general confusion

To be brutally honest, over the last few years Clipsal, Schneider or whoever they want to call themselves have absolutely done my head in with their seemingly regular changing of names, products and capabilities of everything in their automation space!
Instead of going off into a long, boring rant can someone please help me sort out my confusion?
I have a client looking at getting an automation controller so that he can use his cbus (can we still call it cbus??) system with an app and/or voice control. Part of the reason is that his CTC3 TS has died and the cost to repair or replace might be better spent going towards an upgrade.
I have never done a SHAC/NAC/WISER install from scratch although i have done mods to existing installs. I feel comfortable setting one up and i have told the client that i will do the programming for free as its a small installation, perfect for first time and i feel that he shouldnt pay for my learning curve.
Out of the 3 controllers available-5200WHC2, 5500NAC2 or 5500AC2 which will best suit my clients needs to just give him app and voice control of a purely lighting and curtain control system?
The last time that i spoke to Clipsal about this-probably two or three years ago- they told me that the Wiser was being replaced with one of the other two but because they were actually going through this transitional period the person that i spoke to was just as confused as anyone.
Any suggestions?

 

None of those units on their own will give you voice control

The NAC2 and AC2 are basically the same with regards to programming
The 5200WHC2 I don't think is available, it's been replace with the 5200HC2 same unit but no WiFi connection to it.
So all of the above would need Ethernet and C Bus connecting to it along with power supply.
My opinion, others may differ the 5200 is a lot easier to learn and program, probably by a factor of 5 times.
Voice control can be achieved, again there are preferences, mine is using a Raspberry Pi and either HA Home Automation or HOOBs again both would achieve the outcome but it is a none SE supported method. Mine works fine at home and has done for years.
There is I believe a company offering voice integration which has or had SE approval
Search on this forum about voice integration, but expect a learning curve if you go it alone, very satisfying when successful.

 

Its crazy to think that Schneider doesnt believe that voice control is a feature that people want in 2024 but there you go!!
Thanks for your reply Wonkey-so obviously i would go down the 5200HC2 route for no other reason other than easier programming but are there any other compelling reasons why i would choose one of the other two over this if all i want to achieve is app (if not voice sadly) control?

 

Agree with Wonkey. I do like the RPi for voice (but with the understanding, that it may stop working if Apple change anything).
Yes the 5200HC2 is (was ) easier to program, but with my CTC UI script, a UI for the SHAC/NAC can be created in less than a minute. See real time demo here



I posted video up a while back but since then I have added the creation of the "Touch" interface as well.

 

Reason to choose Shac (AC2) over 5200HC2 which was known as Wiser 2
(Yes SE keep changing names), the SHAC is a newer product than the Wiser 2.
The Shac is also a lot more configurable, hence why I said it's a steeper learning curve.
Wiser 2 there is no choice in the UI look and feel, but is easier and still reasonable looking
If you do decide to try voice control there are more solutions available using a Wiser 2 available today, that could change as people develop things, but I haven't seen any new solutions in the last couple of years.
I suppose the last thing to mention is the logic engines. May not be required for your project check the CTC programming if you can
Wiser 2 uses Pascal which if you have any logic in the old CTC could be reused
SHAC uses LUA, so if you have any experience with either language that may push you in a particular direction.