Not sure why, but my Kwikset 914 was working flawlessly over the weekend and then I noticed that it was showing unlocked on Sharptools.io even though it was locked. Went in to Hubitat and it's unresponsive.
I had moved the hub close to the lock to pair it via Z-wave, then ran a Z-wave repair and returned the hub to its original location since I have a Z-wave light switch close by. Was wondering if the network repair should have been ran before returning the hub to its original location? Wondering this may be the issue? I'm going to play with it again tonight, but if this continues I will be moving the lock back in to SmartThings. I really want to cut off my SmartThings hub, but stuff like this has hindered me from doing so...
Iāve read enough complaints about Kwickset to steer clear of them. But yes, you did it right. Z-Wave repair when the topology is set the way it needs to be. Probably need to add a repeater in between, even though they are close by. Sounds like the light switch might not be doing the job. However, you only mentioned that SharpTools was showing unlock. What is the lock Device details showing?
Iām very happy with my Z-Wave Plus Yale lock (YRD256). Some people were not, and prefer the Zigbee version.
The deadbolt isn't updating in Hubitat. No new events, can't pull the pins, etc. Basically, it's frozen in the software. Oddly enough, I've never had issues with my Z-wave network in SmartThings, so a repeater would be a first. Might give the process a shot again this evening and see if maybe something didn't "take" last time. I'm bummed because I had setup a rule to have the alarm turned off if a pin was used to unlock the lock. Now that's not working again...
I'm one of those that had an issue with the YRD256 until I switched the radio module to zigbee. Also some have reported that the deadbolt mechanism is not as strong as others but it works great for me.
All of my locks stopped working in 2.0.8. They were working fine before. I haven't had time to troubleshoot further but I suspect that may be the issue here.
Actually, I think my issue is bigger. Looks like some Z-wave instability that I experienced in early adoption is back. I just noticed that one of my basement door sensors is not updating properly (again). Not sure what's up, this same setup worked flawlessly on SmartThings.
You sure? I'm not trying to pick on you or anyone for that matter, but so many people that left other platforms and have problems say it worked "flawlessly" on the previous hub. Why would you leave a platform that worked flawlessly?
It sounds like you are unveiling issues that were being masked by SmartThings. I know that doesn't sound right, but I've often heard people that know so much more than I do about this subject describe it as SmartThings solving issues with Z-Wave especially, by "throwing a truck at it". There are quite a number of users here that have absolutely no stability issues, so simply comparing to a different hub and pronouncing Hubitat broken isn't the right approach.
Sorry if this sounds harsh. Really, I'm here to try and help as much as anyone else in the forum.
I don't know if you ever read any of the Zigbee/Z-Wave documentation on SmartThings. It's actually pretty good. The Hubitat docs are very helpful too.
I'm just stating my issues as I've encountered them. I've seen others on here complaining of Z-wave instabilities, so I'm not saying something outlandish. As I stated, same equipment setup on ST worked fine, I don't know how it was "masked" as you stated. Could it have been? Sure! Just don't know...
I'm very familiar with wireless protocols, how they work, etc. I live in that world at work. Without bringing home sniffers, etc. I can only theorize certain things. I moved away from Home Assistant because I didn't want to come home to more troubles. Had some major headaches on that platform with updates breaking stuff.
All at know at this stage is the lock was working and then I updated the hub. Might be coincidence, guess we'll see how many users complain. In the meantime, I'll continue to tweak things and see if I missed something.
As you are looking at the possible issues - I think it may be useful to separate the lock issues from other issues. Locks have some unique characteristics that make them a challenge (e.g, secure pairing, whisper mode) that other devices don't have. I think it will help with the diagnosis to keep them separate (at least mentally). If there are any weaknesses in your network the locks will find them.
You mention a basement door sensor not operating properly - have you had a chance to look at that any more? Any idea what's going on with that?
Also, you mentioned a Z-Wave light switch located near the lock. What make and model is that light switch?
I use GE Z-wave light switches (14299), GE Z-wave outlets (1271), MonoPrice Zwave Plus wireless sensors for the basement windows and doors. Iāve run Z-wave repairs 3x and it seems like the Z-wave network is back to being stable (fingers crossed). Not sure what was happening specifically. Seemed like it started when I added the lock, but I also noted that there was a hub firware update. Probably bad on me to install the update when I was in the middle of the lock issue.
As of today, the Kwikset 914 has been stable for almost 2 days!
I appreciate all the advice, different lines of thoughts, etc. Really! Sometimes itās that difference view or opinion that points you to the WOW! I Forgot To Think About That! moment...
Zwave Locks (Schlage in my case) is the ONLY item of 50+ I had any issue pairing/configuring properly when switching to HE 2 weeks ago. Couple days ago I spent almost an entire day trying to get all 3 locks paired configured correctly. All 3 locks are identical yet the status's and configurations were different. How I caught this was my "Night Mode" which is set to lock ALL locks, yet one never would fire as directed, yet I could manually do it from the settings. Also "Lock Code Manager" would continually fail to perform jobs for code entry.
I eventually got this fixed after spending the day pulling the locks off the door and bringing them next to the controller and exclude/including them and also configuring them and waiting until the logs showed no activity for an hour before re-installing, and all configuration/status's were identical.
Just chiming in here as my toughest devices to reliably get working on HE was my door deadbolts. I had (2) Kwikset 888 deadbolt locks from my legacy Vivint security system. They are Kwiksets answer to Zwave prior to the 914 models. With Vivint they would work about 98% of the time, ST probably 75% and HE was maybe 30% reliable. No obstructions between the locks and multiple Zooz Zwave repeaters for a strong mesh. The difference between Vivint and ST/HE was the (2) keypad stations right next to the doors. Difference between ST and HE is the placement of the hubs and the Vivint keypads were still operational. The locks would go through batteries every 3-4 weeks with very heavy use.
Through multiple attempts of moving the hub, battery options and even sending one of the units to Mike @ HE we couldnāt figure out why these locks just do not respond like they should. Finally I gave up all self-support and called Kwikset. They confirmed that their Zwave models do not have a strong antenna, their Zwave firmware only send lock/unlock status once and blindly and finally their recommendation was to upgrade to their 914 with Zigbee.
Well after 3 months of fighting this and a price tag of $200/device I decided to change lock manufacturers. I now am using Yale 110 deadbolt locks. I have no issues with HE, battery life is going on 3 months with same usage and the biggest benefit was being able to use more lock combinations than the Kwikset combined numbers on the pad.
So for those reading this the just is this. If you go with Kwikset make sure it is the 914 models or higher and ensure they are Zigbee. Else, go with a different smart lock manufacturer with my suggestion of Yale smart locks.
I guess the situation has improved with the Z-Wave Yale locks thanks to the updated firmware but last year I had all sorts of trouble with my YRD256 until I switched to Zigbee. To be completely fair I had lots of trouble with almost everything..
Great info and very interesting. Appreciate you sharing, In my house, we mainly use 2 doors consistently and one is the Kwikset 914. When Iām ready to take the jump on the 2nd door, I may entertain replacing them both and using your advice.
I had issues with my YRD256 locks (Z-wave module) on HE as well. One of the locks was within ~10 feet of the hub, but was still having problems occasionally showing the wrong status or not accepting commands. I ended up re-reading through some of @JDRoberts posts on the ST community about Z-wave locks and beaming and decided to get a Zooz ZEN25 as a repeater to see if it helped.
Sure enough, after adding the Zooz ZEN25 with beaming as a repeater (within a few feet of the hub), I haven't had issues with the locks since.
Well it was a turbulent time in my life - just getting started with HE, transitioning from Smarthings. My older Yale (YRD240) wouldn't pair or pair incorrectly and stop responding. Literally had no issues with it and SmartThings at all (other than all the cloud based issues/reasons for coming over to HE). I ended up buying a YRD256 thinking it would solve the issue - it did not. Relocated the hub to my basement (and eventually moved to a multi-hub configuration) and tried various repeaters etc. Read thru forums, kept banging my head against the wall - still no go. Like with the old lock sometimes it would pair, sometimes it would stop responding after a time it was never stable enough to use. Switched to Zigbee and have not had any issues.
My suspicions are that at the time it was a combination of things from my lack of experience with HE to some firmware issues with Z-Wave. I am a lot more knowledgeable in the ways of the HE and there are a bunch more threads on the subject. More people seem to be reporting successes with their z-wave locks of all types. I like the Yale lock, it's compact, looks nice and works well when connected properly. For me Zigbee has worked out better.
Also interesting - A few weeks ago paired my old yale lock to my dev hub sitting less than a foot away on my desk, paired fine and seemed to work. Looking at it now it's non-responsive in HE but lock works, battery fine etc etc. To be fair it is an older Z-Wave model not plus. Wasn't sure it would be compatible anyway but it did work fine (meaning responsive, no disconnects, rboys app/dths worked) with Smartthings.
The Lock, as everyone knows, is a battery device and therefore sleeps pretty much all the time. It wakes periodically and looks for ONE message type that tells it there's messages waiting. If the hub doesn't see/respond to the lock in time, back to sleep it goes.
Beaming functions as storage of the 'yes, messages waiting' and with nothing else to do, gets the message into the Lock before it sleeps. The lock then converses with the hub and gets all the messages. Beaming is assumed to be faster than the hub, in other words.
- just getting started with HE, transitioning from Smarthings. My older Yale (YRD240) wouldn't pair or pair incorrectly and stop responding. Literally had no issues with it and SmartThings at all (other than all the cloud based issues/reasons for coming over to HE). I ended up buying a YRD256 thinking it would solve the issue - it did not. Relocated the hub to my basement (and eventually moved to a multi-hub configuration) and tried various repeaters etc. Read thru forums, kept banging my head against the wall - still no go. Like with the old lock sometimes it would pair, sometimes it would stop responding after a time it was never stable enough to use. Switched to Zigbee and have not had any issues.
