I currently have one Kwikset 914 Z-Wave lock. Its been working great, haven't had any problems with it, although the door it's attached to is only 10 feet or so from the HE hub, with essentially direct line of sight.
I want to add another 914 to a door that's probably 20 feet away, and has 2 or 3 walls between it and the hub. I have an Iris plug with the Z-Wave repeater paired, about 10 feet from this new door, direct line of sight.
Question is...should I do another Z-Wave 914, or should I go with Zigbee this time?
I'd say that my zigbee and zwave meshes are roughly equal strength, I'm counting on the Iris plugs to repeat for both. I have one additional GE Plus dimmer in range of this new lock, so there may be a very slight advantage given to zwave (2 repeaters in range vs 1 for zigbee), but I'm not sure how much of a difference that would really make.
Secure by default, instead of using a separate security model
But again, either SHOULD be able to work if the mesh is strong enough and beaming works correctly on any zwave repeaters - as you have to pretty much have to use beaming & FLiRS on zwave locks.
Given that, I'd say dealer's choice? As @JasonJoelOld stated, Zigbee does have some advantages over Z-Wave in terms of performance and such, but seeing as you already have one Z-Wave lock that is working for you, it might be easer "support-wise" to duplicate that rather than adding in a different network/model/brand, etc.
That's why I converted all mine to the same model/network.
I switched my Yale YRD256 to Zigbee and have not had any problems since. I'd vote for Zigbee for now. I still have an older model Yale lock which is Z-Wave and am using for testing. It's been working fine but is literally within a foot or so of the dev hub.
I agree with the others that either should work, but do know that Z-Wave locks are a bit trickier to pair than other devices (or more generally speaking, secure Z-Wave pairing is tricky). It is generally recommended to be close to the hub, though I've seen in-place pairing not necessarily close working as well. In-place pairing worked well for my Kwikset Convert Z-Wave module with a wall in between my lock and the hub. I also remember at least one other person here saying it did for them with (I assume) another type of lock, too. It did not work for my second Schlage Connect, but neither did bringing the hub very close. My first paired without problem and happened to be near the hub as-is. I'm not exaggerating when I say it took me about 20 attempts to pair my second one (months after the first) before it worked. (I even tried a general exclusion first in case it somehow came to me joined to another network, and I even tried to join it to my ST hub, also without luck. A beaming repeater was within a few feet of both locks.) For added kicks, after I got this Schlage Connect joined, the first Schlage Connect that I had had on my network successfully for months suddenly stopped responding. Coincidence? I don't know. But a couple Z-Wave repairs later and all seems to be working well again (though the first lock that dropped off also reported a substantial decrease in battery life).
If I had to do it again, I might do Zigbee, but after pairing and a repair, my Z-Wave locks seem to be working fine. The only Zigbee lock I'd be interested in, however, is the new Schlage Connect Zigbee model, which is new enough that I can only find it for more or less list price, unlike the Z-Wave variants that are frequently about $50 less (though there's also a new Z-Wave Plus model that I'm not sure is in the wild yet and I'd probably recommend if you went the Z-Wave route unless anyone discovers showstopping bugs with it).
I have Zigbee modules on order for my three YRD226's and will be switching the Z-wave Plus modules out in hopes of getting a bit more stability myself.
On a related note @erktrek - when you switched the module out, was there anything but remove from Z-wave on HE, pull the batteries, swap the modules, put the batteries back and then re-add as Zigbee?
Did you have to re-add the lock codes via Lock Code Manager?
Got the Zigbee lock installed (Prime same day delivery ), it paired in place immediately and is working great so far. Thanks to all for the input this morning!
As a HA newbie, I purchased a Schlage Z-wave Lock BE469, and it has been working fabulous! No problems pairing once I got Aeotec Z-Wave Range Extenders (the lock was located 50 ft away from my HE)
I have had it automated to work with Life360 for 4 weeks now, and just recently setup automation using GH. It works at the drop of a dime.
I'm not able to comment of Zigbee as of yet though.
My first paired without problem and happened to be near the hub as-is. I'm not exaggerating when I say it took me about 20 attempts to pair my second one (months after the first) before it worked. (I even tried a general exclusion first in case it somehow came to me joined to another network, and I even tried to join it to my ST hub, also without luck. A beaming repeater was within a few feet of both locks.) For added kicks, after I got this Schlage Connect joined, the first Schlage Connect that I had had on my network successfully for months suddenly stopped responding. Coincidence? I don't know. But a couple Z-Wave repairs later and all seems to be working well again (though the first lock that dropped off also reported a substantial decrease in battery life).
), it paired in place immediately and is working great so far. Thanks to all for the input this morning!
