Hi, I'm really looking for some help to get me going with connectivity around the house. I didn't really have this problem with SmartThings so I'm trying to figure out what I'm missing here. Maybe it's just a dashboard issue but I'm not sure.
Right now I have about 20 light switches, 5 door locks and some door/window sensors around the house. The light switches are a mix of Zigbee/Z-Wave, the door locks are all Zigbee and the door/window are mostly Zigbee.
I like to use the Dashboard as an "At a glance" kind of view to see what needs attention at night. Maybe some lights needs to go off. Same with the door locks. What is unlocked that shouldn't be.
I'll frequently see a light on in the basement and rather than go down there I want to pull up the dashboard and just turn it off. A lot of times the device will show as off in the Dashboard but I see the light on physically. I also have the opposite problem where the light shows as on but it's really off. I have similar problem with my Zigbee locks (Kwikset). They show as unlocked but they are really locked. It takes me clicking them and telling them to lock for them to update correctly.
What's the missing piece to get my devices to show correctly in the dashboard? I still have connectivity to them as if I go into device I can turn them on and off without a problem.
It can depend on the exact device, some are not good at keeping the hub updated on their current state. Some older z-wave switches, in particular, are known to be troublesome.
Which specific devices are you having these issues with?
Anytime I’m noticing a potential problem with the dashboard, first thing I always do is go to the device’s settings page in the hub admin UI. If the problem is reproducible there (e.g. the device can be controlled but doesn’t update state correctly), then it’s probably a device problem. If the problem occurs on the dashboard but not the device settings page, then it’s more likely a dashboard issue.
Thanks. Just walked out of the house. I'll check on those items.
The light switches are all GE and are a mix of model #14294 (Dimmer), 14287 (Fan), and 14291 (Switch). The locks are Kwikset 916 and 912 with Zigbee modules.
Any switches which do not report their status on a timely basis should be polled.
If you don't need their status all the time, but only just before "dashboard" time, then you can poll those devices in RM just at that time only.
It's my understanding that your previously used hub did polling all the time, in the background, without you knowing about it.
So if I understand you correctly I should set up a RM job to poll on a periodic basic? Not having it in front of me I’m assuming that there is a rule that is just basically a poll.
If so, it might improve my happiness all around with HE. I’ll play around when I get back.
Unless I'm mistaken, the 14xxx series are all z-wave plus and "should" be reliable at reporting state, its only non-plus devices that would require polling.
I find hitting refresh in the device edit page normally brings the state back into line. I set up some periodic refreshes for troublesome devices. In my case, its only ever z-wave devices that dont get state properly, zigbee has been 100% rock solid for me in that regard.
So, whenever the tile is pushed on, it will poll those switches to get the latest state of affairs.
Note: You may wish to poll those devices for a certain length of time: 1-3 minutes, to get a complete picture. In that case, you would put a delay, and then turn off polling.
