VeraEdge with Privacy and Security

[getSurreal]

I was looking for a system that required no ties to any Cloud service and was informed that that was the case with Vera, but after my setup I think otherwise.

When I powered up my controller, I was unable to connect to it's IP address (I looked up the IP from the router) until I created an account with Vera ,registered the device and went through the setup. It would appear as if the controller keeps a constant connection back to Vera in order for the iphone app to work as well as other apps.

Plus the controller is wide open so I can't expose it in order to connect to it directly from the internet.

Am I missing something? Is there a private and secure option with Vera or should I start looking elsewhere?

[hek]

You can ssh into your vera and shut down the ssh-tunnel it opens. Suggest you to search the Vera forum for more information regarding this.