NEW HS SmartStick+ G3 using zwave 700 series - Anyone noticed this new info???

[TC1]

Also curious if there has ever been any thought to adding a Zigbee radio to ZNet or making a Zigbee version of Znet? In general Zigbee has the same limitations as ZWave as to how many nodes you can add to a single hub before you start experiencing reliability issues. This is why hubs from Hue, Sengled, etc. only support 64 nodes and caution against actually installing more than 50.

I know you can create a mesh of Hubitats which will give you both radios in each location but that seems like an extra layer of complexity that you don't really need if Homeseer is managing your control logic. Just seems like a no brainer to want to install multiple ZNets to manage coverage and device count concerns so why not address the same issues for Zigbee at the same time?

Just make your own "Zigbee-nets"

http://phoscon.de/en/raspbee2

[upstatemike]

Just make your own "Zigbee-nets"

http://phoscon.de/en/raspbee2

Probably the best current solution but I think it would be nice to have a single device to cover both ZWave and Zigbee since coverage issues are likely to affect both protocols, This will work but it means 2 network connections to put both a znet and Rasbee2 in each location.

[TC1]

The current combo Nortek stick is less than optimal in terms of coverage, the obvious reason is that Z-wave and Zigbee operate on two very distinct frequencies which need different radio amplifiers and antenna tunings. Combining both transceivers is more of a marketing thing than optimal home automation design.

More than one network connection at a location is easily handled by a cheap Ethernet switch ($10 - 14).

[upstatemike]

The current combo Nortek stick is less than optimal in terms of coverage, the obvious reason is that Z-wave and Zigbee operate on two very distinct frequencies which need different radio amplifiers and antenna tunings. Combining both transceivers is more of a marketing thing than optimal home automation design.

More than one network connection at a location is easily handled by a cheap Ethernet switch ($10 - 14).

True but not the cleanest solution. I am only pusuing this idea because networked Hubitat hubs have both radios so it seemed like a dual radio ZNet would make sense.

[TC1]

True but not the cleanest solution. I am only pusuing this idea because networked Hubitat hubs have both radios so it seemed like a dual radio ZNet would make sense.

Those hubs are physically larger, thus one can do a better radio layout inside them.

[marthoc]

upstatemike Native ZigBee support is new for HomeSeer with HS4 and so I would imagine they are going to advance support for it slowly. Having a combined Z-Wave/Zigbee device does make sense, but the one issue with the current design of the Z-Net I can see is that being based on the RaspBerry Pi it only has design space for one GPIO device, meaning either a ZigBee USB stick would need to be added (easiest to implement), the Z-Wave GPIO card could be abandoned in favour of the Nortek Z-Wave/ZigBee USB (also easy to implement but with disadvantages in terms of antenna design as per comments above), or a new GPIO card with both Z-Wave and ZigBee would need to be designed (much more complicated, hardest to implement as there is nothing at all like this on the market currently).

You can of course DIY a solution with an RPi and either the RaZBerry card plus a Conbee USB, or a RaspBee card plus HomeSeer SmartStick (if you are OK with using the JowiHue plugin), or with the Nortek combo stick. I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for a native option from HomeSeer though.

[upstatemike]

What about sticking a Zigbee stick into one of the USB ports on the ZNet and then updating the firmware so the stick is available to Homeseer across the LAN connection?

[marthoc]

Sure. That’s the first option I suggested. Being a business, however, I’d expect that HS would create a new product for this rather than offering an upgrade to old units, and I wouldn’t blame them for that. Maybe on the next gen of Z-Nets with the 700 chip.

[upstatemike]

Sure. That’s the first option I suggested. Being a business, however, I’d expect that HS would create a new product for this rather than offering an upgrade to old units, and I wouldn’t blame them for that. Maybe on the next gen of Z-Nets with the 700 chip.

Heres hoping Homeseer considers adding support for optionally inserting Zigbee sticks in the USB ports before the design of the 700 Series Z-Net is locked down.

[mulu]

I was just going to ask about this. The 700 series z-wave stick was supposed to come out towards the end of 2020. I still don't see it on the website. When will it actually be available? And when will the new z-wave plugin be available? Since my system went kaput (HS lost all my z-wave devices) last year I am waiting for the new z-wave stick and plugin before redoing my entire network.

[srodgers]

Received my new Smartstick G3. Displays this in the log at startup:

SmartStickPlusG3: Z-Wave PC Controller Library Version: Z-Wave 7.15 (Unknown)

Using latest Zwave beta 3.0.5.3. Guessing there will be a new Zwave plugin release before long to fully support. Using HS 4.1.16.0.

Works good so far backed up old Smart stick and resorted to new G3 stick.

[SpiderSense]

Received my new Smartstick G3. Displays this in the log at startup:

SmartStickPlusG3: Z-Wave PC Controller Library Version: Z-Wave 7.15 (Unknown)

Using latest Zwave beta 3.0.5.3. Guessing there will be a new Zwave plugin release before long to fully support. Using HS 4.1.16.0.

Works good so far backed up old Smart stick and resorted to new G3 stick.

I too get that 7.15 Unknown warning, but the G3 is not working for me.
After restoring from G2 to G3, the G3 uses the USB0 port.
it had extra 'networks', but no devices.
i restored it again and the devices show up, but the G3 can't reach any devices.
i optimized and can reach devices, but eventually it can no longer reach most of my devices. manually operating light switches shows in logs as being turned on/off, but test connectivity shows no connection etc.
oh well, i'm back on G2 and will wait for an updated plugin before trying again.i'm on linux.

[avpman]

I too get that 7.15 Unknown warning, but the G3 is not working for me.
After restoring from G2 to G3, the G3 uses the USB0 port.
it had extra 'networks', but no devices.
i restored it again and the devices show up, but the G3 can't reach any devices.
i optimized and can reach devices, but eventually it can no longer reach most of my devices. manually operating light switches shows in logs as being turned on/off, but test connectivity shows no connection etc.
oh well, i'm back on G2 and will wait for an updated plugin before trying again.i'm on linux.

I had the same issue (ttyUSB0). I logged a ticket with HS support. They told me to do a reset on the Zwave network. Unfortunately, my sd card died before I could try it. Since more than one of us has had the same problem, please also log a ticket with them. Hopefully, they will publish a KB with instructions for everybody.

[SpiderSense]

I had the same issue (ttyUSB0). I logged a ticket with HS support. They told me to do a reset on the Zwave network. Unfortunately, my sd card died before I could try it. Since more than one of us has had the same problem, please also log a ticket with them. Hopefully, they will publish a KB with instructions for everybody.

Thanks. I did delete the extra networks but it didn't help. I can't delete the remaining network that has my devices, how do I reset the network? I see an option to erase the interface and create a new network.. ?

I'll probably wait until the plugin is updated before spending more time on this (hoping the plugin is the issue).

[George]

Mine was delivered a couple days ago. Looks like it stay's in the bag until these issues are sorted out.

The Good news is that the beta Z-Wave plugin seems to be stable and working on the old stick.