How my Schlage Lock is paired. I need an opinion

Check the first rule. You should have a choice for "Any Lock Code". If you use that rule, then "%value%" would be the specific lock code used.

I'm 99% sure that I used "Any Lock Code" during testing Rule 3.0 and it worked.

this is also something I need to set up for my cleaning person too!

Any way to get the name instead of the code?

Some automations bother the person who cleans my house, so I turn them off using a virtual switch that is turned on when she arrives.

Try it. I think if the code is mapped to a name using Lock Code Manager, the announcement will use the name. I'm not home right now, but I can try it tonight.

My person has poltergeist going on in my house as my qi chargers control quiet time and night and the lighs turn on and off when she's moving them around. I have to chuckle becuase my phone announces mode changes. She's all cool with technology, but I'd like to convenience her with a few things like lights staying on for her.

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I will do that. Thank you very much for the input. It gives me a starting point. I was taking that path, but got stuck on my choices.

The Siren 6/Doorbell 6 is also a beaming repeater as well.

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Beaming and "amplifying" are different. As I noted above, I'm really not sure what they mean with the latter since pretty much any repeater should do that in some sense by nature of what repeating means (I guess they just amplify it by a greater factor compared to typical devices?). But beaming is a separate issue: rather than just passing the message along, the Beam command tells a capable device to buffer the message until the lock (or whatever) does its periodic check in and sees the beam, in which case it will fully wake up to complete the rest of the communication (and perform the actual action). Best case without a beaming repeater is that you might put more work on the hub, but the worst case is that the lock will be sleeping and not see the beam or "real" message at all. I'd be really curious what repeaters people with problems had before the Aeon or Dome solved them.

That being said, beaming has been around for a while--even one of the first "classic" Z-Wave plugs I bought when new to ST supported it, but not all devices do. Most newer ones do; it might be required for certification now, but I'm not sure. The device's certification document from the Alliance is probably the best way to check any specific device.

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I've stayed out of this discussion for a long time... But I can't help myself any more.

All zwave repeaters are "amplifying" repeaters. The aeotec does nothing special in this respect. Feel free to sniff the packets and signal strength and see for yourself.

Now, some repeaters have better antenna and signal strength than others. Thus some repeaters are better than others - that part is true.

But all repeaters take a packet, and re-transmit it. That act itself makes it an "amplifying repeater".

Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong... But I can tell you based on measurements that my non-Aeotec repeaters raise the signal strength too... Aeotec's published "2.5dB" increase might be true, but is marketing hype in my opinion.

If regular repeaters didn't amplify when they repeated, you could never extend the range/distance of your zwave mesh :roll_eyes: ...

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%value% will give you the name assigned to each code you've programmed to your lock using Lock Code Manager or using the device driver itself.

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Having 5 separate manufacturers zwave plus repeaters next to a lock under 10 ft away and communications routinely fail. Remove those 5 down to 2 but one of the 2 is an Aeotec Extender and the no longer ever fails......isn't "hype"

Previously even with those 5 devices having to remove the lock from the door solely because the lock needed to be right next to the hub upon pairing, then when removing those 5 down to 2 but one being an Aeotec, now the lock is able to be paired in place on the door without removal.....isn't "hype"

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Yup. 100% accurate.

Here my experience coincides with @waynespringer79. I have several other line-powered z-wave+ products that should function as repeaters (and according to z-wave toolbox are in the mesh), but my Schlage locks would routinely fall off-line.

Adding Aeotec range extenders stopped that from happening.

Hype? Maybe.

Voodoo? Definitely.

More seriously, I wonder if it has to do with the fact that my other z-wave+ devices are in gang-boxes, while the Aeotec range extenders are plugged in.

Edit - or as you've pointed out, difference in physical configurations that alter the SNR.

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Chiming in here. Regarding the Aeotec repeaters. I was super skeptical. I have 10 or so Z-Wave Plus plugs (not in gangboxes) throughout my house. I had 3 of the BE469 locks working great for years with my Wink v1.

When I came to HE in April I had tons of problems with my locks falling off the network. I bought a few more Z-Wave Plus repeating plugs from various manufactures and placed them all over yet the lock performance didn’t improve.

Highly skeptical and frustrated, I installed 4 Aeotec repeaters... and they have kept my locks working pretty great ever since. Marketing hype or not, they absolutely made the difference for me just as they did for @waynespringer79 and @aaiyar . I have no data beyond this anecdote.

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I think this article sums it up perfectly. So, not all repeaters provide the same functionality.

http://thingsthataresmart.wiki/index.php?title=Beaming

I never said it wasn't a good repeater.

And I never said all repeaters had the same functions. Although the VAST majority of zwave plus repeaters support beaming (probably >99%, although I've never counted).

I did say that all repeaters are "amplifiers", which is true.

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Amplify? If has nothing to do with amplification. Repeaters aren't amplifying the signal. They are repeating it. I'm not going to go through the differences between a repeater and an amplifier, there are plenty of places to look that up if you don't understand it. But we are conflating two terms which have entirely different meanings.

Anytime you are retransmitting by definition you're amplifying as the transmitting radio will transmit at its design power regardless what the incoming signal strength was. That's simply how radios work. Not really trying to start an argument, I'm just being pedantic I guess.

That's why I've avoided this conversation for this long. :slight_smile: I guess I should have stuck with that.

I'm glad that the Aeotec range extenders are working great for everyone. That's all that matters in the end.

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I wanted to argue with your comment, but I think I catch what your'e saying.

There's no amplification of the existing signal, rather the message is retransmitted in a new signal or...regenerated.

I agree, but...To transmit any modulated signal really requires several steps. Carrier generation, modulation and amplification. In some cases the power of the carrier is sufficient to not need a dedicated amplifier, and in a low power radio system like Zwave it's entirely possible that this is the case, especially with a sufficiently hot LO.

However, retransmission in this case is effectively amplification of the desired signal such that it meets the desired Z-wave EIRP, and SNR, as well as correcting multi path effects (among other things).

I guess I too am being pedantic...sorry.

S.

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Retransmitting, amplified whatever terminology one wants to use the bottom line is that without using Aeotecs devices that they claim amplify.

The Schlage door locks had to either be removed from the door to the hub or the hub relocated to the door as the "secure" signal to include from the hub was not strong enough at the use location, no matter how many zwave plus repeaters were present.

After adding the Aeotec devices they claim that amplify, removing the door lock or relocating the hub near the door lock to include it to the hub was no longer necessary as the "secure" signal was strong enough to complete the inclusion process at its use location.

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