Adding Aeotec Range Extenders has made my BE469 and FE599 locks reliable

@mike.maxwell now that there is a dedicated driver for these locks would you consider adding the ability to change some of the extra functions from hubitat. Like turn on off the alarm and the built in auto lock feature?

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@mike.maxwell

Just seconding @cwwilson08's suggestion. While not necessary for anything I currently do, it would be nice to control alarm sensitivity and the auto-lock features of these locks.

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Yes, my Wink Hub 2 is flawless when it comes to range. I am hesitant to get rid of it

At the moment I'm researching openHab to handle my zwave as I've previously stated that the zwave radio in the C-5 is far inferior to be usable, but only with the "secure" devices inclusion like locks.

Interestingly when reading the openHab zwave binding info the following is posted on their site.

Coincidentally, this gives a very good explanation of the problems most of us have it appears that the C-5 radio on "Secure" pairing is on "Low Power Inclusion" because as many of us know the locks and the hub almost need to be touching themselves to get a successful inclusion, unlike most other platforms that users (myself included) claim to not have the same issues with must be on either High Power Inclusion or Network Wide Inclusion. This is pure speculation on my part as I'm sure we will not be provided the actual cause of our problems.

But this seems highly likely to be the case, in my opinion.

@craigs

Craig,

I currently have 3 of the Zen 15 in use in my rather small house. Have you eliminated the Zen15 as a potential Z-wave problem?

Bill

Nope, but getting a 2nd hub resolved my issue.

Here's what I previously tried - none of these worked:

  • Multiple exclusion and re-pairing with Hubitat over a several month span, giving weeks of time in-between to allow the mesh to heal
  • Added 5 Aeotec Z-Wave Repeaters. One next to the hub, one next to each lock in the house. Two next to the lock in the garage (started with one in the garage, and added a 2nd after repeated lock failures over a month)
  • Drivers: tried combinations of Generic Z-Wave Lock, built in Schlage BE469 driver, user created drivers, user created apps like Reliable Locks. Again, each time I would wait at least a week between changes to let the mesh heal.

What I did that worked:

  • Purchased 2nd C5 hub
  • Paired the 2nd hub with only the garage lock, and 2 Aeotec range extenders. Everything within a 10' radius.
  • Set up HubLink and LinkToHub

I’ve had this setup for 6 weeks now and no issues.

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The reason I ask is that there is one of the Zooz Zen15 around 10 feet from a KeyWe Z-wave lock. If there is a known issue with the Zen15 causing issues, I'd need to start looking for a replacement. The hub is only about 15 feet from both the lock and the Zen15. But I added a Aeotec Range Extender 6 about 4 feet from the lock to hopefully increase reliability. When the wall mount power strip arrives, the distance to the lock from the range extender will drop down to about 2.5 feet.

I hear ya. I wasn’t able to scientifically rule this out. However, on my lock that used to be flakiest, it is now 100% stable on the hub that just has 2 repeaters and the lock.

The hub that still has a few Zen15s on it has had a lock fall off once, but I believe that was due to a battery drain issue and it only happened once so far. That’s my main hub with 50+ devices, rules, community apps and drivers however so I can’t claim it is the Zen15 definitively.

Is it possible for you to remove the zen15 for a while and see if your issues clears up after a day of mesh healing?

I'm not currently having any lock issues, but did awhile back. The range extender may have helped. I now have 3 of the Zen 15 in the (~850 sq ft) house and my shopping cart currently has another 4 in it.

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That isn't a terrible idea. If my locks continue to be Office-space rage inducing I may have to give that a shot.

I completely hear you lol! I figured $75 was cheaper than new locks, and I really do like everything else about Hubitat. I am so far pleased with the decision.

My only fear is that next summer, when my garage tends to get hot, that my C5 will act up as I’ve read some on here having issues with hubs overheating. That’s not a problem for 9 months of the year in MN however.

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That only brings new ideas of automating a temperature activated fan to blow on the hub.....of course :crazy_face:

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a single "heart" is not enough for this comment. LOL!

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I still highly recommend this approach for anyone still having issues, especially with the 28 hour sale price going on.

My situation is very much a repeat of what @craigspree described. FE599 in a detached 2-car garage about 30 feet from the house. There are 9 repeating z-wave devices in the garage including 2 GE z-wave plus switches and an Aeotec Extender 6. The extender reliably gets 30/30 frames received using the test communication from the Iris repeater driver. Zero issues with any other z-wave device in the garage, all very responsive. I can take the FE599 back to the hub and pair with it 100% of the time. Or I can take the hub to the garage and the lock still pairs 100% of the time. When I move the hub (or lock) back to their original locations then the lock stops responding. I've tried removing/replacing batteries to the lock but it doesn't seem to be communicating with the mesh ... no status changes, nothing. So my next step was to try to pair with both hub and lock in-place. No problem excluding and resetting the lock when close to the hub. After moving the lock back to it's location, the lock will not pair. Over the past two days have tried it 20+ times. It is less that 1 ft away from one of the Aeotec extenders and within 2 feet of the GE z-wave+ switches.

@waynespringer79 mentioned an idea that the hub may be using low power during secure pairing, was that confirmed? It does sound very likely and I'm also wondering if that's why the suggestion has been made to have a repeater so close to the hub? So packets sent during low power inclusion actually make it to the mesh? Until now I've resisted putting 1 of my 4 extenders so close to the hub, because it adds another hop. Should I be concerned about that - does reaching the 4 hop limit happen easily? From my hub to the lock is maybe 50 feet through brick walls . I have no idea which route it is taking or how many hops it's covering.

One of my 5 range extenders is between 12-18" of the HE. I paired the FE599 in place - it's about 20' from the HE. The FE599 has never given me trouble.

Edit:
ZW Toolbox indicates that most of my zwave devices use the repeater next to the HE.

I've considered getting ZW toolbox I have around 70 z-wave devices and really zero visibility into that mesh. Would you recommend the product?

I got it really cheap and a while back. I wouldn't recommend it at full price. Also had around 120 zw/zw+ devices then.

I just saw it online at $149. Couldn't find on Ebay. I'm getting exhausted with my Schlage lock issues. Have 2 aeotecs and have tried multiple configurations. Most of the time they respond, but don't report back. Just shows the hourglass until I do a repair zwave. Everything else is flawless.

ZW Toolbox is a diagnostic tool, not a solution. I also came here from Wink. I couldn't get my Schlage locks to work either.

I ended up excluding everything, adding 4 range extenders, re-including everything, and my locks have been fine since (one hiccup in August that was I thought was a lock issue - it wasn't).

ZWT was helpful in positioning those 4 range extenders and a fifth I added later.

P.S. my locks gave me issues with Wink every once in a while.