Fibaro FGHCL Home Center Lite Z-Wave Smart Home Controller
Fibaro FGHCL Home Centre Lite is a compact smart hub for connecting Z-Wave and different third party devices with plug-ins, is a gateway for up to a total of 230 devices wirelessly over the Z-Wave protocol, letting you customise the automation even in very large homes. When you first get it shipped to your address you will find a typical Fibaro box but it is very small and the unit itself weighs just 8 ounces with the measurements of 3.5 x 3.5 x 1.3 inches- is absolutely tiny. What’s impressive about it is how much power this very small unit offers: Basically the miniaturisation and advanced technology at its best!
The interface is quite user-friendly and offers simple configuration and you can access it from your phone, tablet, web page on your computer via remote access. It has the power efficient fast Arm Cortex A8 processor at 720 MHz frequency and optimised memory that ensure very fast communication between different Fibaro devices. You will not need to do any changes to the structure at home and you’ll be able to install it in any flat or house comfortably and conveniently. There is just the cable antenna mounting point at the back and underneath you have the power and Ethernet connectors (Ethernet and antenna are attached separately) and you can get it running in just a couple of minutes as the instructions are clear on the manual. You’ll see the LED lights at the front and two buttons, one of which is the power button and another one for the inclusion of devices into the Z-Wave network. You also have the fittings underneath so you can screw mount the device onto a wall.
There are the removable panels on the side that hides the expansion ports- one on each side, for the battery backup and GSM modules. It will allow the unit to operate when there is a problem with the internet connection so you can run it via a mobile network or when there is a power outage, by using the backup battery. With the software that is hosted locally, it continues to be functional and giving you your privacy even when there is no internet temporarily. It has the Geolocation function that lets you do things like setting it to turn on your thermostat when you get out of office in the evening (creating scene trigger). You can even set it to do you can create “if.. then” scenarios so for example, if the movement detector senses any motion the lights will turn on (Magic scenes). And you can even make your lights outside turn off at sunrise and turn on at sunset.
It includes an integrated energy management feature with clear charts and stats that are easy to read, so you will be able to monitor the current power consumption and the history so you can see clearly which device is using more and which one is using less. You will have more control over your home multimedia as it lets you have a better integration of your home theater, TV, Hi-Fi by simply using the Fibaro app and you can even change channels, turn up or down the volume and play with scenes from your phone or tablet without using any other device or remote. It will discover and inform you of any threats, including flood, fire, gas leaking or break-ins, it will even cut your water or gas supply when needed and let you know and will start the alarm, tell the security people and give you live video from security cameras. The very compact Home Center Lite seems to be quite a promising device with heaps of potential and works a lot like the Fibaro Home Center 2 with differences like the limited scripting ability and other stuff that most home users will not need. In the box, you will find the Home Center Lite FGHCL, ethernet cable, antenna, AC/DC adapter and the user manual and the warranty is one year by Fibaro.
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