Lutron Caseta Pro Bridge for Pico Remotes Only?

I am using and loving my Inovelli switches, but I was thinking about getting a Lutron Pro Smartbridge so I can utilize Pico Remotes. A few people have mentioned this to me and after not being able to find Samsung Buttons, and having random issues with Aqara buttons, I decided to finally look into it more. The issue I am seeing is that the hub has a range of 30ft? My house is almost 3k square feet and like I said, I am not using Caseta switches, so would the range really only be 30ft from the hub? What am I missing here? The bridge is expensive enough to write off having multiple bridges throughout the house.

My house is 2700 square feet, and I have no issues with any of my Caseta devices. The 30ft specification is very conservative. Also, Caseta in-wall switches and dimmers do NOT act as repeaters. Lutron's Clear Connect RF protocol is not based a mesh topology like Z-Wave and Zigbee. Lutron does permit the use of 1 repeater per Caseta SmartBridge Pro. This can be in the form of their plug-in dimmer module, or their dedicated Caseta repeater. I do have the Caseta plug-in dimmer which I added just because it seemed like a good idea back when I was building out my Caseta system.

The Pico remotes work great, and range has never been an issue in my typical wood-framed/drywall construction house. Lutron uses 434MHz for Clear Connect, so their range and penetration through walls is much better than Z-Wave and Zigbee. The best part about Lutron is that 'it just works', every time.

Here is a link to the plug-in dimmer that will act as a Caseta repeater

https://www.amazon.com/Lutron-Wireless-Lighting-P-PKG1P-WH-Assistant/dp/B00JJY1QG0

and here is the dedicated repeater (which seems very overpriced for what it is... :wink: )

https://www.amazon.com/Lutron-Caseta-Repeater-PD-REP-WH-White/dp/B084CMKTG3

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Ogiwon has the gist of it. 30ft is a conservative estimate meaning that at 30ft, it WILL work but there is no way to really know what you are asking the RF to penetrate to guage your mileage. I just tested a pico that responded out to about 90ft passing through a single 2x6 wall with R21 insulation.

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My Home is two stories - Wood and Drywall Construction - about 3400 feet - I have a few Picos and a Lutron pro Bridge - Love them and the ease in which they integrate into Hubitat...

Check out Excel and Energy Avenue for your Lutron Purchases

https://www.energyavenue.com/Lutron/PJ2-3BRL-GWH-L01

Not affiliated in any way...Just had a great experience with both of these companies.

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The range is way way better than they advertise. Place the bridge reasonably centrally and I'm confident range won't be an issue.

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I have the same experience as others. I have a 3,700 sq ft Queen Anne with lath and plaster construction. It's basically a giant Faraday cage. I have about 30 Lutron switches on all four floors plus a punch of picos and I don't have issues. Of course your experience may vary but Lutron has been rock solid for me. And if you are interested in the dimmers, the big advantage is they don't require a neutral. For a house that was originally built with gas lighting, neutral is not a thing.

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I have 1 pico that is approx 40 feet from where my Lutron Bridge is that had signal issues yet I have picos on the opposite side of my home furthest from the hub that work flawlessly. I believe the furnace air return vent is likely the cause. (Likely could have moved the bridge to another location, but did not try as I have three floors and this was more central in my Wife accepted location for equipment.)

I added a repeater and the flakiness for that one pico is now solid.

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This is probably the worst case scenario, btw.

Lutron’s clearconnect protocol works differently than both zigbee and z-wave, but caseta systems can add one device that functions as a repeater if it’s needed.

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Lutron Caseta has a new Smart Repeater that can be placed up to 60’ away from the Bridge. It can also work in conjunction with their standard repeater.

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Fwiw i have picos 80ft and 3 walls from hub. No repeater. Works fine. Best invest ever.

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I'll also throw out my house is 5600sf and I don't have any issues from basement to attic

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