Hello, overall I have a pretty solid HE setup, great product, very happy in total. I have one particular issue where I string many zwave device commands together and I begin to see the zwave network slow down via the popcorn lighting effect. I have many zwave devices clustered in various areas of my home so I think this is related to perhaps the 4 hop limit and/or too many devices within a small proximity. So, should I purchase another hub and place it on the opposite side of my house via HubConnect/ Hub Mesh Beta? I'm assuming this would enable a more real-time, simultaneous lightning effect when turning lights on and off?
Do you have repeaters? I’m not certain Z-Wave bulbs repeat.
Actually no zwave bulbs, all of my devices are hard wired GE Zwave Light switches, so I have plenty of repeaters. I have ethernet access on the opposite side of the house so it's certainly an option when adding another hub, just a little concern with too many zwave hubs broadcasting radio signals in terms of interference. Maybe it's not something I should be concerned with though...?
Plus or older non-plus?
All my devices are plus, upgraded them several months ago.
Might not be something you can control as there’s no group messaging in the 500 series Z-wave devices. 700 adds that but there are very few 700 series devices at this time.
I also have, almost exclusively, GE/Jasco zwave plus switches. Not sure if you are currently using the "Groups and Scenes" built in app, but it definitely helped me with popcorn effect with automations involving lots of lights. Basically if I have a RM Rule or Simple Automation that involves more than 2 lights, the rule and/or simple automation never references the individual switches, but rather references groups that are created in the "Groups and Scenes" app. This allows for the enabling of group optimization which has always worked perfectly for me with all my devices being zwave plus.
Interesting. How does the Groups & Scenes app optimize turning on/off lights simultaneously vs issuing commands individually via a sequence?
Group Optimization simply means the hub will not send an OFF command to a light that is already OFF, likewise it won't send an ON command to a light that is already ON. This option can be enabled/disabled in the "Groups and Scenes" app. Some users need to disable it since the hub doesn't always do it correctly (I believe this can be prevalent with non-plus zwave devices). I always enable it and never have a problem.
My "all lights off rule" that runs when I go to bed, used to have a significant popcorn effect, since I changed the reference to a group that is composed of all the lights, it feels instant.
I don't know if there is more built into the groups and scenes app to help in simultaneously turning lights on/off. But it stands to reason that if a built in hubitat app has the defining feature of grouping lights together for the purpose of automations, that it would implement this as best it can. For me, I noticed an improvement with all my automations that involve multiple switches turning on or off.
It would only take a few minutes to try it out in one of your automations. Worth a try.
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There’s really nothing special to it. It sends the commands one by one. That’s a limitation of Zwave. I’d be shocked if you saw a noticeable improvement over doing it in RM
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I stated there is a significant improvement over doing it in RM. RM doesn't have group optimization. The app "Groups and Scenes" does. Simple as that.
Everyone knows that Zigbee has group messaging and zwave (other than 700 series) does not. So, @dman2306 why do you think that group optimization (which is different than group messaging) would not help his problem. Have you tried it?
Let me guess, instead of believing what I stated,
you thought that group optimization and group messaging was the same thing.
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Note the section of your post I quoted and responded to. There is nothing ELSE special about this app.
The OP posts a problem. I state I have the same brand of zwave switches he has and had the same problem. I state that I noticed a signficant improvement when I changed from RM listing all the switches to turn on/off vs. simply referencing a group composed of all those switches. I state that I believe that group optimization has something to do with this and possibly something else that may be built into the app or how hubitat implements the apps execution. You state:
Sorry, but I think it is worth a try for the OP to give the "Groups and Scenes" app a try. I am not lying when I say it helped compared to just doing it in RM. It may not help him, peoples mileage seems to vary on hubitat. And it really is an easy thing for the OP to try out, would probably take less time than replying to this thread.
I didn’t say he shouldn’t and I meant no offense. I’m simply stating a fact. Not sure why I wasn’t allowed to clarify on something you said right in your post that you “don’t know.” And also share my experiences. I’ll stop responding now. Not trying to start a fight, just sharing info.
OP - Good luck solving the popcorn effect. There’s no perfect solution for zwave.
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