Radio RA 2 needs same features as smart bridge

[asherrick]

I must be missing something. What does .net have to do with RR2 and Caseta features? I'm not suggesting it isn't related, I just don't know.

I'm an idiot. I somehow posted that message in the wrong thread. Sorry!

[veeeh]

... if the customer wasn't 'smart enough' have been sold to by a dealer (and bought RA2 or HWQS) they're faced with that dealer now telling them they need to RIP IT ALL OUT. Why? Not because there's any technological difference. But because the company continues to feel there's some need to be militant about market segmentation.

While I agree with the sentiment, I suspect Caseta hardware is simpler on the inside and is not capable of the feature set supported by RA2 and HWQS. Caseta dimmers do not have delay or fade-out time, which RA2 has. I am sure there are differences in how scenes are implemented, too - Picos on Caseta do not support scenes, while RA2 does. And the same goes for HWQS: I am sure Caseta hardware is not capable of double clicks and conditional programming.

While it would be helpful to be able to carry over Caseta hardware into RA2 or HWQS system, I am not sure it is technically feasible.

[xs10shl]

I've thought about this for a while now. One only needs to walk into a Best Buy and see the intense competition in the low-end home-control space to understand where the market will be moving next. These "smart home" products are in their infancy, to be sure, but they are already quite feature-rich, and functionality and interoperability will only get better as time passes. Sadly, it also means that there really isn't a happy end for products like RA2 and QS. Middle-market products will lose their feature-advantage as the market matures, and high end products will be relegated to the same narrow market slice they occupy currently.

The real holy grail of home control, IMHO, is to be able to walk into a room and have the room know who you are, anticipate what you want to do, and set the room up accordingly. Controls like Nest are working towards that - they learn your habits and react to them. And if you have an Android phone, they also know exactly who you are, and your exact Earth coordinates. Will Lutron be able to fashion the same sort of intelligent system with lighting? They had better get on it ASAP, or someone else is going to drink their milkshake.

[jautor]

They had better get on it ASAP, or someone else is going to drink their milkshake.

Best summary of the competition I've heard all year!

[schalliol]

While I understand RR2 is not concerned with having maximum market share, perhaps drawing a comparison to Mac OS X in the early 2000s, the capabilities do need to be enhanced to provide a much better experience overall than the cheaper competition.

I don't expect RR2 to do every single potential feature available in all the competition, but there sure is room for Lutron to make a RR2 v2 repeater that can extend to newer technology. I see no reason to replace the dimmer/switch components or wireless protocols, but an upgraded repeater could extend functionality to each of them.

[asherrick]

Does anyone know why RadioRA dimmers cost three times more than Caseta dimmers? I'm sure that there are some functional differences, but it's hard to believe that they are that? different.

[jautor]

I don't expect RR2 to do every single potential feature available in all the competition, but there sure is room for Lutron to make a RR2 v2 repeater that can extend to newer technology. I see no reason to replace the dimmer/switch components or wireless protocols, but an upgraded repeater could extend functionality to each of them.

Yeah, I'd add a SmartBridge or a upgraded Main Repeater to my system to gain the Caseta partner integration, no problem.

[therockhr]

Yeah, I'd add a SmartBridge or a upgraded Main Repeater to my system to gain the Caseta partner integration, no problem.

Just seems like a no-brainer. Phase out the RA2 line by replacing small-medium RA2 installations with a SmartBridge Pro and large installations with HWQS.

[schalliol]

I'm not sure I agree with that, since RR2 is very close to HWQS. If anything, bring HWQS down to RR2 and upgrade them both to SmartBridge compatibility to a new joint superior product closer to RR2 price point today. The truth is that some of RR2 so special is coming to be at a dramaticaly lower price pont. RR2 and HWQS needs to move up in features.

No one wants to pay multiples of price to have fewer features than are executed in cheaper solutions.

All that said, the overall quality experience is what really lets RR2 and HWQS really step up and make them worth the higher price -- if you can do the new normal basics.