Frequent "Failed sending Z-Wave Command to device" errors

[jmaddox]

jmaddox,
I'm still on HS3 and I do don't see the "RESET z-wave data" anywhere? URL please?

I'm sorry I'm on HS4, so I while I could provide you with a URL for HS4 that wont help you with HS3

When I mouse over the button; it states; 'this will delete the Z-Wave2.db file which will be rebuilt when the plugin is restarted. Use if devices cannot be controlled from the device management page.

You could manually locate this file and perform those steps.

[George]

Whether or not the z-wave plugin is broken probably is subjective. At least they could provide a little more debugging information so that we, (or the helpdesk), can troubleshoot. Years ago a friend of mine and I talked with Rick Tinker extensively about HomeSeer and Z-wave. He sounded very confident about the solution and made it sound like that there are good troubleshooting tools available. This was not a marketing spiel, but serious confidence in the product. So, I am guessing that z-wave, like anything, is not perfect and we just need better expertise and knowledge to better troubleshoot.

Either way, I am confident that RF solutions will always be challenging. Insteon certainly is not the answer. Especially not the older generation versions.

Exactly, for X-10 I have the excellent X-10 XTBM-PRO hardware signal analyzer monitor. I shows every X-10 command on the line, any X-10 errors, X-10 malformations ( for some reason I get a lot of "J-Status Request's without a unit number, they are generally not enough to cause and issue but one of these days I'll take out a device and find out which is the offender) and especially if I'm getting an X-10 broadcast storm! If you're running X-10, you really need on of these. If will even show you which bits are incorrect or if the repeated command is not identical.

Other than turning on the entire Z-Wave logging which can fill your DB very quickly, it would be great if we could have some debug commands like (only log if a Z-Wave command for a specific device is sent and what the status was, or receiving a Z-Wave command from a device that is NOT defined in HS. The network name may be what the Z-Stick is set to but there may not be a device or node which exists in the HS database). Items like that can help us help HST in trying to track down these problems.

http://jvde.us/xtbm-pro.htm

[Dan-O]

I've been having Z-Wave issues as well.

My network was also reset by HS support and it did improve a bit but I still am getting phantom failure to send messages in my log. I miss my X-10. At least I could send 2 commands to the devices (one normal and one as a backup) and they would respond.

It was suggested to remove and then re-include 3 of the devices that seemed to have the most log entries - 2 of the devices I actually replaced with identical units I had in my HA box o'stuff; there was no improvement.
Another member bird-dogged me to this tester. I've seriously considered purchasing it, but I've been lucky, my network hasn't stopped, I just get the occasional log entries with a delayed light turning on.
I am unable to duplicate the problem on demand so I have been also forced to live with it for now.

[George]

I've been having Z-Wave issues as well.


Another member bird-dogged me to this tester. I've seriously considered purchasing it, but I've been lucky, my network hasn't stopped, I just get the occasional log entries with a delayed light turning on.
I am unable to duplicate the problem on demand so I have been also forced to live with it for now.

Thanks, I may just bite the bullet and get one. At least if I find something, I can either fix it or document it for HST.

[Dan-O]

Thanks, I may just bite the bullet and get one. At least if I find something, I can either fix it or document it for HST.

I've considered buying one and loaning/renting it out for people with similar issues.

[ScottRennie]

jmaddox,
I'm still on HS3 and I do don't see the "RESET z-wave data" anywhere? URL please?

Go to Plugins / manage and click on the z-wave plugin name

[George]

Just curious, because I didn't know just what it would wipe out, what exactly does Reset Z-Wave Date do?

[ScottRennie]

Cleans out the zWave routes, I think

[BobSpen]

Go to Plugins / manage and click on the z-wave plugin name

Thank you. I always forget about those hyperlinks on that page.

[Krumpy]

Has anyone documented z-wave best practices? It's RF so there have to be best practices like how (and where) to best locate the "transmitter" or controller. I mean, putting it next to the microwave probably isn't a good solution, right? I have mine on top of the kitchen cabinet in a open area and away from the appliances. Works well for me with the exception of my Schlage z-wave door lock. It isn't that far away but sometimes z-wave signals have trouble reaching it. As far the z-wave lights, they work fine.

[jmaddox]

Has anyone documented z-wave best practices? It's RF so there have to be best practices like how (and where) to best locate the "transmitter" or controller. I mean, putting it next to the microwave probably isn't a good solution, right? I have mine on top of the kitchen cabinet in a open area and away from the appliances. Works well for me with the exception of my Schlage z-wave door lock. It isn't that far away but sometimes z-wave signals have trouble reaching it. As far the z-wave lights, they work fine.

high up and centrally located is the general rule but you just never know about walls, other sources of rf interference etc. Unfortunately interference can also be dynamic, running appliances, lights etc

[Krumpy]

Right, that is my understanding as well.

[George]

Works well for me with the exception of my Schlage z-wave door lock. It isn't that far away but sometimes z-wave signals have trouble reaching it. As far the z-wave lights, they work fine.

I had the same problem with my Schlage on the Front Door and the Kwikset lock in my back porch door. I picked up two of the AEOTEC 7 Z-Wave Repeater/Beaming/Extenders. Connected them up, optimized them, then optimized the locks and all the devices that are close to them. For the locks, I set the Static route to bypass any other intermediate nodes and just route through the Repeater as the 1st device and the repeater then is routed directly to the Z-Stick. Locks that were iffy, now lock, report their status and battery health.

Schlage and KwikSet require a beaming repeater or direct association to the Z-Net or SmartStick to wake them up. Most Z-Wave switches and wall warts do not support beaming. I found that out the long hard 'beat my head and do 100 Google searches' way. So unless your lock is the first, and strong hop from your Z-Net or Z-Stick then it won't wake up to report any status. The most I was able to do before I added the AEOTEC's was to just lock and unlock the doors. But then, without a return path setup, the locks would lock but that status of those two locks were always unknown. The Schlage I have for my garage inside door is almost directly above the HS server that has the Smart Stick. So I could never figure out why that one lock worked and reported status, battery, etc, and the other two didn't work.

You can get a single one for $33 bucks or a two pack for $60 (guess that's the cost savings for the extra box). And they are Z-Wave 7 complaint when more 7 capable devices start coming out.

https://www.amazon.com/Aeotec-Extend...qid=1608266603

[chaos215bar2]

Is there any way (aside form setting up something like the Z-Wave Toolbox) to monitor all traffic on a network?

I'm having a similar issue where, if HomeSeer hasn't sent a Z-Wave command in a couple hours, the first command sent usually either times out or takes 10~15 seconds to reach the target device. My network does have a number of devices reporting energy usage, but they shouldn't be flooding the network (reports come in maybe once every 10~30 seconds) and there seems to be no problem receiving those updates. Even commands sent to one of these devices will end up delayed if they're the first to go out, which makes this seem like a temporary routing issue that resolves itself after that first command goes out.

As soon as I've sent one Z-Wave command from HomeSeer, subsequent commands sent within the next hour or so always respond instantly, which, again, makes this seem like something other than an issue with too much traffic.

This is definitely a Z-Wave issue, though. I do see "Failed sending Z-Wave Command to device" errors when this happens, and I have a number of Hue lights which will always respond instantly.

[simonmason]

George Thanks for the tips on the beaming repeaters. I plan to get some of the aeon labs repeaters to give this a try. I have 4 Schlage locks and they do nothing but misbehave. Once I have these repeaters installed, how do I ensure that the locks use the repeater when communicating with the hub? Thanks.