Discussion about the C7

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14

I am running into similar issues and come from a similar background.

So far, reboots clear the issues for me and get the system responsive. While not ideal and people have said it’s not necessary, even with no changes, the system becomes unstable and unresponsive for me about every 4-5 days (zwave specifically). I’ve replaced all zwave with zwave plus, doubled the wired devices and added 4 repeaters so at this point I think a weak mesh is ruled out.

There is another post where I ask how to make a backup to a google drive and reboot rule which is not easily done but can be hacked together. I have not done it yet but need to do that and get the hub on a UPS....

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15

BTW - I really wish they would make it a clean and simple option to cleanly backup, copy said backup to an external/internet drive optionally, reboot, reset the zwave antennas (without having to unplug/via software) and restart.

Seems like a good option to have regardless.

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16

I think there is an issue with chatty S2 devices potentially bogging down the system.. I am experiencing similar issues to yours. Fingers crossed for the next update... :crossed_fingers:

Part of my issue I think has been outdated firmware on my Zen 23/24 V3's... I've updated a few "troublesome" switches and they appear to be working better but have to verify this over the next few days.

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18

I use the Rebooter app to reboot it every Saturday at 3 AM. Maybe I should see if it gets worse towards the end of the end and improves over the weekend.

I only have 1 S2 device which is the Inovelli switch and I did not pair it with S2 security because I know they were having firmware issues at the time. I will say, that switch does seem to have many of these issues in my environment, so perhaps I should look into a firmware update.

21

I have 7 Inovelli switches to install once the next firmware comes out and is, hopefully, stable. I added another Zwave leak sensor last week and the entire Zwave network went crazy until I rebooted the hub. That simply shouldn't happen of course. But that is what made me hold up on any more devices until we get this resolved somehow. It is frustrating that it is taking so long to get resolved and a progress report would surely be appreciated by many of us.

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30

Coming from a ST environment which had over 230 devices, the Zigbee devices had far more issues than Zwave. Why? Well, one reason is the frequency - I think many of our homes are flooded with 2.4 Ghz interference. 900 Mhz signals have greater range. When I was on ST, I eventually had to replace two of my Zigbee contact sensors with Zwave because the Zigbee sensors just kept dropping. Once I put Zwave there, I never saw another issue.

High-end automation isn't relevant to the conversation. I'm not outfitting a 20,000 ft mansion or I'd be inclined to go another route. If someone advertises that their hub works with Zwave, it needs to work - no ifs, ands, or buts. Zwave was solid on my SmartThings hub. From what I recall, it was pretty solid on my C3 hub. It's only the C7 that has these issues. I'm aware it uses a new chipset and there may be growing pains, but it has been on the market long enough that they need to be resolved.

I'm also aware of the advantages to Lutron, but I'm not prepared to make a wholesale switch yet and it's irrelevant to this conversation and thread. This thread is about the constant zwave issues with the C7.

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31

If only lutron had a combo dimmer + motion in a single device... Then I might be tempted.

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32

Here... let me fix this for you....

"This thread is about the constant zwave issues."

There are "new" issues specific to the C7 but there have been Z-Wave issues with HE long before the C7.

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33

They do. But it's not "smart".

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34

Right. I meant in the radio ra2 line / programmable.

Anyway, my zwave lighting is working fine, all 70 switches/dimmers worth, so I have no impetus to change anyway.

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36

I'm always surprised about this. Lutron has so many form factors of every device and they don't have one that attaches to their lighting systems. My in-laws were building a house with Home Works and I saw a combo unit. I thought, wow, neat, I wish I could get a smart one for my home. But no, it was just a plain old "dumb" combo.

38

But anyway, I'm not here to argue if zwave/Zigbee are "good enough" for lighting or not. It is for me, and I have quite complex mode, default dimming settings, and ramp rate configurations.

I send close to a 400 commands to my zwave lighting devices a day, and receive well over a thousand events from them a day (some days 2-3k) - and it works. And works every time.

People can make up their own minds on that topic though.

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39

Exactly. Z-Wave can work well for many things. I still have Z-Wave.

40

I fully believe RadioRa is more reliable overall though - probably by quite a margin. Just for the record. :slight_smile:

If I were starting from scratch, it would be hard to not go that route (other than cost, of course).

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43

Back on topic, when is 2.2.4 coming out - other than when it's ready?

(runs for cover, laughing hysterically)

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44

A post was merged into an existing topic: Alternatives to Z-Wave

49

Ya it would be nice to know are we days away or months? Maybe too much is trying to be included in the next release?

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50

i have two houses one with 70 zwave devices once with 89..

the one with 89 devices 22 are lighting related, the rest are switches sensors etc.

Working fine for me albeit slower than zigbee.. But it was not easy building the meshes, especially with the older firmware.. and the ghost nodes..

so it can work. and can work for lighting as well..

51

I've got an Aeotec Repeater 7 which I haven't yet added because I'm afraid it will hose everything else. However, I may just try it and see what happens.

52

The Aeotec Repeater 7 is a good product. Only reason I replaced mine was to get the Ring Extender 2 devices that have built-in battery backup to keep my mesh up during power fail.

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