I just recently purchased the C8 hub and was wondering if the security codes of lets say basic light switches and plugs are really needed when doing the z-wave inclusion. I can see doing the security on door open/close sensors, door locks and garage door relay openers. I've read that they should and I've read that its not really needed to add all the extra info to the hub.
I know its a pretty basic novice type question. All my z-wave experience has been with a vera hub which I have never had to do security type devices. Please let me know what route I should take for setting up security cause I have a good number of light switches which asks me if I should do inclusion with or without security.
Thanks
Garage doors, locks should be S2. Everything else - no security (although I have a Z wave implant connected to my alarm system where I've also used S2). It's important to avoid S0 which is chatty and can cause issues.
Unfortunately any Z Wave 500 device will automatically include at S0 (where it doesn't have S2). That's an issue that Hubitat can't do anything about as it's down to Silabs. If you have Z Wave 500 devices like I do (numerous Fibaro models), they can be added without security by using a Z Wave stick paired as a secondary controller along with the Silabs Z Wave Controller software.
2 Likes
I'm a big fan of using S2 wherever I can, but I'm a fairly recent convert to that way of thinking...
For me, the better error-checking that comes with S2 is a bigger win than any potential impact due to increased messaging (and I'm not even sure that's really a thing - I've certainly never noticed any performance impact if it's true).
I have some far-flung sensors that occasionally drop down to a 40kbps connection - since they're paired S2, I sleep better knowing that S2's better error-checking ensures those devices are still able to talk & listen fine.
The one thing that always held me back from using S2 was that HE's built-in firmware updater doesn't work with S2 devices, and I didn't want to mess with z-sticks to deal with that.
But since I came up with these update steps, it's been smooth sailing - I've done lots of firmware updates using this process (on both S2 and no-security devices), and they've all gone very smoothly.
2 Likes
Thank you for the quick response. I do have another question... when I do a zwave inclusion once it appears on the list should I hit the configure button right away or is that really needed on an inclusion?
Thanks again
I don't recall a "Configure" button being part of the inclusion process... Here are the official inclusion steps (go to the "How to Add a Z-Wave Device" section).
Add Device | Hubitat Documentation
After you give the device a name and a room the next step it says is to "view device details" highly recommended to test its function. On that page it has a configure button. I kinda remember reading somewhere on this community thats it is recommended but don't remember where since there is so much info on this community. If its not needed thats great but then now I'm curious when it would be needed.
Again thanks for your help
Sometimes if the device has child devices you need to hit configure in order for the driver to create those child devices (for instance a dual switch module), but you shouldn't necessarily need to click configure otherwise (AFAIA)
1 Like
The configure process is typically run automatically as part of the onboarding (pairing). You should not need to run it again unless it is a custom driver and the instructions say to do so.
When it is needed, is if you change from one driver to a different one, you want to configure on the new driver so it can set everything up properly.
As far as S2 goes, if you want to avoid it anywhere do it with the main powered switches and dimmers. Sensors with numerical values, and battery devices benefit from the S2 with the better error checking. Obviously also entrance or security devices should use it for the encryption part. A few cases of bad values being reported (by other users) had been resolved in the past by switching the device to S2.
2 Likes
