Getting beyond frustrated. I think I am in over my head

[bobbyD]

@neonturbo

For now, I would set them all to off, be sure to "Save Preferences".

...and hit "Configure" for good measure, to let the device know that you changed the preferences.

[neonturbo]

@bobbyD

.and hit "Configure" for good measure

LOL, tape and glue. Can't be too sure.

[ginnyaction]

Current Status.
Still have 3 ghosts. Will wait for Z stick on Thursday
Have the Zooz power things changed to no reporting, so no longer slamming the hub.

Now what?
Do I start adding devices?
or do I setup a group and see if it works?
How do I know my Zwave Mesh is good?
Thanks for all the help guys.

[672southmain]

@ginnyaction

Do I start adding devices?

Not until the ghosts are gone.

[ginnyaction]

Got ya.
Thanks

[672southmain]

@ginnyaction

How do I know my Zwave Mesh is good?

Add Tony Fleisher’s (@tony.fleisher’s) excellent Z-Wave Mesh Tool.

[BETA] A Z-Wave Mesh Tool [C7 and 2.2.4+ Only]

I have been working on a tool to provide a way to explore Z-Wave Mesh Details. This tool can answer questions like: Which devices are acting as repeaters? How many devices are routing through a particular device? Which and How many devices are in a FAILED state? What devices are neighbors for a given device? [mesh-details-0.2.17-beta-filtered] [mesh-details-0.2.17-beta-details] I started developing this in ST earlier this year as a weekend project, and now have ported it to HE and have go…

Easiest way to install is to use Dominic Meglio’s (@dman2306’s) excellent Hubitat Package Manager, if you aren’t already using it.

[BETA] Hubitat Package Manager

Ok I think this is stable enough now to release as a beta. This is a package manager for Hubitat that makes installing and managing your apps and drivers easier. It allows you to install an app (for example Ecobee suite that has 13 apps and 2 drivers) with "one click" instead of having to do each one manually. It also automatically checks to see if new versions of anything installed using this app are available. As time goes on I hope more developers will come on board (if apps you use aren't su…

[ginnyaction]

Thanks, but... do you know where I can find a step by step, and I mean every step on how to install something like that? When I setup SmartThings 5 or 6 years ago someone pointed me to a step by step on using that IDE, and everytime after that I pulled them out and followed step by step... except they forgot to say copy the "RAW" and that gave me fits for awhile till I figured that out and wrote "RAW" into my directions. Are you aware of anything like that? Thanks

[672southmain]

Sure. We were all there, once. That’s why I suggested to install HPM first - most apps and drivers can then be installed (and updated) easily once HPM is installed.

The steps are at the beginning of the HPM link I posted, but it can be daunting the first time.

The Documentation on how to install user-contributed apps and drivers is here:

https://docs.hubitat.com/index.php?title=How_to_Install_Custom_Apps

https://docs.hubitat.com/index.php?title=How_to_Install_Custom_Drivers

Because it’s a user contributed app, here’s the easy way to install HPM:

1. Copy the following link to the HPM raw code:
   https://raw.githubusercontent.com/dcmeglio/hubitat-packagemanager/master/apps/Package_Manager.groovy

2. On your hub, go to the Apps Code page (from the drop-down in the upper left corner), click the button at the top right: New App

3. Click the Import button, paste the link to the HPM code that you copied in step 1.

4. Click the Import button below the pasted link, Click OK. The code will appear. Click Save button on top right. After a bit of thinking, the code has been installed.

5. Use the menu at upper left corner, go to the Apps page.

6. You are ready to install the App from the code you loaded. Click the Add User App button, choose Hubitat Package Manager.

It’s pretty self explanatory from there. Configure HPM for your system (security? Etc).

Then, from HPM main menu, choose Match Up. This lets HPM take control of apps and drivers it knows about that you have previously installed

Then, to install Tony Fleisher’s Z-Wave Mesh Tool (which HPM knows about), click Install, search by keywords, search for Fleisher , click outside the search field, click next, up will come Tony’s Z-Wave Mesh Tool. For some reason, the package has a similar but different name than the name shown by the program.

It’s pretty straightforward from here.

Ask if questions.

[ginnyaction]

Thanks;
This will be today's project since I am waiting on the tool for removing the ghosts. (down to 2).
I have copied and pasted your instructions and links into a Word file for future reference.
Yall are the best.
Ginny

[672southmain]

Just a caution: Dominic Meglio yesterday verified an issue with Match Up, and is testing a fix that seems to work. The issue is that the current Match Up seems to hang if any one of the multitude of packages managed by HPM has a duplicated package manifest. Apparently, some developer created a duplicate manifest this week. See the tail of the HPM thread for details.

So, until the fixed version is published, skip the Match Up step. Or, you could use the HPM code link for the fixed version at the end of the HPM thread instead of the link to the published released version I gave above.

[ginnyaction]

Good news and in over my head news.
I got everything loaded and working.... yeah. Having done this with ST gave me a leg up in understanding. Now the in over my head... I have no idea how to understand what results I got. Attached. Thank you

[terminal3]

I see your problem, you need to stay out the Coke room.

[ginnyaction]

ROFL .... LOL..... pics attached

[672southmain]

Just at a quick glance, it looks like you need some repeaters to strengthen your Z-Wave Mesh. The LWR RSSI column is a measure of signal strength:

@bcopeland

It is the received signal between the end device calculated across all the hops and calculated against the background noise level.. So a negative number means your signal is lower than the noise level, which means that at a minimum you will have a lot of re-transmits from dropped packets due to the receiver not being able to get the packet cleanly. .

I believe that tha Hubitat antenna has less gain than the SmartThings antenna. Perhaps it’s because of the smaller size. At least that’s what I decided when I came over from SmartThings just over a year ago. I just shrugged my shoulders and sprinkled Repeaters through our house, which improved signal strength. Signals get attenuated / reflected by brick, tile, mirrors, metal appliances, coke vending machine, metal coke signs, etc.

I use the Ring Alarm Range Extender Gen 2 (have 6 of them). They use the Z-Wave Plus 700 series chip and have an internal battery backup. They also send power fail events (switch from mains to battery) to the hub, so you can have a rule to shut down your hub cleanly on power fail (you do have your hub on a UPS, right?).

Seeing this, with all the negative LWR RSSI numbers, I understand better why you are getting the ghosts during pairing.

[ginnyaction]

OK. Thanks. These I assume? They will be seen by the Hub?

[672southmain]

Yep, that’s it. You will need the manual (not included, and not on Ring’s website, that I can find) to pair. It’s a bit tricky. Easiest if you use Classic Inclusion steps given in manual. Let it pair S2.

File

Ring had to provide the manual to get certification.

This is a helpful document:

https://docs.hubitat.com/index.php?title=How_to_Build_a_Solid_Z-Wave_Mesh

[Hal3]

I was where you are about five months ago.

Everything is fine now - thanks in large part to the support from this community. I'm 70.

Removing ghosts with the USB Z-Wave stick will resolve most of your issues.

I also added three of the previous version of these - one about every 25-30 feet from the hub:

Also, I suggest that you stop using Z-Wave repair until an expert here advises otherwise. It just didn't do for me what I expected it to do.

[terminal3]

Oh that's different.

Although I am not sure Coca-Cola approves of John Wayne, anymore.

[csteele]

Not living in earthquake country are you? That might be a sticky mess to clean up

[ginnyaction]

Nope, central Texas, what we call the Hill Country.