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HELP. Cant work out why zwave is so unreliable

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    HELP. Cant work out why zwave is so unreliable

    I have installed 30 z-wave modules for my parents in their new home and am having a nightmare getting everything to work well. Some nodes are reporting that they only have 1 neighbour despite being in an electrical back-box that contains 3 modules. Some devices do not respond, some do after about 90 seconds of sending a command. Some do not audit either. I have purchased 2 zwave repeaters to see if that would help but it doesn't seem to fix the problem. The apartment is a reasonable size but not enormous it just seems as though the communication between devices is terrible.

    I am also not able to see the routing in homeseer, is this a restriction on the pi software. So i cant even see the exact routes that are being made.

    My own home is full of z-wave kits and some of the devices have 13 or so neighbours and I have no problems at all. I cant see what is wrong. Its simply driving me crazy and I cant get it to work perfectly.

    I switched from Domoticz as I thought I would be able to solve the problem but it's the same with homeseer. Can anyone offer any advice. I have re-included as many of the devices as i can but that hasn't helped.

    ANY help would be much appreciated. Thank you.
    Nick

    #2
    Either one device is jamming the zwave network, or it is the location of the zwave controller in relationship to the nodes. Also some devices transmit at zwave freq's like baby monitors, which of coarse would jam things. Check Homeseer logs for errors or clues about zwave items.

    Comment


      #3
      I have been through all the logs again and again but can't work it out. It's always different devices that report signal losses or failures.

      Comment


        #4
        I read something on here years ago that might help. Start with the devices that are closest to your controller and Optimize those individually. Work your way out from those devices to others optimizing individually. The idea is that the route will get built from the closest device outward to the furthest. You can view the neighbors info ton the Node Information page to verify you are getting good neighbors.
        HS4Pro on a Raspberry Pi4
        54 Z-Wave Nodes / 21 Zigbee Devices / 108 Events / 767 Devices
        Plugins: Z-Wave / Zigbee Plus / EasyTrigger / AK Weather / OMNI

        HSTouch Clients: 1 Android

        Comment


          #5
          Do you have a device that is pooling very frequently? This might cause the problem you are seeing. Have you tried using a different controller? Perhaps it is the problem.

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by nickgosling View Post
            I have been through all the logs again and again but can't work it out. It's always different devices that report signal losses or failures.
            Sounds like one zwave device is jamming. Remove all devices and build the network again, and verify proper operation with the addition of each device. When you add the problem device the network will go crazy again.

            Comment


              #7
              Originally posted by rmasonjr View Post
              I read something on here years ago that might help. Start with the devices that are closest to your controller and Optimize those individually. Work your way out from those devices to others optimizing individually. The idea is that the route will get built from the closest device outward to the furthest. You can view the neighbors info ton the Node Information page to verify you are getting good neighbors.
              I've read where optimization is no longer a good idea. See here:

              https://forums.homeseer.com/forum/li...works-11-12-18
              HomeSeer Version: HS4 Pro Edition 4.2.19.0 (Windows - Running as a Service)
              Home Assistant 2024.3
              Operating System: Microsoft Windows 11 Pro - Desktop
              Z-Wave Devices via two Z-Net G3s
              Zigbee Devices via RaspBee on RPi 3b+
              WiFi Devices via Internal Router.

              Enabled Plug-Ins
              AK GoogleCalendar 4.0.4.16,AK HomeAssistant 4.0.1.23,AK SmartDevice 4.0.5.1,AK Weather 4.0.5.181,AmbientWeather 3.0.1.9,Big6 3.44.0.0,BLBackup 2.0.64.0,BLGData 3.0.55.0,BLLock 3.0.39.0,BLUPS 2.0.26.0,Device History 4.5.1.1,EasyTrigger 3.0.0.76,Harmony Hub 4.0.14.0,HSBuddy 4.51.303.0,JowiHue 4.1.4.0,LG ThinQ 4.0.26.0,ONVIF Events 1.0.0.5,SDJ-Health 3.1.1.9,TPLinkSmartHome4 2022.12.30.0,UltraCID3 3.0.6681.34300,Z-Wave 4.1.3.0

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by ewkearns View Post

                I've read where optimization is no longer a good idea. See here:

                https://forums.homeseer.com/forum/li...works-11-12-18
                Full Optimization is no longer recommended, but #3 on that list was to optimize a single node, preferably a Z-Wave+ node.
                Overall, that post is great info, though...
                HS4Pro on a Raspberry Pi4
                54 Z-Wave Nodes / 21 Zigbee Devices / 108 Events / 767 Devices
                Plugins: Z-Wave / Zigbee Plus / EasyTrigger / AK Weather / OMNI

                HSTouch Clients: 1 Android

                Comment


                  #9
                  Originally posted by rmasonjr View Post

                  Full Optimization is no longer recommended, but #3 on that list was to optimize a single node, preferably a Z-Wave+ node.
                  Overall, that post is great info, though...
                  My personal vote, here, would be for some fully functional diagnostic software (that doesn't cost an arm and a leg). I don't know if Z-Tool is robust enough to help, but...


                  https://www.zwaveproducts.com/produc...z-wave-toolbox
                  HomeSeer Version: HS4 Pro Edition 4.2.19.0 (Windows - Running as a Service)
                  Home Assistant 2024.3
                  Operating System: Microsoft Windows 11 Pro - Desktop
                  Z-Wave Devices via two Z-Net G3s
                  Zigbee Devices via RaspBee on RPi 3b+
                  WiFi Devices via Internal Router.

                  Enabled Plug-Ins
                  AK GoogleCalendar 4.0.4.16,AK HomeAssistant 4.0.1.23,AK SmartDevice 4.0.5.1,AK Weather 4.0.5.181,AmbientWeather 3.0.1.9,Big6 3.44.0.0,BLBackup 2.0.64.0,BLGData 3.0.55.0,BLLock 3.0.39.0,BLUPS 2.0.26.0,Device History 4.5.1.1,EasyTrigger 3.0.0.76,Harmony Hub 4.0.14.0,HSBuddy 4.51.303.0,JowiHue 4.1.4.0,LG ThinQ 4.0.26.0,ONVIF Events 1.0.0.5,SDJ-Health 3.1.1.9,TPLinkSmartHome4 2022.12.30.0,UltraCID3 3.0.6681.34300,Z-Wave 4.1.3.0

                  Comment


                    #10
                    I would like to own that tool, that is where I read about the baby monitor interfering with zwave.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      what kind of zwave controller device are you using and where is it?

                      Comment


                        #12
                        I personally have replace all my old Zwave with Zwave+ devices except for one. Much more reliable. Schlage didn't make a Zwave+ door lock-- but I just installed two Yale one recently and I like them better.

                        He says he is in the UK. Not sure how interference with Zwave goes there. I know they are a different freq and don't know what baby monitors and the like do.

                        But I agree with the sentiment here. Power off all the switches (from the fuse box if needed) after unpairing them all and start with two.
                        HS3 Pro Edition 3.0.0.435 (Windows Server 8.1 on ESXi box)

                        Plug-Ins Enabled:
                        Z-Wave:,RaspberryIO:,AirplaySpeak:,Ecobee:,
                        weatherXML:,JowiHue:,APCUPSD:,PHLocation:,Chromecast:,EasyTr igger:

                        Comment

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