I just got the Nodon CRC-3-6 soft remote. I had ALL kinds of problems getting it to pair, but finally it did (after about 40-50 pair attempts?), but only when in the same room as the hub. But then it doesn't seem to want to work unless within direct line of sight to the hub. I want to use it in the garage where I have an Aeon Smart Switch v2 that works fine. There is also a GE/Jasco wall switch just on the other side of the wall in the hallway that works OK. Those are both Zwave NOT plus. I tried the Nodon several times over several days from the garage, hoping it would finally figure out how to route, but nothing at all. It won't even seem to route through an Aeon repeater in the kitchen (which is Zwave Plus).
So, general question: HOW do I tell battery operated devices how to route? Zwave repair doesn't seem to help. (I had similar problems with an Ecolink motion sensor, but after a few days it seems to be working OK now -- it is outside the garage and likely routing through those devices). A remote is a portable device -- shouldn't I be able to walk all over the house with it and expect it to work (even if it has to route through different devices all the time)?
I finally unpaired it and decided to try over FROM the garage, hoping it would network pair via one of the other devices, which worked for my Ecolink motion sensor and should in general for Zwave Plus (shouldn't it?). It should be able to see the Aeon repeater from the garage. But so far nothing -- only 40 more attempts to go I suppose. This is very frustrating.
It sounds like the problem is not pairing - you say you have paired it successfully. Pairing and routing are pretty much separate functions - if you have it paired and working (in any location) you shouldn't need to exclude and re-pair.
I am assuming that you paired with the hub according to the instructions for "Gateway Mode" (since this device also supports direct association)?
The Z-Wave repair would be the recommended way to update routing. Watch the logs and make sure it finishes. You probably won't see the Nodon show up since it is battery powered but you should see the powered devices that you are thinking it should be routing through.
I have an Aeon Minimote but I haven't tried using it walking around. We leave it in my wife's car so she can turn on lights before she gets out of the car (which is mostly obsolete now that motion sensors do that for her) so I think it only uses one route when it comes in range. That's probably through the GE switch that is in the carport. I'll try walking around with it and see how it works (if it works).
Well, I had it paired and it worked so long as I was near the hub. But it wouldn't work from the hallway or garage even after several days and many zwave repairs. Trying to re-pair from the garage was based on my hope that it would pair THROUGH nearby devices, and remember them for routing.
Looks a lot like the Hank Z-Wave Plus Four Button Scene Controller HKZW-SCN04 with a silicon cover on it
I have a Hank one button that Joined and works well from everywhere I've happened to try it. (Which may just be one quadrant of my home. I remember pairing it 'one room north' of my hub, but it's real utility is 'two rooms south and downstairs' of my hub.)
I guess that maybe says it isn't the Hank after all.
According to their specs and branding it seems to be "regular" z-wave (not Plus) so most plug-in devices should be able to route for it (if they route).
Mine says it is a CRC-3US-6 and the manual AND the unit both have the Zwave Plus logo on them.
The manual it came with says "Radio protocol: Z-wave Plus (500 series)" I don't know how much difference that is supposed to make.
OK, I was just looking at their site and didn't see that but it's not a surprise that a web site may not be up to date . . . it really shouldn't make a difference . . .
csteele,
Maybe I should try the Hank 4 button. This nodon isn't pairing well at all. I'd think about sending it back but I don't think they list HE as a supported hub and they'd likely not do anything. Is there someone at Hubitat that would be willing to take a look at it? I'd gladly ship them mine to play with if someone can improve the support for this device.
Or is there something I could try? I'm a programmer, so playing with code isn't an issue. But I don't know where to even start with something like this. I'd love to get low level diagnostics out of the hub (the zwave equivalent of tcpdump?), but have no idea how to go about doing that. Not a lot of documentation that I have found for this kind of thing on Hubitat.
krlaframboise -- I've only ever gotten anything in the logs when I was near the hub. Then button presses show up. It's not paired right now so I can't test anything at the moment. Is there something more detailed than the live log?
Eric -- I know the HE shows it as supported. I don't think Nodon shows HE as supported, and they are the ones I'd have to deal with if I think the remote itself is broken.
Yes, I was following your point and it's a good one. I was just commenting because to make it onto the Hubitat list, I think somebody took a look at it and did some testing . . . thinking that means (to me) it "should" "work".
I have run into the problem before of the battery in the unit was very low because it might have set on a shelf for a while. Also trying to include so many times may have depleted if it was low to begin with. Maybe a new battery.
csteele, Eric -- yes, that was my situation. Worked fine near the hub. But then I removed it from the network (hoping to pair it through the mesh and that it would therefore know its neighbors). Now I'm stuck and not pairing again, even when near the hub. From what I've read here, other folks had problems getting this thing to pair also.
As far as the network, yes, I'd love to see a dump of network activity. Homeseer even had a page listing the neighbors of each node, and let you set them. BTW (somewhat off topic), do either of you know what "inClusters" in the device descriptions means? I wish I could find more documentation on this kind of stuff...
Open Zwave -- never played with it. But my Hubitat doesn't have the external Zwave USB stick, I have a newer one where the Zwave is built in. I expect some of this will get done eventually, and I appreciate that it can be a lot of work.
