Hey all. Firstly, I am not a noob. I am a Network Architect (Cisco/Juniper/Linux) who is highly certified. So I am pretty clueful about networking and also IoT stuff. I run some smart sites, like our office which has 250+ devices based on Tuya and some other platforms. I will however admit upfront I do not have any experience with Z-Wave.
But.
Hubitar - damn. This product is not intuitive and there isn't a lot of instructions/documentation that is writen in a clear (non-insider) way that makes it easy to get going.
The creators of this product also seem not to obey the laws of networks when it comes to IP addressing, netmasks, etc. For example I use a 255.255.248.0 in all our sides. The fact the Hubitat doesn't easily and simply allow network settings to be tailored as needed.
The biggest trouble I am having, and I am not sure if it is the device or just my lack of understanding, but is getting the Z-Wave radio to work.
I've purchased a Aeotec Multisensor 7 and I've spent the last few weeks trying to get it online and have not had any luck at all getting it to work.
I have managed to get numerous other devices and applications working, even though the learning curve is quite high.
I've tried debugging the Z-Wave radio to no avail. Debugging says nothing.
Have I missed something?
Do I need an additional Z-wave radio interface?
Do I need to activate the z-wave radio?
Do I need a license for z-wave?
The multi-sensor 7 seems simple enough. I've had it in blue pulse or yellow solid state - but no matter what I've tried, the Z-Wave Inclusion never picks anything up.
Can anyone help with some basic guidence or what I might be doing wrong?
Agreed. Although there are documented endpoints that let you set the netmask to any desired value. I think this design decision was made to keep things simple for the average homeowner - the target audience for this hub. It dramatically reduces the odds of support dealing with users being unable to reach their hubs because of an inadvertent change in a network setting.
What model hub do you have? What region is the z-wave radio set to? What z-wave region does your Aeotec Multisensor 7 conform to?
Z-wave frequencies are region specific. The frequency used in the North America is quite different from that used in Europe, or Asia. The hub's z-wave radio will use a specific frequency when set to the appropriate region. However, this is only true for model C-7 and C-8 hubs; the C-5 required an external z-wave stick for regions outside of North America, and C-3/C-4 models required an external z-wave stick for all regions.
On your hub's z-wave details page, make sure that the correct region is selected. And that Z-wave is enabled.
There have been extensive revisions to the documentation in the past year or so. I am surprised to hear that you think that things are lacking, I find the latest version much easier to use and clearer. If there are specific things you are looking for, we can help find them for you, or if the documentation is truly in need of updates, we can tag the person who maintains the documentation and have them add something.
No to all. Please try the steps @marktheknife listed above.
In my opinion, this is your biggest mistake. Don't wait weeks to ask for help. Either the community, or the Hubitat engineers (who are very active on here) will help you work through things.
I'm a network engineer, CCNP, MCSE, AWS, etc... Doesn't mean anything, lol. New system can be a pain to wrap your head around, but once you do it's easy as pie. We're hear to help...
In what way? Manual shows the enpoints if you need to expand a /24 subnet...
I assume you are in the US? Is your region set correctly? Z-wave is very region based. So a EU/UK z-wave device doesn't work on the US/NA frequency. Just something to check
If you go to your z-wave details page is there anything in there? (Post your z-wave details page, use windows snip or similar)
No
No
No
Lets see where you are with my above questions and we can go from there. We are all here to help. I also encourage you to read the following post. It will help avoid some gotchas.
