Hello All, just got my 1st Hubitat yesterday and i have a quick question. When adding z-wave devices i get the option to pick the model of the specific switch im working with, but even after picking the switch version it gets added as "Generic Z-Wave Plus Scene Switch" is this the correct behavior?
If so what is the difference between clicking add manually and going tru the menus to find the right devices model number?
Thanks!
Welcome to HE and to the community!
HE selects the appropriate device driver by looking at the signature received as part of the inclusion process. Many devices work just fine with the generic driver, and if the device is working there's probably no need to change it. You can also go to the device tab and click on the details for the device. Look at the Device Information section and the Type dropdown. There may be a more specific driver for your device. There are a ton of community drivers available. Sometimes they will expose functionality unique to your device that the generic driver may not.
I think the only difference (not 100% sure maybe someone will validate) between the two inclusion methods is optical - the first actually displays the inclusion instructions for your particular device. Other than that I don't believe there's any practical difference.
I believe the above is correct, as well. But I will add that a "generic" driver being selected as the result of either process is not (necessarily) a problem; that is the appropriate driver for a large number of devices on Hubitat. Don't let the "generic" part of the names throw you off. In general, you find device-specific drivers only when these don't work for some reason (as judged by the driver author, generally Hubitat staff)--for example, if the device has unique features, needs specific commands or attributes on the hub, works differently in terms of Z-Wave or Zigbee commands compared to most other devices, or similar.
Up until recently manual method was the only method. They added the enhanced menus to help people who are new to the platform, or unfamiliar with how to add devices, or if you just want those prompts. You can use either method, or even Smartstart in the phone app which makes things even easier as all you have to do is scan a barcode.
Sweet thanks all!!! another question few of the devices im adding are s2, and they are detected as so, i clicked on yes to the prompt to add them as s2 but it for some switches it didnt ask me for the code, and they got added without s2 encryption is there a way to turn on s2 easily? or i need to exclude it and add it again? thxs
If they are S2 Unauthenticated, it won't ask you for the code, but I'm pretty sure it should still ask you to verify that it matches (however, that part of the UI recently changed and I don't remember for sure). Check Settings > Z-Wave Details to see if they paired with S2 or not if that is important to you--that would be my recommendation for the best place to find this information.
If you want them paired with different security or no security, you'll have to exclude and re-include the devices; it isn't possible to change this after the fact. Keep in mind that you should remove the device in any apps you're using it in before removing the device itself, and you'll need to swap the "new" device back into those apps afterwards (probably not a big deal if you just paired them, but worth mentioning).
My suggestion is to avoid any encryption unless you have to. Locks, garage openers, and so on should have this on (S0 or S2 encrypted), and in fact you can't pair without these security levels on most (all?) of these.
Light switches and sensors the security just adds unnecessary traffic to the Zwave mesh. Worst is S0, which you should avoid at all costs. It creates 3x the traffic as other encryption methods.
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