I have 1 C-4 and 1 C-5 Hub on the fence about buying C-7

Hi Hub friends,

I'm really on the fence with buying the C-7 hub right now. With all the C-7 issues and non easy way to upgrade. Plus I also need the WAF stats for the another $129 price tag.

Some help me over the fence

Mike

Let things settle, would be my advice.

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What are your current hubs not able to do that would be solved with a C7?

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I have a C-3, a C-4, two C-5's and two C-7's.

My browser can't tell them apart. :smiley:

@lairdknox has it right...

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I believe currently if you are heavy invested in zwave it would be worth jumping on board.

I also feel eventually the c7 will have other "distinguishing" features. Just my gut feeling. Once i see added value to what i have already paid for i will jump in.

my two cents.

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I would give that a firm "possibly". If you have newer devices, based on 700 series (not many at this point) then I would say upgrade for sure at some point. With older stuff, especially non-plus, I don't know if it would be worth it.

This is already true. Zwave logging, and replace failed node are examples of this. I think you are right though, there will be more and more things that a 700 series can do that the 500 series (and by extension C5 and below) cannot.

:+1:

:+1: :exclamation: :+1:

I am sure it will all be fixed fairly quickly, but bleeding edge doesn't seem so great right now.

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I guess that big question. I'm happy with my C-5 But most of my devices are Zwave Plus.
I'm always looking for faster and more reliable devices.

So there is no need to upgrade right now. Let things shake out and get more stable. I have a C4 and C5 currently. One for Zigbee lights and one for automation and everything else. I would like to get a C7 to start moving my core devices to and implement Node-red. Then I’ll move one of the old hubs to Ring integration and HSM.

So the short answer is I would like to get a new hub but there’s no reason I need to. I’ll wait out the new chipset pain period. Your system is working so there is no pressing reason to add a new hub immediately. Let it stabilize before you get frustrated with the growing pains. :wink:

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unless you have z-wave devices using the 700-series chip, there's no point to get the C-7 right now

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Not entirely true: the C-7 and its new Z-Wave stack support S2, which the C-5 and earlier do not.

However, if you don't plan on using S2 and don't have 700-series devices, then I'd agree: there isn't much value in switching at the moment. Even if you do, there are some things apparently still getting ironed out, so unless you like being an early adopter (it seems to be one of the first general-purpose S2 hubs and apparently the first 700-series hub), then waiting might be good, as much as I'm sure they'd love more people testing things in the wild. :smiley:

(Oh, I guess there's more than just S2; there's SmartStart. I'm pretty sure they begrudginly added that because certification requires it, not because they think it's useful, and I agree, but that's a different story.)

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so i can't use my HE while intoxicated :joy:

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The new zwave stack apparently resolves some issues in the old zwave stack that have not been officially recognized by Hubitat (issues when performing actions on multiple devices)

I would for sure hold off and see how the new hub issues shake out.

I would agree with @njanda and let things settle down with the hub. I brought the new C7 and wish that I would have waited. It has trouble with inclusion at the moment or at least my does. I would wait.

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There is one more "plus" to getting a C7 now.
That is the greater reach of a c7 rather than a c5.
If you are having zwave mesh issues, there is a possibility that the c7 will address those issues - perhaps the c7 will reach many more devices than your c5, and thus obviate the need for more mesh coverage.
Please note that I used the words "possibility" and "perhaps". Your mileage may vary.
P.S. I just got my C7, but I'm also waiting a bit until things settle down.

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Plus, if you are planning on migrating your Z-Wave and Zigbee from your C5 to your new C7 with backup/restore, you can't yet.
You might want to wait until the protection service has been released and no one knows when that will happen.

I hadn't thought much about it, but I wonder if the C-7 will do better, worse, or the same with problematic Schlage Connect locks...

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I just pulled out a Vera Plus and a SmartThings hub from two of my clients last week and they put in C7's per my recommendations, Made sure to update the hub to the latest version and flashed the radio stack before adding the devices onto the hubs. One home had about 15 Jasco/GE switches (no I didn't advise them to buy these) and about 20 ZigBee bubs, door sensors, and buttons, the other had 5 Z-wave and 7 ZigBee devices including a Kwikset Zwave lock. Both are moving way from Nest thermostats to Ecobee due the the great driver by @storageanarchy

I never had a more easier time adding the devices to the Hub I didn't even have to take the lock to the hub this time to include. Can't wait for the services to come online to backup their hubs in case something goes wrong but just in case I keep copies of the final configuration backup before I left their locations.

My thoughts are I have a C4 personally and haven't bit the bullet yet to move since I need to dedicate time to re-associate all my devices the only thing I can think of is one day the C4 will stop working and the USB radio has all the devices that I cannot backup. I need to think about if it's worth 2 days of work to make the migration based on the ability to backup the network configurations.

After this last update for the C-7 seems that my hub is working ok. I have been able to use exclusion and inclusion without issues. Version 2.2.3.119 is working.

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I have a C-4 and it seems to be running slow, freezing, etc. Thinking of upgrading to the C-7. Would I be able to do a backup on the C-4 to migrate everything over to the C-7 without having to recreate everything?

[long story: tried to add z-wave plus plug last night, did not read it then tried to reset the Hubitat, it froze at '30% Initializing' and would not start up. tried again, same thing. ended up starting in safe mode, then restoring a backup (fortunately from an hour earlier when I was doing other work). My C-4 also seems to need resetting every couple of days...hence the thought to upgrade to 'refresh' with new technology. HOWEVER, I don't really have the time to reprogram every device/scene/etc.]

And....re: the stability/bugs of new item - do folks feel those are generally worked out (last post was 20+ days ago).

thx...