[RELEASE] Ring Alarm Range Extender Gen2 driver

⚙️ Custom Apps and Drivers
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I have released a driver for the Ring Alarm Range Extender 2nd Generation. I know, yet another Ring Range Extender driver... :slight_smile:

I didn't start out to write a full driver, but I needed the range test function for placement testing and the driver grew out of that.

In addition to the functions of the built-in driver (device version information, serial number, etc.), this driver provides a tunable heartbeat interval, range and power test functions, and fault logging. Also, the refresh function covers the mains/battery status.

Please note that this driver is designed for the Range Extender 2nd Generation. It has not been designed for, or tested with, the 1st generation Range Extender.

Enjoy.

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@dennypage the C7 hub comes with the 2nd gen driver built in; but it does not come with what i think is a necessity range and power testing. i have a 2nd gen installed but i have no idea where to place it for best efficiency, what are your thoughts on your driver vs the C7 version?

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Not quite sure what you are asking, but I am using it on a C7...

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sorry, multitasking.... what i meant to ask based on your post is if you think the generic C7 driver is better than the one you shared.......

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Neither driver affects the repeating Z-Wave function. The features of my driver above the built-in driver:

  • Range test function
  • Power test function
  • Configurable battery report interval
  • Refresh covers power source (mains vs battery)
  • Additional status/error reporting

In general, if you need any of the above, I recommend using my driver. If you don't need any of the above, I recommend using the built-in driver.

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Thank you for posting this driver! Are there instructions somewhere for how to use the test functions? In particular, I bought a ring range extender because I have some zwave devices that are slow to respond. The extender hasn’t made any difference that I can see. I’m wanting to test it to see if it’s actually doing anything. How would I go about performing a range test?

Thanks for any help you can provide!

Kindly,
Seth

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You can see description here:

One thing to note, the Ring RE2 does appear to have some issues with power settings on range test (I.E. they don't work). I recommend not attempting to set power on the Ring for testing.

You can look in the Z-Wave Details page and look to see if the repeater is being used for the other devices you are having issues with. If it isn't in the path, then it isn't going to affect performance of those devices. It can sometimes take a long time for devices to decide to use a new path to the hub...

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Or you can use Tony Fleisher’s (@tony.fleisher’s) Mesh Details app:

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Yea, Tony's app is an absolute beauty.

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It looks like maybe I need a C7 hub for some of the stuff you're talking about. As I went into ZWave details, I couldn't find anything that traces routes. Is there a way to see the routing in an older hub? Sadly I bought a C5 just before the C7's came out. I'm moving over from Wink and thought I was pretty tech savvy until I got onto these forums! Ha! I really appreciate your help.

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If you want to invest in a USB stick, you can sniff the traffic and see exactly what's happening in your network.

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Does this mean the repeater will only report that it is on battery after being issued a refresh command? So it needs to be polled to detect a power outage?

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Mine report immediately upon switching to/from mains/battery power. I have seen a rapid on/off cause the hub to miss a return to mains power.

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Great, all I needed to know!

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Did you have any issues getting your ring extender to pair? I tried Smart Start, no luck. Left for dinner, came back to Hubitat Zwave Hell. (Should be a trademark, at the very least a hashtag.) Sure enough, ghost node. Got that all fixed with my zwave stick but am curious to know if you had issues pairing the Ring extender and if not how did you do it?

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I had trouble trying to pair them classically, but with SmartStart they paired right away. I did pair them close to the hub and then moved them to final destination. They seem to work best if you allow them to pair with S2.

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Will try again when my patience for Hubitat ZWave Hell is restored. My final destination is within a few feet of HE so I should be good. Right now I'm just glad my automations returned to normal after using the stick I paid for so it would do the things the HE I paid for does not even though it should.

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You can also pair devices with the stick, but generally the stick will pair without security so not sure how the Ring extenders would do with that.

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Yeah I will have to experiment with that. I haven't paired with the stick, though given my experience pairing with HE I should probably try it. The problem with "experimenting" with zwave is it usually leaves me in tears when my mesh falls apart and nothing works anymore.

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Thanks for that advice. After multiple attempts to include the device with Smart Start and classic inclusion methods on HE all I got were ghosts. I decided to try the stick inclusion method you suggested and it worked instantly. I have been in the habit of simply returning zwave devices HE won't include. Now I will go to the stick when HE can't do it. Or maybe I will just start with the stick?

Security really shouldn't be an issue though it did pair with S2 security. It will repeat both secure and nonsecure devices, I imagine. Plus its primary purpose is as a power status detector, not a repeater - I have plenty of those.

1 Like