Ok, a follow up the "My Vera doesn't work posts", an observant user on their forums pointed out that I may have accidentally been shipped the European version of the dongle. The dongle is code for American or European Z-Wave frequency bands and apparently the one I received is designed to turn on and off Z-Wave devices from across the pond.
Shouldn't be a problem, right? Send it back, get a new one. The problem, as a review linked on their home page points out, is that they are a small startup and, in my experience, are way too understaffed to provide support. Yesterday I sent an email back to their sales rep and begged for some help. Today this is my tune...
Sent on 2/02/2010:
An observant user of the Mi Casa Verde forums pointed out that my "dongle" issues could be related to being sent the wrong dongle. Sure enough, the model number on the dongle I received is "DSA02203-ZWEU". It was suggested by the forum member that the "EU" at the end likely means that I was sent the European dongle which operates at a different frequency than all the z-wave devices I would be using. That's interesting because the Vera was ordered from a company in New Jersey and was shipped to an address in Michigan. What can I do to get the North American dongle?
Maybe now that their community has helped debug the issue I get a response? In my experience, sending out bad products and then not owning up to it and ignoring your customers is not a safe way to ensure the success of your business. Hopefully they realize this and give me a clue as to how I can get the right dongle. Please?
Why did I buy this Vera? I'm still not sure, but I definitely don't live in Europe and haven't for quite some time.