I'm new to Hubitat, but I've been a Vera user since Micasa Verde days. I thought I better ask in case I'm doing this wrong, but it seems to me Hubitat's support of Z-wave devices is very limited and finnicky. I spent most of the day trying to migrate devices from my old network to Hubitat and man was it a pain. I've managed to add a few different types of devices from different manufacturers, but it refuses to recognize a Kwitkset SmartCode 916 (Z-Wave) and while I understand they only support the Zigbee version, I can't even bind this as a generic Z-wave device. Thanks, in advance.
Welcome to Hubitat...hopefully we can get you into better shape.
You'll get more help w/a list of the other brand/model devices you are trying to join to the hub that you're having problems with.
Trying to use unsupported devices on a hub is swimming upstream, and is by nature likely to be difficult. Locks can be very tricky/picky in general due to their security requirements and usually need to be joined very close to the hub...like a few feet away. That, along w/being sure I've fully reset the lock, and I'd first run an exclusion on the lock from the hub before trying to include it, to confirm the hub can see/talk to it before trying to include it.
You also should search this forum, if you haven't yet, for previous posts & info from other users who may have tried to join the Kwikset SmartCode 916.
So the first question is are your devices on the compatibility list. If they are not there may be known issues with them.
The Hubitat c8 and c8 pro both actually have a zwave 800 radio and support for zwave LR. If you are migrating older gear from your old platform you may want to research some of the limitations with older gear on hubitat. If the devices are not on the supported device list then the question is why. If it is simply a lack of a driver, the community may be able to help, if there is a known issue it may be intentionally left out as a problematic device.
So probably a good place to start is what are the devices you are struggling with?
The Z-wave capability of the C8 Pro hub is quite robust due to the 800 chip and external antennas.
In migrating Z-wave devices from an older hub, you need to make sure that you EXCLUDE each Z-wave device on the older hub before attempting to INCLUDE it on the C8 Pro. If you failed to do the exclusion process, data will be left behind that will interfere with the inclusion process.
Z-wave is supposed to be backwards compatible, so older devices should work with the radio as long as you can find a suitable driver for the device. Check for native drivers built into the Hubitat software first. If you cannot find one, check the listing of community developed drivers.
@user1561 Likely you need to factory reset or exclude the lock. You also need to make sure you didn't create any ghosts along the way. Please read the following post and pay attention to the z-wave section, it should help you avoid any gotchas. That lock works fine on hubitat.
I'd say they are supported devices since most of them are listed when I try to add the device. It looks more like there might be an issue with this specific hub.
That doesn't indicate formal support, more that they are "close enough"
that they may join the hub, but whether they will fully function or last on the hub isn't for sure. They may just join as "Device" type and not have any fully compatible driver.
If the device isn't on the supported devices list, it's not officially supported, either hasn't been tested, or has been tested and isn't supported due to problems w/adherence to Zigbee/Z-Wave/Matter specs, or HE hasn't created a built-in driver for it yet...the list is here:
You may have an issue w/your hub, but I haven't seen any evidence of that yet.
Do you have any Z-wave repeaters in your setup. These can either be dedicated Z-wave repeaters such as the Aeotec Range Extender or perhaps a mains powered switch. Pair these repeaters/extenders first and then pair other Z-wave devices.
In general, some of the newer Z-wave devices have longer ranges than earlier devices. If you have some really old devices, you might be better off replacing them than fighting to bring them into the modern world. Anything with a 500 chip or higher should be fine as long as it is on the supported list.
Going from the world of Vera to the world of Hubitat C8Pro is quite a jump.
