Hub Protect and C-7 Z-Wave radio crashes — where does the responsibility sit?
I want to share my experience and get the community's perspective on what I think is a fair resolution.
The issue
Since November 2023, my C-7's Z-Wave radio periodically goes offline. It's always the same thing: a cloud backup fails on the Z-Wave component, the radio stops responding, and no amount of software rebooting or firmware updating brings it back. Only a full physical power cycle (unplug, wait, replug) recovers it.
The history
Nov 2023: Reported via PM. Bobby reviewed logs, Bryan Copeland identified two devices running at 9.6kbps as a contributing factor. Bryan said it would be fixed in firmware 2.3.8.
Jan–Mar 2024: Firmware 2.3.8 shipped. Issue was not resolved. Follow-up messages went unanswered.
Jul 2025: Same crash while I was on holiday. Reported in the same PM thread. No reply.
Apr 2026: Same crash, same pattern. Filed a formal support request under Hub Protect.
Hubitat's response
Support confirmed that replacing my hub with another C-7 is "unlikely to resolve the issues" — meaning this isn't a defect in my specific unit. They offered a 50% discount on a C-8 Pro upgrade. They didn't explain what's actually causing the crash, and no firmware fix was mentioned.
I replied on May 1st asking two things: (1) what is actually causing the crash, and (2) if the C-7 platform cannot maintain a stable Z-Wave radio, why should the cost of moving to one that can fall on me as a Hub Protect subscriber? That was 11 days ago. No response.
My position
I'm not asking for free hardware. I've been paying for Hub Protect since March 2021 to keep my hub working. That's what the subscription is for.
What I'm being told is:
My specific hub is not defective
A replacement C-7 won't fix it
The C-8 Pro will fix it because it has "an improved radio and updated firmware"
If it's not a hardware defect in my unit, and a replacement C-7 won't help either, then the problem is in the firmware or the Z-Wave chip design — both things only Hubitat can fix. They haven't fixed it in 2.5 years, and they're not offering a timeline. The only resolution on the table is a paid upgrade to a model that doesn't have the problem.
If the platform I'm paying to protect can no longer deliver reliable Z-Wave service — and Hubitat acknowledges this — I think the upgrade should be covered. That's not freeloading; that's what a protection plan is for.
Has anyone else hit this? How was it resolved for you?
There are 3 factors here, not just two. Some is in Hubitat's power, and other items are not.
There is hub firmware, the stuff you interact with on a daily basis. This is the regularly updated firmware that you download weekly/monthly or whatever.
There is the radio chipset hardware, this has changed for each hub generation. I doubt you are suggesting that this can be swapped out on your C7. Of course if you want newer chipsets with newer and theoretically improved hardware, you need to buy a new hub.
Then there is the radio chipset firmware. It is totally separate from the hub firmware. It is from Silicon Labs, and not something Hubitat developed or from my perspective even could develop. This radio chipset firmware has proven to be finicky if not nearly impossible to update. There have been a few attempts over the years to try and update this firmware and much of it was problematic in one way or another.
So you may be dealing with something that Hubitat cannot control, the actual physical chipset, and the firmware embedded on that chipset. I am not sure where the problem occurs, but I can say there have been plenty of improvements and efforts to mitigate this Z-wave backup crash.
At the very least, why don't you turn off automatic backup, or space them as far apart as you can? Only do a cloud backup if you change anything. That sounds like I am saying to not use a feature, but if you aren't changing stuff why do a backup that could potentially go wrong? That is especially true if you are not on-location to work with the hub. I would say the same thing about device or firmware updates, don't tempt fate and try to do any updates while you are not there to supervise. So many things can go wrong, and if they do you are not in a position to troubleshoot.
This is my position and I never had a Zwave failure from a backup.
I usually do a cloud backup once a month and local backups once a week or more if working on something. The cloud backup is only to backup the radios anyway. You can always restore a cloud backup (for the radios) and then a local to bring you up to date.
I also never update when we are away on vacation. Never. I have contingencies to bring the hub backup via Wi-Fi plugs and a neighbor who will reboot things but as stated above, why tempt fate.
Apparently there are two devices creating this issue. I'd consider either replacing the devices (my first preference) or updating the hub if this were my problem.
Thanks for sharing your experience and for providing a detailed timeline. Your case is quite unique, and it is unlikely that you will find many others who have experienced this exact issue.
One thing that was unfortunately missed during the review of your case, is that you have been a Hub Protect subscriber since 2021 and, over that time, you have paid more than the current cost of a new C-8 Pro hub. Since we cannot guarantee that replacing your current hub with another C-7 would permanently resolve the issue, we agree that simply swapping for the same model isn't the best path forward.
While the behavior you're seeing doesn't necessarily point to a hardware malfunction, there are rare edge cases—often a combination of specific mesh conditions, routing behaviors, and legacy Z-Wave devices—that can cause difficult-to-reproduce radio instability.
To be transparent, even a C-8 Pro cannot guarantee a permanent fix if the root cause is tied to environmental or mesh factors outside of the hub itself. However, the C-8 Pro features an updated radio architecture and newer firmware components that have shown much better resilience in similar scenarios.
Given your long-term support and the extensive history of this case, we would like to offer you a full replacement upgrade to a new C-8 Pro hub at no cost. Please check your email for the next steps.
We truly appreciate your continued support and the significant time you’ve invested in helping us investigate this over the years.
Case in point, in 5+ years, a cloud backup hasn’t crashed the zwave radio in any of my hubs (C-7, C-8, C-8P), even though some of my devices are very old. It’s hard to protect against the idiosyncrasies of individual zwave meshes.
Thank you Bobby, really appreciate this. The upgrade makes sense given the history, and I'm glad we could find a fair resolution.
I'll keep an eye on my inbox and follow up from there. If the C-8 Pro does resolve the radio stability issue, I'm happy to report back here for anyonewho runs into something similar down the line.
Thanks again for the long-term support.