I am continuing to build out my setup with mostly Z-Wave devices, but I have now noticed that things get quite slow and I am wondering whether that is down to the number of devices I added. (I now have 52 decides total, so not a huge list, but it is bigger than it once was. It's mostly light switches, outlets, temperature sensors).
Often, when I try to control a switch through a dashboard, it takes 30 seconds to react. Similarly, the status of the devices (like whether a switch is on or off) takes a long time to display right, or sometimes doesn't display right anymore. Also, I noticed that some of the rules I have set up do not seem to reliably switch lights on and off anymore.
Is there a specific limit for number of devices I should be aware of? Is anyone else having the same problem?
Can you share a screen capture of your Z-Wave Details? Do you have any devices in that list that have a blank route? Often, issues like yours are due to one or many ghost devices generated during inclusion.
I do indeed have one device with an empty route. It's a real device though. But it is also one that seems to respond slowly. I should also add that it is a device that is physically relatively far from other devices, since it is in the back yard (although I have 2 that are further away, and they have no problem).
I am curious: What would cause a route to all of a sudden be empty, even though there were no changes to the setup (I haven't added devices in a while when this problem started)?
I have tried to repair the device, but it doesn't seem to be responding. Which is strange, because it does function most of the time (although often very slowly).
I don't see anything unusual in the logs, other than when I just ran the repair attempt. Doing that, I got some warnings about the network being unresponsive.
As far as the stats go: I have a Z-Wave poller running, and that is the only thing that stands out as busy. Second is a motion detector in a busy area, so that gets tripped a lot, but that is to be expected. So, nothing real unusual there.
Please post screenshots of your Z-wave details page. Include all the columns so we can analyze the data.
That is likely either a ghost node, or one with such a weak signal that it is causing mesh issues. Distance is sorta irrelevant, you can have a weak signal and it is sitting across the room from the hub yet another device with a strong signal might be across the house and be fine. Again, your Z-wave details screenshot would be helpful.
This, in itself, is a little odd. The list of where it is in-use is incorrect. Also it shows its current state as off, which is also wrong (it is currently on).
Can you please show us your Z-Wave list after that one? It's likely that one of the next devices in the list is actually the outlet and what you posted is the ghost.
More specifically, do you have the latest "Z-Wave" interface firmware installed.
This is installed separately from the main Hubitat Hub firmware and is easily overlooked. Check your "Settings" -> "Z-Wave Details" page and see if there is a button to update the firmware. IF there is no firmware update button, then you have the latest.
I used to have the problem you described, but it decreased substantially by updating the Z-wave interface firmware.
Note that sometimes it takes more than one attempt to get this firmware to install. I've found it installs most reliably after a Hub power down / unplug for a moment / reboot.
You should have excluded it. At this point turn that switch off (actually disconnect power to it) then reboot the hub via power cycle (shut it down and unplug it at the wall (not the hub) for 5 mins and power back up. Cilck refresh on the line then when it comes up click remove.,
Next can you post your ENTIRE z-wave table so we can look at the rest of it? These partial shots aren't helping us help you.
0x1D needs to be removed and re-included, or just removed if it is a double of another device. I bet it is really that outlet 0x1E that failed to pair the first time. Start there.
Maybe it is just me, but doesn't that seem like a lot of 40Kbps devices? To me that suggests you might be having some interference, weak signals, or poor hub placement where it can't talk to many of your devices with good strong signals.
It is hard to tell what your signals look like, your RSSI didn't populate, maybe you rebooted the hub right before the screenshot, and didn't operate the device to allow them to fill this info in? If you can toggle or activate these devices, and don't reboot, you should see RSSI and PER numbers in that table. You can also go to the device's settings page, and do a Refresh to make these populate.
The graphic below is from the Z-wave manual, I don't necessarily take it as gospel, (I.E. if one of your RSSI is 16 it doesn't mean much by itself) but in general I think a good mesh falls within most of these parameters shown.
Some 9.6 switches that are really struggling too. Get some repeaters around those. I wonder of a lot of those jasco's that are at 40kbps are older non plus z-wave....? @megger are you doing polling?
@megger
Another easy win:
It has been found that the only devices that need security are the boundary or edge devices (e.g. door locks, garage doors, etc.)
Looking at your device list I see a number of devices (I count 6), that have security as "S2 Authenticated". I'm sorry to give you work, but you will find your performance improves dramatically if you change those to no security.
Unfortunately, there is no easy way to do that. The approach is to exclude that device, and then re-include that device (this time with no security).
A typical example is your "Workshop Indirect Light".
This will take a while, but it's worth it in the long run.
As others have mentioned, beware of "ghost" devices, that may be inadvertently created as part of the process described above. It may be possible to remove those from the "Zwave Properties" screen, by using the remove button. Have patience - it takes time (perhaps days), and you may have to do it several times for it to take effect. Check your logs to see if it works.
I don't think I agree with this statement about security. If it was S0 then definitely, but S2 was designed to minimize impact. It would be foolish for me to say there is zero impact, but I find that most of the issue with security is overblown when talking about S2.
On my Zwave network with 51 devices of which 39 of them are using S2 security and I do not suffer zwave performance problems at all.
Ghosts and poor reception with a weak mesh will be the biggest offenders to cause problems
I also counted your Zwave table screen shots and it looks like that is 38 devices. is the 52 devices total for your entire hub, or are we missing some devices from the zwave table screen shots?
You may want to download the Hubitat Z-Wave Mesh Details app. It can provide some other valuable details like a idea of how many devices are listening and what the communication stats are in a easy to read format.
Along with all the other stuff, could switching optimization in the app to 'on' help? I was messing around with it yesterday, turning all the lights on and off in the house, and with it off, it would miss a couple once in a while. Don't know why, and not saying it's a solution.
I also counted your Zwave table screen shots and it looks like that is 38 devices. is the 52 devices total for your entire hub, or are we missing some devices from the zwave table screen shots?
Hm. You are right. I think that is because the other devices are Zigbee.
