Schlage BE469 Won't Pair With C8

To start, I am not even sure there is a ghost? Because from what I understand the "Route" would be blank? I have tried excluding it, reset the lock to default, placed the hub within 6 inches. No luck! Yeah, I've also hit the "Discover" button multiple times. Waited several days and repeated no luck...also hit refresh and repair...


Welcome to the Hubitat community. Those Schlage locks can be frustrating at times!

Your lock seems to not be getting a very good signal. RSSI (signal strength) is very low at 4db. There are lots of route changes, and very few neighbors.

In general, I think you have a lack of enough repeating devices to form a strong mesh. Maybe more specifically, you don't have a repeating device close enough to this lock or between the lock and hub that will help to strengthen the mesh. The Schlage like having repeaters.

It is fairly typical to not have a strong mesh when you only have a few devices, it seems like it takes about 10-12 repeating devices to achieve "critical mass" so to say, but it depends upon the environment.

You don't say how large the house is, or how spread apart things are, or whether you have a challenging situation like lots of metal air ducts between the hub and lock, cement block walls, large mirrors, or something like wire mesh plaster that which are all good at killing signals. Those situations for sure require some thought to get stability and reliability in the mesh.

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@user6235 You have created a ghost with the lock., It needs to be removed.
Next you need to make sure that your lock has firmware 7.10 or above (look on the plate with your original codes. You will have to pull the knob side). Anything below this is a crap shoot. Next You need to pair the lock within 2-3 feet of the hub due to the whisper encryption exchange this lock uses. Once done you should be good. Though as @neonturbo mentioned, using a beaming repeater nearby helps after all is said and done.

I have a Schlage BE469 lock on my front door. Getting it to pair with Z-wave was a chore. I removed the lock from the door and moved it to within 10 feet of the Hubitat hub to get it to pair. If the lock is to be positioned any distance from the hub or if there are any obstructions, you might need one or more Z-wave repeaters/range extenders.

You do not want to place the lock 6" away from the hub when pairing. That is less than the 13" wavelength of 900 MHz RF. You are far better being a few feet away. Also, the antenna on the hub is not omnidirectional, so you might try various directions above, below and around the hub.

In my situation, there is a large HVAC return duct located between the hub location and the front door where my Schlage lock is mounted. Thus, I have a couple of range extenders that help get around the obstacle. When I was using the Gen 7 hub with the 700 series chip, the lock routed through the extenders. After upgrading to the Gen 8 hub with the 800 series Z-wave chip and external antennas, the lock is connected directly with the hub at a RSSI of 23 db.

Remember that the Schlage lock must be connected using S2 access control security. Furthermore, it will only connect at 40 kbps while most Z-wave devices connect at 100 kbps.

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I recently replaced my Kwikset Smartcode 888 with a Schlage BE469.
(I know I'm a glutton for punishment).
Strangely enough, I had no issues and a very smooth and easy onboarding!
My lock is approximately 50 feet from the Hub (c-8), and it paired with "S2 Access Control".
As you can tell from the following screen shot it had 148 route changes! Nonetheless, it performs well, and so far has not had any issues...


You can also take out the door's hinge pins and bring the door (with lock) to the hub. Been there, done that.

The Schlage locks go into a "whisper mode" (reduced transmit power) supposedly to minimize snooping of the key exchange. That's why they have to be close to the hub during pairing.

@user6235, you don't say which BE-469 you have. If you have the BE-469NX, that lock is Z-Wave non-plus. If you have the BE-469ZP, then you have the Z-Wave Plus version. Only the BE-469ZP can pair S2. The BE-469NX can only pair S0.

When I got my now-retired C-7 and migrated from my long-retired C-5, I swapped out the electronics of my two BE-469NX locks with the electronics (from eBay) of BE-469ZP so that I could pair S2, for 1/3 the packets (and thus, 3 times the battery life).

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+1 on the huge battery life extension going from the NX to 469ZP.
Also have a friend who has the Schlage Zigbee version paired to HE and is very happy with the battery life

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Do you have a link to the electronics? I have a few old locks I wouldn’t mind upgrading.

It isn't a commonly sold part exactly. It isn't a kit or anything you would use to modify your existing circuit board. You would have to keep your eye out for the newer version circuit board.

Someone would have to be parting out a lock for some reason to sell this board. I have been watching for these for a year or more, and haven't seen this part show up very often. The few that have shown up are as expensive as a new lock.

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No. What I did was to look for a “for parts” BE-469ZP lock, or one that was missing some parts or with a broken keypad, etc. The electronics module is the same in all models. Only caution is not to get an old version of firmware. I have 0.11.0 and 0.10.9 and they work fine.

Caution if you only get part of a lock, because some sellers disassemble the lock and sell individual parts to try to increase their profit: be sure, if you don’t get all the parts, at least to get a photo of the QR code sticker, which has the DSK needed for S2 pairing. There is an obscure hack to get the smart start routine to display the DSK, somewhere in this forum (I have a link to that post that I could find if needed), but easiest is to get a photo of the QR code sticker (on the back of the metal door mounting plate). The needed default user codes sticker is on the plastic electronics module itself.

I got one lock with a broken keypad and another with just the inside door piece. Electronics were good. As I recall, I paid about $38.00 USD a few years ago for each. If it’s not a complete working lock with all parts, then the sellers will have a hard time selling, so don’t pay too much. Certainly not over $50 USD.

Thank you. I’ll keep an eye out on ebay.

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