Change from C-4 to C-7

Okay, I have my new C-7 and trying to plan how to migrate all my devices and Rules (from Rule Machine). I'm also going to relocate the hub to maybe get better connection with fringe devices. I also still have two ST devices (Door Lock and Thermostat) that I was never able to get moved before.

I have 38 devices (mixture of Zwave and Zigbee) and the migration from ST was pretty painful. I must admit, I'm not looking forward to going through this process. I also have a boat load of rules in Rule Machine.

I've heard about the new service coming, but I think I read where it will only work properly with C-5 or newer, so that's probably not going to help me.

Any advise would be appreciated. I've had the new hub for a while, but I'm dragging my feet in starting down this path.

Brad

This post applies to a C4–>C7 migration and has some great info:

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Beyond the obvious Update of the ZWave Radio firmware, you know.. when it's successful, you can also see two other end results: Neither are a problem.

Screen Shot 2020-09-19 at 3.01.12 PM

If you wonder if you've clicked it or maybe there's a newer update, you'll get the "Already Up To Date" message if there's nothing more to do. Just smile and click Done. :smiley:

A very, very few people might get this message, and it's self explanatory too:

Screen Shot 2020-09-19 at 3.01.27 PM

More than a few have asked to 'beautify' the User Experience by simply not displaying the button when the answer would be one of these two messages. The critique was accepted and will be corrected in some future platform update, we were told.

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Moving from C-4 to C-7 is mostly painless I did have a Inovelli Single lamp outlet that I had to un-pair from the old device next to the hub that was broadcasting the Z-Wave exclude to get it to exclude from the C-4 but mostly painless would be the statement. It does take time and you have to be meticulous in removing and adding devices one at a time because you are using the DNI to preserve the devices used in automations.

Because my philosophy is not to update just to update but once something is stable leave it alone, I decided to update all the drivers to their most current versions after the update since the patient was already on the table. Going on my second week at my primary home with the C-7 and I it's just humming away.

There was one hiccup on my test hub migration before I did the real update where the Z-Wave network of the test devices went down but I attribute it to the old firmware before the Z-Wave radio update that was published.

I am about to embark on the same journey... I am going to try and combine 2 C-4 hubs into a C-7... starting with just some repeaters in certain locations then (carefully) migrate things over. The good news is by using Node-RED I can include the C-7 along with my C-4s and easily modify the "rules" as I go.

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I will say I am kinda on the fence about this though. I like having 2 hubs (split by location - upstairs/downstairs) - it seems like a more "stable" configuration - plus I can take one offline without impacting the other. I do have an additional C-7 I could use... have to think about it a bit more.

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To report back.. converted my upstairs hub's Z-Wave devices - mostly Zooz switches/dimmers V2 with 2 newer GE Enbrighten. Other than some quirkiness with the zooz pairings - switches liked to be paired with 3 down presses which is also exclude (or resets then goes into pairing mode dunno) while dimmers liked 3 up or sometimes 3 down then 3 up. I had one switch go loopy on me but after a reboot/repair/discovery/exclude/include it was okay. The rest paired without having me to reboot the hub although I did this a few times just to be safe. The zooz switches I have are not S2 compliant so no security was offered (which is fine). The enbrightens did ask and was able to pair with no security as well.

For now I've left the Zigbee stuff alone, still running on the upstairs hub. Want to see how the Z-Wave stuff gets along. All good so far but will give it a day or so to flush out.

In terms of changing my rules - NR made it incredibly easy. Just added the devices to the new Maker instance in HE then in NR created a new HE config pointing to the new hub and simply edited my existing sequences.. somewhat tedious but super easy and I did not have to mess with my logic (or lack thereof!).

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Do use dashboards?? If Yes, how are you planning to integrate?

I am using the NR Dashboard (+ wireguard for remote access) so just have to edit the relevant nodes like I do with the rules. While not quite as nice looking as the HE offerings (including the cool community stuff) the NR dashboard generally does what I want and is highly configurable/controllable.

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I am in the middle (maybe further along than that) of this kind of transition. I would urge you to keep the C4 around for any Z-Wave devices that want to pair (only) with S0 on the C7 hub's Z-Wave release. I have also left my old Schlage lock on the C4 because I know it doesn't have any security but it's working on the C4 so I'm going to leave it for now. It's quite old - it came over from ST. It's really due for replacement (in my scheme of things) but I haven't found a replacement I like.

I found moving the Zigbee devices was a piece of cake. I have all but two of them moved and those two are in ceiling fan shrouds and I have to climb up and take that apart to access the module to push the button.

I did a back-up from the C4 and restored it to the C7. Then I disabled all the rules. I wasn't sure where I was going to run the rules but I didn't want to have to re-write them. That worked well. I have been able to decide where I want the rule to run then enable it on that hub and disable it on the other hub. Once I am confident it is working as I want it to, I delete it from the hub where it is not being used.

The Z-Wave devices have been a little more of a challenge to migrate so I try to only do a few in a session and then take a break. Sometimes they exclude and pair easily and sometimes they try your patience. If you do end up with a zombie Z-Wave device, I urge you to get rid of it immediately, I don't think it gets any better if you wait and it may just screw up other things.

One thing I just figured out is some logic for where to run the rules in a multi-hub environment. I try to keep the rule local to where most of the sensors (especially motion, temperature, illuminance, and humidity) are located. I worry less about where the switch or dimmer is located. My logic is the sensors are much more chatty than the switches and dimmers so it should keep the traffic down on the Hub Mesh. In my environment, this has resulted in having the Zigbee motion, temperature, and humidity sensors on the same hub with the Lutron integration (2 Caseta Pro hubs).

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You could also use the C-4 for just network, cloud stuff (Alexa/Lutron other stuff) like I am doing. I removed the Nortek stick (US).

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