Should I upg from C5 to C7?

I have a C4 that has been really good. However, between the sale price right now, and the new mesh inspection app that @tony.fleisher is putting together, I'm super tempted to order a C7. Really the only thing holding me back is the effort to move my devices over.

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It’s really not that hard if you use @bravenel’s migration procedure:

Migrating a Z-Wave Network

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Migration has become more WAF friendly with the addition of Hub Mesh..

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C7 ordered!

C7 coming in later this week so I'm planning my C5 migration path and your comment hits upon how I'm thinking of approaching it. Something along the lines of what @jtmpush18 talked of in the Migrating topic except using Hub Mesh instead of HubConnect. @bcopeland does this match what you have in mind?

[TL'DR] Getting C-7, but HE needs to have lower barrier to entry and not make it come off as a hacker device. And also must find a way to help migrate existing systems including non-HE to migrate more easily.

Thanks all for chiming in. After looking into additional info in the forums. Came to conclusion that moving onto the next best thing is best. However, still not clear on whether I can use backups created on C5 to be used on C7? I haven't found a clear answer to that question. Although there are mentions of Zwave parameters/configurations not getting imported? Not a big concern for me since I have so little inventory of zwave, However, painless not since need to get them close to the hub and they are in awkward places.

All of my posts sounds like a whiner :wink: but the litgit reason is I'm going to replicate my once completed setup and make it turnkey to people who are technically challenged. So the eventual completed setup must be hands off system. So one of my other concerns is fw upg on the hub where it fails flashing and doesn't boot. Which means I may have to keep systems frozen to a specific build.

Thanks all for chiming in. I'm getting the gist of it and it reads well.

@bcopeland Hey Bryan, as a staff and company personnel, may I suggest additional revenue src for the company?

  1. Subscription service of say.. $0.99/mon to secure backups.
  2. Insurance service of say.. $10/yr if your unit ever gets bricked, free replacement
  3. Subscription service of Auto update of drivers/apps after full regression tested.
  4. Sell turnkey system with basic setup of door/window/garage sensors +outlets + hub full retail so not to cannibalize resellers.
  5. OEM your own branded IoT's to help with #4 model and compatibility. thus not showing any bias.
  6. ? thinking of more

HE hub is incredible and has a potent future. It is without a doubt a hacker's toy because of somewhat of a steep climb to have a complete and stable system. Especially if you're trying to migrate from existing.

This bloke's ask exemplifies the need:

All of his needs are there in the forums but the tediousness of searching finding, researching, googling takes a toll. I've had the C-5 for months and still only at handful of temp sensors. Just bought me a zigbee button but can't "easily" figure out howto anything. I have a glut of wifi Tuya based outlets which I'll have to open up and hack then should be able to find something to do with that button.

in any case, already rambled too far, I guess what I'm saying is supporting everything under the sun is like android trying to be stable vs Apple's iOS eco system where it's tightly controlled. Maybe HE needs to do both; have a complete turnkey with a complete system and the current offering where it's hackers paradise. Me thinks lowering the barrier to entry will make HE hubs soar.

OR create a wholly owned subsidiary that "resells" HE hubs along with a full complement of sensors/switches to make it a complete system. The hub will already come with all of the devices already in the system. All one has to do is place them and connect up the hub and it's up and running.

I know there is a pot of gold at the end of this rainbow but so far it's been an arduous journey.

Yes. Third paragraph.

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Well, this was announced with the introduction of the C-7 (probably not at the price point you suggest), to have been available August 2020, but has been delayed because of birthing pains with C-7.

https://community.hubitat.com/t/hub-protection-service-coming-soon/45408

It was announced during the Hubitat Live streaming presentation back in October, I believe, that the service might arrive sometime after the 2.2.5 firmware update.

The problem right now, with today’s technology, is that it cannot be turnkey- everyone’s home is different, and there’s a bit of an art to building a reliable mesh. Many of the problems seen by new Hubitat users are due to mesh problems.

Um, it’s never that simple. Respectfully, that statement is a bit naive.

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I got the gist of this Hub Protection Service although I'm thinking that should have been included as part of the backup/restore func. Please? :slight_smile:

Thanks for pointing them out. I'm learning. I guess I should try do more RTFM aka forums before posting.

I respectfully disagree. There are dozens of complete Home Security and Automation systems provided by biggies like Ring/Googl/ADP etc. too many to mention but all provide a complete turnkey system. It's no brain required setup. Steve Jobs who doesn't know everything did say something that I try to execute as the endgame is regardless what I'm making: "It just has to work"

But never you mind. I was just mindlessly rambling. Learning that forums are not a good place to ramble :wink:

I really do really like what i've seen of HE's hub so far and its potential. I also like the challenges because it forces me to understand what I'm building. However, I'm also learning that when I took a break from building out my hub. Coming back to it, I forget all that I learned and had to revisit my issues I had to overcome. I'm personally thinking the lack of "plug-n-play" and/or finding natively supported devices to make it work is probably keeping a lot of folks at bay. Maybe HE could provide a bundled starter set to compete?

G' night all. Looking forward to getting the C-7 and probably end up gifting the C-5 or can I "mesh" it with C-7?

and as I "RTFM" forums more, I'm finding more gems:

This point has been discussed ad nauseum in the forum, with responses by Hubitat staff (Bruce Ravenel). If you are curious, read the lengthy Hubitat Protection Service thread. Basically, it’s Hubitat’s company, and they can offer what they want as products and services, and customers and prospective customers can make their own purchase decisions.

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Copy that. Yes, I want need this company to flourish. They have a great product and a royal following including me. I am truly looking forward in making this work for me. Thanks for all your comments. You and many other community members is what make this product head and shoulders above the rest.

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My C7 just arrived. It's such a cute little guy!

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Well, got my C7 up on my network over the weekend, and tried out Hub Mesh. Hub Mesh is super cool!

I haven't moved any z-wave devices over to it yet. I'm finding it harder to do things like that, or installing new switches, during COVID. My wife and kids are always in the house! And they hate when I turn off breakers while they're in the middle of Zoom meetings or XBox matches. :frowning:

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You just need to get rid of your wife and kids. They’re standing in the way of your Home Automation hobby.

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Most here will advocate for a "rip the bandaid off" approach - just do it. This works well in most cases.

When I migrated my stuff over from 2 C-4s I took a different approach, first I set up some repeaters starting from the hub then going outward generally in the vicinity of the majority of my devices. Once that skeleton mesh was established then started to migrate (exclude on the old then include on the new) devices farthest away working inwards toward the hubs - tweaking my rules engine as I went along to adapt to the changing devices (in your case it would be Hub Mesh / RM). The idea being keeping the old hubs functional as possible for as long as possible. Note: I'm opting to keep my zigbee devices on a separate hub. You could leave them on the C-5 as my understanding is the Zigbee radio is essentially the same on both the C-7 & C-5. Also less work!

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What's everyone's z-wave experience as far as multiple levels in the house go?

We have a 3 story farmhouse. My first z-wave devices were on the ground floor, so I put my Hubitat C4 in the middle of the ground floor.

These days, I have maybe 25 z-wave devices on the ground floor, 10 on the 2nd floor, and maybe 5 on the 3rd floor.

On the one hand, the ground floor devices are most important, so I want to keep my C7 in the same location as the C4. On the other hand, it seems like I should centrally locate it on the 2nd floor, to be in the middle of everything.

Yep thats the way I'm doing it at my clients.. The C-7 claims to have better range so it should be at least as good as the C-5 or better.

Note: I used to have 2 C-4 hubs at my house - one upstairs and one on the main floor. I really liked the configuration as taking one offline did not impact the whole system. You could keep the C-5 for the 3rd floor or an exterior garage/shed if you have one.

I've switched over the 3rd floor devices to the new C7! The new "Z-wave topology" view and the routing info is super helpful. Loving this.

also grab this handy tool!!

Reformats the Z-Wave details page allowing for filters etc.

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