I have 2 hubs, a C-3 and a C-5. Most devices are on the C-3. I purchased the second hub for Zigbee lights.
My question is if there is an advantage to move my z-wave devices to the C-5. Does it have a better z-wave radio, or will it make no difference in operation. MY main problem with my z-wave as it is would be my 3 Kwikset locks, which are not z-wave plus. They do not update their states at times.
Many users have simply replaced their Kiwkset Z-wave module with a Kwikset Zigbee module to resolve this particular issue. Amazon sells a Kwikset Conversion kit that can be used to convert a standard deadbolt lock into a smart lock, without changing the external lock portion of one's existing lock. Many users buy these conversion kits simply to get the radio module, which is super simple to replace.
I have seen Amazon sell these conversion kits on Woot for ~$30 a piece. Hope this helps.
https://www.amazon.com/Kwikset-Convert-Smart-Conversion-Amazon/dp/B072KT2VC2
The staff mentioned at some point that a C-4 Hubs software is compiled for 64 bit vs 32 bit.. not sure about the C-3 (assume same) but this does impact resource usage with 32 bit being a tad more efficient given the hardware.
To directly answer this question: there probably isn't a universal answer. 
Having a C-3, I'm sure you know that your Z-Wave (and Zigbee) radios are external, so one factor is what stick you're using and where/how it's positioned. The radios in the C-5 are built in, so you have less control over that (except that with the right cable you can still use the external stick if you prefer, making it effectively the same). I haven't heard anyone speak of considerable difference between the two regardless. What is true is that the Z-Wave implementation from a software side is the same on hubs C-3 through C-5.
Because of that, my guess is that if there'd be any real difference for you, it would come with the C-7 hub, which has both new hardware (a 700-series Z-Wave chip, also built in, like the 500-series one in the C-5 and that most external sticks would also have) and a new Z-Wave "stack" on the hub (with more features supported, notably S2; if your lock can do S2 and not just S0, this might help more than anything else--but since you mentioned classic Z-Wave, these wouldn't be S2).
But that is not me suggesting that you will see a difference. Many Z-Wave locks are a pain, especially older ones, hence all the suggestions you see from lots of people suggesting Zigbee conversion or device replacement. My best guess is that if it's not a mesh problem you can fix (e.g., not having enough repeaters--ideally "beaming" repeaters [check the Z-Wave conformance doc for that device to see]--in range of both the hub and the lock), then there's probably something odd with the lock's firmware that you can't fix and is likely to be the same with any hub.
As I thought. Since it is a P.I.T.A. to move z-wave from one hub to another, I guess I'll just leave it as is.
Download the Hubitat app
