Last week, I emailed support indicating that my Schlage locks (BE469, FE599) worked intermittently, dropped off the network randomly, and I could never use a lock code to work as a trigger.
@bobbyD from Hubitat Support suggested the problem may be a lack of z-wave+ repeaters (most of my line powered devices are z-wave, not z-wave+). He also told me that rather than repeaters being placed close to the device, they would work better if placed close to the hub.
So I added three Aeotec Range Extender 6 to my z-wave network. I placed one of them literally 6 inches away from the hub. The second one was about 4 feet away in one direction, and the third one was about 20 feet away in the other direction (my townhouse is small - 1800 sq ft over 2 storeys).
Here's the bottom-line outcome: Neither lock has dropped off the network since I installed the range extenders and rebuilt the z-wave network. In addition, for both locks, I can add/delete lock codes reliably using HE - this was hit or miss before.
SO A BIG THANK YOU TO @bobbyD!!
Here are lock specific changes, and remaining issues, after adding the Aeotec Range Extenders.
BE469:
- Manual lock/unlock using the thumb turn results in device state changes that can be used reliably in automations.
- Lock codes can be used in automations very reliably.
FE599:
- Manual lock/unlock is picked up as device state changes in HE only if I do a refresh on the device page.
- Even when using HE to control the lock, I need to do a device refresh before the device state changes on the device page.
- Automations using lock codes do not work. For whatever reason, while lock codes show as the assigned 4-digit numbers on BE469 device page, they only show up as "????" on the FE599 page (btw, all lock codes were generated using HE). I think this is an issue with the HE driver for this lock, but I could be wrong.
In general, my z-wave network behaves a lot better now. I didn't save a before map, but here's the map after adding the three range extenders.
- Device 1 is the HE
- Devices 75, 76, 77 are the Aeotec range extenders
- Device 62 is the BE469 and 64 is the FE599
- Devices 73 & 74 are two Aeotec minimotes
- Device 49 is a Aeotec leak sensor (DSB45) that triggers automations just fine
- Device 5 is Dome motion sensor in my kitchen that has no line-powered z-wave devices around it.