I need your guidance and advice on my current setup.
I have set up my Hubitat since the past year starting with a few Yeelights. I like the idea of having a setup that does not rely on external servers.
More recently within the past 6 months, I ordered some Neo-Coolcam switches online, and after having more time from a few Covid lockdowns, and a lot of electrical help from my dad, we finally routed some neutral wires to try to have the Z wave devices working.
I have a few Issues encountered:
One of my 1-gang switches (switch circled near the balcony) has been dropping randomly for the past month. Clicking Z-Wave Repair shows failed nodes. I suspect that it is a range issue as, during my troubleshooting, I could only exclude it when I brought my hub closer to it. My initial hope was that maybe it could relay itself through my 3-gang switches located in the hallway.
May I ask for advice and recommendations? Have anyone had success with a z wave repeater maybe from Ikea? I am living in Singapore and there are limited Z wave product options.
I do not have full control of my 3-gang switches as the child devices are not showing and there is no driver for it. (my fault really for assuming they would work since my 2-gang switch had child devices appearing fine )
Are there any recommendations for a 3-gang switch? (through any protocol but preferred Zwave)
Below is a floorplan of my home. The walls are mainly thick concrete with metal beams in certain areas. I am also going to install two more 1-gang switches from Coolcam.
One issue is you appear to have 3 ghosts - 011, 013, & 016. You'll probably need to get those removed first before doing anything else.
If you can power down those devices (if you know what they are) and hit refresh/remove maybe a bunch of times then shutdown your hub, pull power from the plug end, wait and power back up. You might have to do this a couple of times.
Otherwise if you are so inclined using an inexpensive special USB stick + the below instructions makes life a bit easier:
Ghosts.... You have ghosts. Most likely the reason your mesh is crap at the moment. You need to remove them. After you have done so, Shutdown the hub from the settings menu. Unplug the hub from the wall (not the hub) for 5 mins. Power back up. Backup your config to your PC. Do a soft reset, then when prompted upload the backup you downloaded from your PC. This will ensure a clean database.
This is not what you want to hear after investing in, and installing, a bunch of zwave switches, but... two words: Lutron Caseta. I had a bunch of zwave switches and I ended up ripping them all out and going to Lutron. I probably have 30 of them and they are 100% flawless all the time.
(1) They are rock solid
(2) The integration is both local (no cloud) and extremely reliable
(3) Most of them work without a neutral wire!
(4) They come in different shades to match existing switches
(5) They are awesome in multi-switch configurations
(6) The Pico buttons are really cool
Cons:
(1) They're expensive
(2) They require the PRO Lutron hub, not the consumer version
(3) Once you install them you'll have to find something else to fiddle with, because they just work
Sole source manufacturer which can be a good/bad thing depending - see Apple.
Very minor nit - Can be a little harder to find in the dark due to the flat nature of the buttons. Not that we need to do this with our smart automations right?
Thank you @erktrek for the file links and the advice @rlithgow1 . I'll definitely get the ghosting issue resolved. I am going to get a stick. Finally.. no longer gonna sit down and stand up again to turn the fan on
@brad5 The Lutron switches look good with the LED movement at the side of the switch.
I like their use of LAN connection too. Too bad they are so damn expensive with the hub especially over here If I were to buy them, I would have to purchase from the resellers or find my own shipping. I'll check out what my local Lutron reseller has to recommend to replace my coolcam 3-gangs.
I have chosen the easier route and ordered the SLUSB001A. Can't wait for it to arrive. The shipping cost almost the same same as the stick itself, but it must be done. Ghosts be gone!
Another option is to take your hubitat out of range of the house, log into it. Make a static ip on the hub itself and one on your laptop. Then you should be able to remove them because they can't ping anything
I just received my Mouser. Can't wait to get red of them ghosts be gone .
Quick question regarding point 15 of the pdf guide. Assuming if I don't know which ghost belongs to which device, would it be probably safer to power down almost the whole house except my PC and router and ensure all my z wave devices are turned off?
Alternatively this weekend i'll make sure just my fan switch has no power, and mark down which device belongs to which node to single out the ghosts 11,1 3 & 16.
Yes cutting power would work. You can also highlight the device in PC Controller SW and try clicking on "Basic Set ON" and "Basic Set OFF" to see if you can get the device to toggle and ID it that way.
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