Z-wave range, Ethernet repeater? antenna?

[oregonbob]

I've been doing a lot of thinking lately since my z-wave range is very poor in my house. If it is that bad for my house, isn't there any industry-wide recognized issues over distances and possibly solutions for larger homes?

Among my thoughts:
Why don't z-wave devices include any type of antenna? Is there a spec that prohibits them? Wouldn't a small antenna increase distance?

Is there any engineering/industry group that is trying to solve the short range of z-wave? Like a new spec or devices?

Is there any repeater device that can really extend the range. Such as a booster or a z-wave-to-Ethernet bridge?

I am really struggling how z-wave could be so popular and widely adopted by industry when the range is a little as 20 feet inside a home.

[wadesready]

I've been doing a lot of thinking lately since my z-wave range is very poor in my house. If it is that bad for my house, isn't there any industry-wide recognized issues over distances and possibly solutions for larger homes?

Among my thoughts:
Why don't z-wave devices include any type of antenna? Is there a spec that prohibits them? Wouldn't a small antenna increase distance?

Is there any engineering/industry group that is trying to solve the short range of z-wave? Like a new spec or devices?

Is there any repeater device that can really extend the range. Such as a booster or a z-wave-to-Ethernet bridge?

I am really struggling how z-wave could be so popular and widely adopted by industry when the range is a little as 20 feet inside a home.

all wired devices repeat zwave signals (so anything NOT battery powered repeats) so if you are trying to make something work far away from your znet, add more devices in between.

[randy]

I've been doing a lot of thinking lately since my z-wave range is very poor in my house. If it is that bad for my house, isn't there any industry-wide recognized issues over distances and possibly solutions for larger homes?

Among my thoughts:
Why don't z-wave devices include any type of antenna? Is there a spec that prohibits them? Wouldn't a small antenna increase distance?

Is there any engineering/industry group that is trying to solve the short range of z-wave? Like a new spec or devices?

Is there any repeater device that can really extend the range. Such as a booster or a z-wave-to-Ethernet bridge?

I am really struggling how z-wave could be so popular and widely adopted by industry when the range is a little as 20 feet inside a home.

Z-Wave devices do have antennas, but since the vast majority are to be used inside a wall box, the antenna is contained within the device. It is usually etched into the PC board with the rest of the components.

Z-Wave is 908mhz in the US, with a 1/4 wavelength of about 3.3 inches, so it would be difficult to have an antenna external to the device inside of a wall outlet.

Z-Wave is designed as a mesh, so it is always best to plan and build your network with enough devices that there is no more than 20-30 feet between nodes. Each mains powered node is a repeater, so the range is increased with nodes between the controller and a destination. Z-Wave plus does this better. Z-Wave with a small handful of devices spread over a large distance can be a problem, but this can be improved by adding devices.

Z-Wave plus has more powerful radios and better range. Earlier Z-Wave devices were specified at approximately 100 meter range without obstruction. In practice, when I first started with Z-Wave in 2014, I could get 50-75 feet between the controller and a device, through walls. We have a smallish house, but every Z-Wave device in the house directly communicates with the controller, with the most distant being about 40 feet away and one floor down from the centrally mounted controller. We have a building about 50 feet from the house with its own controller, but initially all of the devices in the building were controlled by the primary controller, using a single dimmer in the master bedroom as the intermediate routing node. Even with the older devices it was reliable. Adding a controller is easy as a Z-Net can be connected by WiFi or Ethernet. My outbuilding controller is connected by WiFi.

Aeotec makes Z-Wave repeater/range extenders, but at $30, it is usually smarter to add a light switch or dimmer.

Careful examination and adjustment of the routing between nodes can improve the range and is usually more effective than automatic optimization. Z-Seer+ is a good tool, but I usually just edit the route in the node information page.

PLC devices such as Insteon and X-10 have better range, but have some of their own limitations due to line phase and noise issues. Zigby is a mesh like Z-Wave, but I have found its range to be even less than Z-Wave. Philips Hue lights seem to only work about 20-25 feet

I'm not sure why the range is so poor in your house, but you might check for 900mhz devices that could be interfering. These could be cameras, baby monitors, wireless phones, etc.