Reliability when using Multiple Lutron Caseta Bridges

[Justin.coolDallas]

Reliability when using Multiple Lutron Caseta Bridges

Configuration

• Three Smart Bridge Pro 2 units
• About 120 Lutron Caseta devices. About 1/3 of those are Pico remotes
• HomeSeer S6 Pro with the latest s/w:
  
  • Caseta Plug-in
  • Honeywell Thermostat plug-in
  
  
• Apple TV with latest TVOS
• 3 Honeywell WiFi Thermostats
• 2 Alexa Dots

I regularly use Apple Home app for control from a smart device, HomeSeer for automations / scene definitions (events). Lutron App for smart device control of the thermostats.

Defined a scene with about 12 Caseta devices in it. These devices spanned all three Smart Bridges.
Executed the scene some 30 times using Apple Home, and again through a Pico Remote and HomeSeer.
Results:

• Using Apple Home: About 25% of the time 1 to 4 of the devices did not turn ON/OFF as expected.
• Using HomeSeer: About 25% of the time 1 to 4 of the devices did not turn ON/OFF as expected.
• However, for Apple Home it was a somewhat different set of devices that failed as opposed to what failed using the HomeSeer.

Anyone out there seen this kind of failure? If so, were you able to resolve it?

Justin in Dallas

[CaliforniaGuy]

I am also interested to hear a broader range of people's experiences with multiple Caseta Bridges.

[bluedot]

Didn't work for me. The Lutron IOS app was confused, and wouldn't setup new devices. Even though Home Kit did find it.

I called Lutron and talked to a tech and they said DON'T DO IT. No multiple casetas on the same network. Period. Go to RA2 for the win, and the bucks. Wish I knew, I could have saved $50 bucks.

[rhett7660]

Didn't work for me. The Lutron IOS app was confused, and wouldn't setup new devices. Even though Home Kit did find it.

I called Lutron and talked to a tech and they said DON'T DO IT. No multiple casetas on the same network. Period. Go to RA2 for the win, and the bucks. Wish I knew, I could have saved $50 bucks.

Correct me if I am wrong, but doesn't RA require a professional installer? Which is out of the question for me and a lot of people.

[CaliforniaGuy]

Correct me if I am wrong, but doesn't RA require a professional installer? Which is out of the question for me and a lot of people.

There is a new option called "RA2 Select," which is a DIY solution you can upgrade past the 50-device limit of Caseta.

The problem is that once you start investing in Caseta there is no path to upgrade to RA2 Select. Like once you've eventually bought 50 combined Caseta dimmers/Pico remotes/Serena shades/etc., Lutron's answer is that you should rip out those 50 devices and install RA2 Select-compatible devices in their place.

I'm really not sure why Lutron still offers Caseta, as it seems the actual expected "success case" leads to angry customers: buy Caseta --> like it --> buy more Caseta-compatible devices --> get stuck and be told your best option is to rip out what you bought and installed so you can buy a different thing.

I hope that Lutron didn't design this intentionally to force people to pay again for RA2 Select after Caseta, but as far as I know, they have offered no upgrade path. There's no ability to pay $X and convert from Caseta to RA2 Select.

Regardless, it seems to me that everyone should always purchase RA2 Select over Caseta to future-proof their investment going forwards.

[bluedot]

Regardless, it seems to me that everyone should always purchase RA2 Select over Caseta to future-proof their investment going forwards.

The cost of the RA2 is pretty darn spendy. I saw a starter kit for $1400 on ebay. I turned off one of my Caseta Bridges, and added a wall plug unit that acts as an extender. It's working beautifully. To do everything I needed to for our home, I was able to do it all for under $500.

I think there's a market for that, yo.

[rhett7660]

Well that just sucks..... ugh. I never thought I would hit the 50 mark, but I am closing in on it and I would pretty much stop if the solution was I had to re-invest in items in order to expand my home automation.

I wonder if the two can mix? Have items that are just on timers etc on the Caseta and then for your other items use the RA2 Select?

[rhett7660]

It now looks like RA2 Select can hold up to a 100 devices. So it looks like they are limiting the devices with the hope of pushing folks towards their professional devices if need more.

[CaliforniaGuy]

The design of RA2 Select is much better than Caseta. First the 100 device limit is way less constraining than 50 to start, but most importantly there is an upgrade path to the full Radio RA2 (yes you need a pro installer) that goes up to 200 devices. The important difference is that you don’t need to throw away your device or labor investment in RA2 Select.

BlueDot above doesn’t understand the difference between RA2 and RA2 Select— the parts he saw on eBay were RA2. But if you have any chance of ever having 50 devices, you will have spent wildly more than $500, and that’s why it’s worth doing whatever possible to have an upgrade path. You’ll have spent somewhere more like $3k in cost for devices alone, much more if you have Serena Shades, and that’s before labor costs. It’s that investment that I think people are angry that Lutron doesn’t have an upgrade path for with Caseta.

[randyc]

RadioRA 2 can be manually programmed without software (similar to the way Classic RA was programmed). This isn't very useful as you won't be able to integrate with other systems and you won't be able to use the apps.

RadioRA 2 programming software is only available to authorized dealers. However, once the program is setup, 95% of the changes can be made through the apps.

Lutron did release their HomeWorks Illumination software for homeowner use. I have not heard any rumors about a RA2 homeowner version.