I have two Kwikset 910 Z-wave locks and a Schlage FE599 Z-wave lock. I finally managed to get all three added to Hubitate. My Schlage already had 4 entry codes programmed in, and I added 4 codes to each of my Kwikset locks. Now my questions:
In the Hubitate Dashboard/Device listing, when i click on the appropriate Lock, is it supposed to show me the codes I have stored in each lock? Because I don't see them there. For example, for my Schlage lock I see:
That's a lock limitation. So for most locks, it is better to delete all existing lock codes (except the master), at the lock, and set new codes using the z-wave controller.
BTW, this would also be true for Wink or any other z-wave lock controller. Well, Wink's a bad example - it doesn't really support Kwikset z-wave locks, but you get my gist.
So I deleted the lock codes in my Schlage lock successfully. The Kwikset documentation indicates that the only way to delete the codes is to simply enter a new one in the same position, or to use a master code, which I do not have. So i proceeded to to use the Lock Code Manager. I deleted all existing usernames and codes that were already there - wanted to start fresh.
Now here is the problem - when I had a user, enter the code and the locks that code will apply to.... shouldn't the username subsequently appear in the list? Right now, it seems to be doing nothing.
All comes down to how robust your z-wave mesh is ..... after all, the failure is because of an interruption in communication between the lock and the z-wave controller.
What else can I do to improve my Z-wave mesh? I've run Z-wave repair previously, have mostly Z-wave devices spread out all over the house which I understand act as range extenders/repeaters. I bought one Z-wave range extender too, and I have no objections to buying more but, it's hard to tell how many I need considering how many Z-wave devices I already have and the lack of any objective information about the health of the Z-wave mesh.
Right now what I am observing is that everything will seem to work fine, and then suddenly some devices go unresponsive despite my not having done anything to the network. Also, sometimes the devices work fine, but they show wrong status in Dashboard, which I assume is part of the same problem.
So there are empirical ways to do this (which would be easiest to do), or tools that one can purchase to do this.
I had trouble with my z-wave mesh when I moved to Hubitat. So I bought a z-wave toolbox (please don't do this - while it definitely helped me, there are cheaper ways to accomplish the same end). Since I couldn't move my switches - I used the toolbox to help me identify the best spot to place 5 Aeotec Range Extender 6. I have a small house (1800 sq ft, two storey). Since then I've had zero z-wave issues.
I did zigbee by trial and error, and that seems to have worked out as well.
Recently, I came across a post from @davidcwright59, where an empirical method was described to design a zigbee mesh. I think what he did was brilliantly simple, and I suggest you try the same thing.
Please read this thread:
Take 5 ft off for going through a single wall (assuming drywall), 10 ft if it is brick. Take 10 ft off if it is a floor or ceiling.
So basically, ignore my existing Z-wave devices which ought to be repeaters, and just place a new repeater every 20 ft taking 10ft off for every brick wall or floor and 5ft off for drywall?
OK, I'll order a few more repeaters and try that. The maddening thing is, it seems to be working for a while and then everything goes to hell. This morning nothing was responding, but now suddenly everything is back to normal, except for that master commode vent switch which remains unresponsive.
You may also wish to buy a cheap z-wave dongle (less than $30), download PC Controller from Silabs (free), and look at your z-wave network at some depth.
I'm using a Mac - do you have a link to the software? I wasn't able to find a link for a Mac download from my quick perusal. Also couldn't find "Z-wave Dongle" on Amazon... I take that's a sensor to measure Z-wave strength at a particular location? Do you have a link to the latter? If it's something that can block into a MacBook I guess I could use that to measure Z-wave signal strength at different parts of the house.
there is a mac link at the bottom of the original post.
I just wanted to add also that locks work best when using a repeater that supports beaming. And there is NO rhyme or reason as to which repeater your locks will choose, so trying to calculate placement will result in disappointment.
I have 2 aeotec 6 repeaters and an enerwave repeater in my home. The locks are no more than 10 feet from the hub and they are very close in proximity to each other. One bounces off of the old enerwave plug and two off of one of the aeotecs. My z-wave contact sensors bounce off of them too, so I've left them placed. One is 4 feet from the hub, the other is on a wall about 4 feet on the other side of my schlage and the enerwave is off to the side. NOT equally placed. There is no way to tell your device what to repeat through. You just have to place it so that the path looks better than any other one. There isn't a set distance for this, and your goal is to make your locks work. Keep that in mind.
If you are really going to do actual packet sniffing (and not just observing the network with PC Controller) then this is one of those times where you are going to have to put your facebook machine aside and use Windows or a Windows VM. There is no OSX version of the software.
Also, the Amazon market place is a mess and I'm not going to try to navigate it to find a reputable vendor for you. I wouldn't buy from there. There is a reason I posted links to digikey.com and most users that didn't buy from digikey used mouser.com. The Amazon approach of cheapest-possible-alternative-to-whatever-it-was-that-you-really-searched method doesn't work here. You need the device specifically that is called out in the topic. If you can find a merchant that sells it on Amazon that actually has the model number in the listing feel free to give it a try. Personally, I think Russian Roulette is a terrible game.
If you just want to take a look at your nodes, run stress/health tests, see routes, and fun things like that then you can probably get away with almost any USB Z-Wave controller and PC Controller.
