HomeTroller Zee S2 inbuilt Z-Wave antenna radiation pattern

[rae8836]

I have a HomeTroller Zee S2 which is working well. I am looking at adding Z-Wave devices to my network that will be located farther away from the controller than any I now use. I'm aware of the mesh characteristics of Z-wave, however I'm interested in maximizing the range of the inbuilt Z-wave antenna provided with the HomeTroller Zee S2. Specifically, I now have my controller laying flat on a shelf. If I stand the controller on an edge (rotate the plane of the inbuilt antenna 90 degrees) will I extend or reduce the range of the unit? Will the change in range be directional? Putting it another way, what is the radiation pattern of the inbuilt antenna?

RAE

[drhtmal]

I am not sure what the polarization of the antenna is on the z-wave module. Since it is in the chip it is probably horizontal to the plane of the chip, therefore the orientation you have it in now is probably optimal. Honestly it probably does not matter that much.

How far away will these new devices be?

If you have z-tools you could take a look at how many hops each device is away from the root.

[Pete]

My ZWave POE RPi with a ZWave dot me card (1st generation) has been in the attic now for a few years on a beam in the attic.

I have repositioned it a couple of times (horizontally and vertically) and have never noticed any changes in propagation with "test" ZWave 120VAC devices in the basement, main floor and outside and second floor.

I have left it on top of the beam with the antenna parallel and it has been fine.

I have a Leviton ZWave VRCOP in the basement and it sees everything on the main floor and second floor fine.

I did also have (not now) a Smartthings Smarthub on the main floor and it saw everything fine.

Note here replicated the HS3 ZWave network to the VRCOP and Samsung Smartthings hub.

[sparkman]

What’s the orientation of the antennas in your z-wave devices?

[drhtmal]

What’s the orientation of the antennas in your z-wave devices?

I have a HomeSeer dimmer that I let the magic blue smoke out of. Took it apart. It has a little piece of wire behind the paddle for an antenna.

[sparkman]

I have a HomeSeer dimmer that I let the magic blue smoke out of. Took it apart. It has a little piece of wire behind the paddle for an antenna.

My question was intended to be rhetorical. I have over 100 zwave devices with around 20 different types, so trying to orient the antenna on my znet to align with all of the antennas seems somewhat futile, and I expect it would be as well for most other networks. It may help in very specific cases, but likely little to none for most.

[Dave W]

Old post, but at 2.4gHz and short range, does polarization have much effect?

[rae8836]

The antenna in question is the Z-Wave piece in the Zee S2 - USA Domestic configuration. This would be around 908 MHZ. Range is in fact the issue - the reason for the question was to determine if antenna position might increase the range at the margins... and if antenna position in the controller made a difference was there a value (in range improvement) in attempting to match the controller and the end point antenna position.