module. This is the main reason I am writing a review to make this clarification for folks -- as most of the reviews here indicated a paying subscription was required for any functionality.The statistics that are available for the thermostat, including the runtime of the air conditioner/heater daily and monthly will make this product worth the price -- as it will help me to manage my utility bills more carefully.

Too finicky - often is a pain to connect anything to it (locks, etc). The plug that comes with it works fine with it though.