What is the most reliable zwave controller?

[grahamk]

Not trying to start a holy war, just looking for experience.

My Aeon Z-Stick seems flaky as he!!. It is constantly freezing on me, particularly if I try to do things like a network optimize, or trying to remove nodes that do not exist.

Is this a homeseer thing, or an aeon z-stick thing? Should I consider a ZNET? Would migrating my network from a z-stick to a ZNET be complicated or easy?

Thanks for any advice.

[rmasonjr]

I had multiple ztrollers for years and switched to a single znet. It's an excellent piece of equipment.
Where I work, sell a zstick and it works ok, but you must mount it high.

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[goldriver]

[cowinger]

I use the smartstick+ by homeseer and it works great. No freezing or any other problems. As rmasonjr said if you mount it up as high as you can using a 3-6 ft usb extension it makes a big difference. Keep it as far away from metal as you can get it.

[The Profit]

What is the most reliable zwave controller?

I had multiple ztrollers for years and switched to a single znet. It's an excellent piece of equipment.
Where I work, sell a zstick and it works ok, but you must mount it high.

Sent from my Galaxy S7 Edge using Tapatalk

+1 I agree. I have been using z-net at work and home and have had a good experience. I have four of them at work to cover a 21,000 sq/ft space and two at home, one upstairs and one downstairs. It may be a little overkill at home but I don't have any issues reaching nodes.

I've never performed a move from z stick to z-net but from what I've read it's not a difficult process.

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[randy]

I have had Z-Trollers and USB sticks and eventually switched to a Z-Net. The Z-Net is hands down the best controller I have used. Because it is Ethernet or WiFi connected, it offers excellent placement flexibility, allowing you to put it in the best place for signal, regardless of where your HS controller is located. I would recommend Ethernet over WiFi if it is practical.

[grahamk]

OK - thanks all!! Sounds like znet is the way to go. Kind of tired of messing with flakiness from my z-stick so I just ordered one.

[S-F]

I had a Z-Stick. The thing was a nightmare. Getting the Z-Net was the single most beneficial home automation hardware purchase I've made.

[mloebl]

Just replaced my Aeon Labs Z-stick with a couple Z-nets. Took me a couple tries to get the 2nd Z-net as a secondary controller, but works pretty good. One huge advantage with the newer Wifi Z-net is you can place it easier than a Z-Stick in a computer. In my case it was in the basement in a server rack, so wasn't too reliable. I picked up the 2nd Z-net as a refurb as Ethernet only, but works out fine for where I placed it.

[Beowulf]

Not to hijack, but to be sure I'm following you all, when I order a HomeTroller SEL-PRO I should also order one "HomeSeer Z-NET Remote Z-Wave Interface" rather than the HomeSeer SmartStick+, correct?

As for placement, if my SEL will be located center home in the basement (next to DSC and media systems) but nearly all of my zWave stuff (locks, light switches, etc.) is expected to be on the main floor, then I should place the Z-NET near the center of the home on the main floor. Some of the other tips I've seen here are to mount it high and away from metal. What about distance from walls or coerners? I imagine I'm going to have a zWave light switch within 15 feet of it regardless of my possible mount points. Additionally, it will be on an ethernet plug wherever it goes (always prefer wired vs. wireless when practical).

[TeleFragger]

my ztroller locked up on me... been plugged in for 8 months

unplug, yank batteries then back up. I eventually will go z-net but not until I need zwave plus devices...

[CeeTee]

Does ZNET only work via Ethernet?

I too find that my Aeon Z-Stick gets flaky every two months or so.

Posts here suggest the Z-NET is the best interface, but my read is that you have to go through your network; is that correct?

I'm trying to keep my HS3 system separate so as not to rely on the network (which although super stable has limited battery backup in case of a PF). My HS3 system can run for several hours.

Since I'm not concerned with distance or signal strength, would the SmartStick+ be a better choice?

Thanks

[cheeryfool]

my ztroller locked up on me... been plugged in for 8 months



unplug, yank batteries then back up. I eventually will go z-net but not until I need zwave plus devices...

Jeff

If I recall correctly, best practice with the Z-troller was to only have batteries in it when including devices unplugged from the serial connection/power. There were always unpredictable results if it was powered and had batteries in it, especially during/after a power outage.