Migrating from Vera Lite

Why Hubitat Elevation
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100% with @JasonJoel‘s suggestion. When I transitioned to Hubitat, I moved all 80-odd zwave devices on a single day. For the powered devices, I paired them beginning with those closest to the Hubitat.

I excluded my devices using a Remotec hand held controller.

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Thank you for the reply.

What is the model number of the Remotec Controller? How is it able to "disconnect" a device from a different (Vera) controller?

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Any z-wave controller can be used to exclude a device paired to it or another controller.

Here's the one I use, but there's lots of choices:

https://www.amazon.com/Remotec-Z-wave-Zrc-100-Secure-Controller/dp/B008ZQJW96/

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This is my "go to" device for mass removal:

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I was not aware that any Z-wave controller could exclude devices from any Z-wave controller.

Sooo, could I just walk into your house and start excluding Z-wave devices, at will?

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Yup. Until I throw you physically out - which I would. lol

But yes, if you did the pairing sequence on a zwave device, and had a handheld controller put in exclusion mode, you could unpair any zwave device on any zwave network.

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I have never moved a Z-wave device so please forgive me...

Even if I can easily exclude devices using a portable controller, they still need to be included in the new HE controller. Do most Z-waves devices immediately go from Exclude to Include mode?

That is, would I exclude a device using a portable controller, and then immediately have the HE hub try to find and Include them?

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Yes.

It is device dependent, but some do. On others you have to re-initiate the pairing sequence through whatever means it uses (have to look at the specific device's manual).

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When I'm migrating en masse I don't even bother excluding from the old hub. I just factory reset the device, then pair it to the new hub.

If I wanted to use both hubs for an extended period, though, then I would exclude - factory reset - include. I like to do a factory reset, just because. It isn't usually explicitly necessary.

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Yea. It is re-initiating the Include on device(s) that I am not looking forward to.

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Yup, it isn't a super fun process. I know as I've done it 400+ times. Literally. lol

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Actually, my reasoning for taking it slow and keeping both HA hubs running was the time I assume it will take to Exclude and Include all of my devices on the new HE hub. If I had all of one model of device, it would be easier. But since I have many models of devices, and some of the devices are buried being other devices, this will not be fun.

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Not a bad strategy. Sometimes it works (although rarely in my experience), it depends on a lot of factors though (area your mesh needs to cover, how many devices, etc).

Good luck!

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Now, I am thinking that maybe I'll just take down my entire Vera network, and then build a new HE network as time and motivation allows.

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You could try it your way 1st. If it gets to the point that the vera network dies or becomes unreliable, THEN shut it down.

I can't emphasize enough, though, that on the new mesh you should make every effort to build it close to hub 1st, then moving away from the hub. It can work without doing that, but you will likely have to do a lot more mesh repairs than you may want to do.

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Just to jump in here really quick I too agree with JasonJoel, I moved from Smartthings to HE and I tried to take it slow and it really didn’t go well for me.

I have 3 HE hubs to divide the load around I had most of my devices on a C-4 I purchased a C-5 and C-7 I moved must devices to the C-7 this time I did The move in a day all at once and everything went really smooth unlike my move from Smartthings so I’m in the move it all at once camp.

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One thing you could do if you had a mix of Z-Wave and Zigbee is migrate one set of devices over first. I am doing this with my C-7 migration. Of course I am also thinking about putting the Zigbee stuff on a C-5 but will make that decision once all ZW have been moved over.

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I've moved from Wink to Vera and then from Vera to HE. It's best to rip it off like a bandaid.

Migrating slowly is only going to create mesh problems for you.

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I really like the analogy to ripping off a bandaid. :slight_smile:

Well. That is what I decided to do. I unplugged my Vera and removed the connections from my wired alarm system to the Vera. It is the lack of Alarm integration that has prevented me from moving away from my old Vera Lite and old Vera software.

As I expected, getting my old (non Plus) Z-wave devices Excluded and Included into the HE has been painful. And I have learned that my old devices do not support being Included going through other Z-wave devices, and need to be near the HE. And then I discovered that I needed to run the Z-Wave Polling app so that these old devices would show their status on my Dashboard.

On the plus side I have realized 2 things about moving to HE that I am really happy about.

  1. The HE hardware and software are really great. Very intuitive and easy to use. The Hubitat Technical Support is fantastic.
  2. The Hubitat community is awesome. I have made several posts that have been responded to quickly, and with very helpful information. I have also made a number of Searches that resulted in my finding the solution to several questions. With Vera, I would get no responses, or responses from Developers that were so cryptic that they were not that helpful. The world of Hubitat seems to include actual caring and helpful people.
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