I have i am trying to see how I can boost my overall network strength. I am thinking of adding an additional device on a 2nd floor.. Can getting 2nd Hubitat hub be helpful to achieve this and what would be the set up for this? I assume master/slave mode , but would love a better confirmation if this setup can achieve my desired goal of getting a stronger signal.
Two hubs won't form one network. You can have several hubs connected via HubConnect or LinkHub but each will have it's own network.
There is pros and cons to both setups (e.g. I have 3 production hubs). Depending on your network size and number of devices I would always go with adding a device that can route first.
I have 3 of the aeotec devices myself and can affirm that these are great Zwave extenders... I am not sure though if the op is looking for Zigbee, Zwave or both, he doesn't mention it. I would always go with Xbee's for the Zibgee network
As @waynespringer79 posted, the Aetoec are great extenders. Some people say you should never get an extender and just get more powered switches and outlets. I think the Aeotec are a bit "better" as they not just repeat but also amplify the signal. But that is my personal opinion and I am sure that there are plenty of people on this forum that disagree.
100% agree with this I have 4 of them, I actually would not recommend "relying" on the zwave network on the C-5 hubs without them, it can be done fine with "typical" repeating devices but any securely paired devices is almost certain to experience frustrations with reliability without them, they improve the entire zwave network overall, and are great.
Multiple Hubs (using HubConnect) is ideally suited for solving some very specific issues or potential issues:
Radio queue issues: ZWave especially, but Zigbee as well, converse at a relatively low rate. Therefore, the quantity of send and receive Z-something packets is limited. Certain devices are very "chatty" and send many messages per second. Everyone's individual mix of devices will determine when the radio queue gets saturated. A second hubs help when the Z-devices are split across them, doubling the queue and doubling the radio's packet/per second capacity.
Radio distance issues: Typically an issue for homes with outbuildings a good distance away from the primary hub. Adding Ethernet (LAN) to an outbuilding will often be better than trying to extend a ZWave or Zigbee mesh that distance. At giant distances, such as a Home and a Vacation home, HubConnect allows two or more hubs to interconnect over the internet forming a single system, not significantly different from two hubs split "upstairs" and "downstairs"
App isolation: Although there's an adequate amount of CPU and memory in a Hub, large apps and drivers can consume TIME and thus impact the radio's queue management. Large/long calculations, internet fetching of data, delays, infinite loops, all suggest that Apps, large and especially those that integrate to an Internet/Cloud resource, can run on their own Hub and impact each other and not the Radios.
I have a pair of hubs, upstairs/downstairs with about 65 devices each. A third hub is running all the Cloud integrations and I'm certainly very satisfied with the result.
You may not have any of the issues a second hub can help with. When you do.. HubConnect will be something to look at.
Homebridge @dan.t reworked Tonesto7's Homebridge product to follow the HubConnect API.
HubConnect makes use of the Event Socket (event stream) that all Hubitat Hubs emit constantly. HubConnect can listen to that and react to Events. Many other products can do the same thing and therefore function similarly.
@dan.t also has a version of Homebridge using MakerAPI + Eventsocket:
I read about a HomeSeer product that uses MakerAPI too.