I had a C5 hub which I recently upgraded to C8... The migration failed and somehow I ended up with a corrupt database so I excluded all my devices and re-added (Still have 2 unknown devices I need to identify). After I got that settled I worked on getting firmware on my Inovelli switches (Primary devices in the network) updated. Over the next day I noticed my Ring alarm devices starting to drop off the network, 5-8 overnight. So I attempted to remove and re-add the range extenders thinking maybe something was up with them.
Both networks are pretty large and it got me thinking, would it be better if I could somehow have both networks together so I don't have range extenders AND switches relaying signals?
What is the best way to get these two ecosystems working together smoothly? I spent an hour or so on the phone with Ring support trying to get a range extender included who were basically saying that my noise level is too high and it likely won't work...but I can include on Hubitat OK sooo... ? Is that possibly something alarm specific where it's thinking there is a jamming signal and thus not allowing a device to be paired?
I believe I have about 55-60 zWave devices on Hubitat (And a few more I'd like to add) and about 70 devices on the Ring alarm side but some I would be willing to trim out.
Any help on the best way to keep these two running would be appreciated, I saw talk about possibly adding the Ring hub into Hubitat but it wasn't clear on what the process was...
The Z-Wave devices from Ring and Hubitat will need to be kept separate and on their respective hub. I personally have hundreds of Z-Wave devices on one Hubitat hub and a lot on another. All Z-Wave Plus. On Ring, I only have 4 locks, 4 contact, 1 motion and 2 glass break sensors, along with 1 repeater.
The only time I had issues with my Ring Z-Wave devices, I had one of my Z-Wave switches spamming the mesh and the Ring support team was able to see this from their tools on my Ring Hub. I ended-up powering down all my switches (not knowing which one was causing the issue) by turning off the breaker. This fixed the issue and I haven’t had problems since.
Is there a reason why you have so many devices on Ring Alarm? If they are only required for home automation, they may be better off on Hubitat instead…?
House is a bit over 7000 sq ft, so a lot of area to cover and a U shape which cuts off signals East<->West. According to the document Ring had put out it should be possible to add the Ring Base as a secondary controller on the network but am not seeing that option in the mobile app, even after I (ugh) excluded every Ring Z-Wave device. My thought on including it on the same network is to eliminate overlap of the range extenders with existing Z-wave switches and thus providing relays for both networks w/o the overlap/interference.
The Hubitat and Ring network can unfortunately not be combined. Each will require their own set of repeaters. Most (all) mains (pluged-in) Z-Wave devices will serve as a repeater, so you will want some of them to be connected to each your Hubitat and your Ring Z-Wave mesh. Ring does sell some very good repeaters. You can pair some on Hubitat to extend that network and also some on Ring to extend its network. I have one on my Ring network and several on my Hubitat network. (They can be used to let Hubitat know when there is a power outage which is quite practical.)
I’ve not used a second Ring Base as a secondary controller, so I can’t speak to that as a possibility for their Z-Wave mesh unfortunately… However, just adding repeaters should do the trick. I suspect that quite a few will likely be required due to the size of the area to cover.
My (admittedly limited) understanding of z-wave secondary controllers is they rarely work out well in practice.
Setting up two hubs on opposite sides of your house, each with their own z-wave networks but all devices shared through your LAN with Hub Mesh, like @rlithgow1 suggested, is usually a viable alternative for a large house.
