Good day to all, newbie here again...... a couple of things. I am designing my home security into Hubitat, i only have a couple of zoOZ switches around which works fine for repeating my Z-wave network.
- i have alot of glass windows so i am planning to use Utilitech glass break sensors throughout the 3 levels, about 12 total
2 Motion sensors, zoOZ ZSE 18 and 29, about 8
3 siren zoOZ ZSE 19, about 2
All these great items do not have repeaters so if there is a power loss how do i keep the mesh up as not to lose monitoring?
I hear the Ring Range Extenders (Gen 2) are good for this. They have a battery backup that will allow them to keep the mesh up for a while without power.
2 Likes
The problem is that other mains-connected devices, which also act as repeaters and which lack battery backup, will go offline during a power failure. Because we have no way to control mesh routing, battery-powered devices (motion sensors, contact sensors, door/window sensors) that route through mains-powered repeaters, will have no way to communicate with the hub, even if the hub and all switches and router are on a UPS.
Don’t get me wrong, I think the Ring Extender 2 devices are the best repeaters out there right now, and I have 4 of them; one, with a Rule and notifications, lets me know when the garage power drops because the GFCI breaker trips, causing the freezer to lose power.
But you might want to do a test with power off to see what happens.
Actually, the Zooz ZSE18 is a repeater if you pair it when it's powered via USB (and keep it that way, since it will eat batteries way too fast if switched then). See: Add Your ZSE18 Motion Sensor as Signal Repeater on USB Power - Zooz Support Center. The ZSE29 can also be powered via USB, but what I've heard about it makes me think it wouldn't be a repeater regardless.
USB makes it easy to use things like battery packs or alternative power methods when mains power is lost without the need for a "real" UPS. A motion sensor won't care if it loses power for a second or two during the transition, unlike, say, your hub. You could even use something like this, again without caring whether you get a specific model that does or doesn't lose power during the transition: DIY- Battery Backup Hubitat- under TEN bucks-NO soldering (I have one for my hub after finding a model that works well for that...and several that don't that I've contemplated using for USB-powered repeaters). But here, even one of those "travel USB battery pack" things would work.
All of this just might not look pretty depending on where the sensor is located. 
But as mentioned above, you may still have problems, depending on what specific devices your devices are repeating through.
I've also heard good things about the Ring Extender (Gen 2) and it's on my "to buy at some point" list, but from what I've read they'll only work well on a C-7 (with S2 like the want). With some work, they can a pair to a C-5 or older and likely repeat fine, but people have had problems getting attributes reliably reported in the UI (which for those are particularly nice since they report AC vs. battery power that you might be able to use for other purposes, like telling when you have a power outage).
i have thought about putting more rings in 1 have 3 . but most switches will be off anyway if the power is out.. so lights will not work etc.. only sensors so not much bang for the buck.. i probably should get a whole house gas generator . probably money better spent
Make sure it has passthrough charging if going this route.
