Cool. Another helpful thing instead if just rebooting is shutting down (via the settings menu) then unplug the hub at the wall (not the hub) for 5 mins then power back up. This clears the z-wave radio which a simple reboot will not.
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Forgive me for not being precise. By rebooting I meant I did do a power down from the Hubitat menu and I then pulled the power cord. I had been waiting 30 seconds before plugging it back in and have increased it to a minute in the last day or so.
BTW, my daughter just came and told me that an Inovelli Red Dimmer with a line and neutral only on it that is to turn on the light to an Inovelli Fan/Light via a Button Controller rule wasn't working only to say it had just come on.
I did the last shut down/re-start last night about 1 am. I guess it is already starting to slow down significantly. I have an appointment to go to so I'll see this afternoon if the hub is still responding and if I can continue to exclude/re-include the 8 or so devices I still have with security on.
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Did things improve without security enabled? I'm trying to decide if its worth the hassle to redo all of mine.
I removed security from all of my switches and it made a noticeable difference. Even though it can take a bit of time, I would definitively recommend it.
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Agreed on removing security making the mesh faster and more stable.
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I’ve removed security on all devices months ago. Didn’t seem to have any effect and certainly didn’t prevent these periodic slowdowns.
First I would try a soft restore to rule out any database problems. Then make sure you are running on the latest build. Then check zwave details and see if you have any ghosts. If you are feeling adventurous I have another tweak that would make a huge improvement.
The main problem I see is a weak mesh as shown by the sheer number of route changes on your devices. A stable mesh should only have one or two max over several months. From the sound of things though you are rebooting much more frequently.
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Thanks for the reply. I'm leery of updating the hub as I saw the issues they were having between versions.
But, that aside, you say that the sheer number of route changes suggests I'm rebooting the hub much more frequently. In fact, that is not the case. I've only rebooted it maybe 5-6 times in nearly 2 years, and only when it slowness got overwhelming. I also have it plugged into a pretty big UPS with a very light load, so it isn't like the power going off is causing it to reboot.
I don't know why there are so many route changes.
I don't know what to do to make it stronger. I have the hub in a central location. I have 2 Aeotec 7 repeaters about 1/2 way between the farthest points of my 2 primary paths. I live in a 1 floor condo that is about 2,500 sq. ft. All of my devices are Z-Wave. I have 20+ Inovelli red dimmers and 5 of their fan+lights. I also have 2 Aeotec 7 plugs and 2 Philips bulbs that go through the Philips hub. I also have 1 Aeotec 7 4 button controller. I've turned off the Zigbee radio.
I have what may be 2 big downsides in that 1 do have a big mirror in the room with the hub and all but 2 of the dimmer switches are in metal boxes that I cannot replace due to the condo rules.
I did do a total Z-Wave repair about 6 months ago or so when things were going badly.
I have not added any new devices in months and all are running without any security (not just S0).
I wish I could force routing, but I understand there is no way to do that.
My Aeotec repeaters were added after virtually everything was in place in an effort to beef up the mesh, again, a good 6 months ago or more, but they seem to be ignored in the most part.
For giggles try moving the repeaters more to halfway between the end of the house devices and the hub. Then shutdown and unplug the hub (from the wall not the hub itself) for 20 mins and bring back up. Let it settle and see how things are.
Thank you for the fast reply, but I'm a bit confused by your advice to move the repeaters "more to halfway..." because I do have 1 each about 1/2 way between the 2 primary legs of my house.
BTW, when I reboot I shut it down via the webpage, and then unplug it from the plug, not the hub. I virtually never wait 20 minutes though before bringing it back up. Usually I only wait about 1 minute. Why wait so long? I've never heard this before.
The metal boxes are what's killing you I think. Maybe take a look at the External Antenna thread to help boost your signal. External Antenna - #28 by lewis.heidrick
I wouldn't do this very often but it might help if you have a problem route as it puts all the devices in a panic mode and they try to find new routes as the old ones are marked as failed.
I saw the thread about adding the antenna, but that is beyond my capabilities. I do wish Hubitat would come out with a new version with the ability to add additional antennas as optional plug-ins.
I can always try the long reboot. Once I reboot it how long should I wait before using anything? I'm guessing maybe hours to allow the mesh to rebuild, so I'm thinking of doing this just before I go to bed to let it sit overnight. Is that correct or does that even matter if I pull the plug for say 20 minutes?
You can use it right off but it may take a day or so to stabilize. I would also give a +1 on metal boxes creating interference. My thought process on the repeaters is to have them half way to your most distant from the hub device and the hub. A balance so to speak.
I saw that a lot of traffic was going to through the Inovelli Black dimmers that I have in my 3rd bathroom and only 1 device through 1 of my Aeotec 7 extenders. So I moved the Aeotec from where it was and put it between the hub and my 3rd bathroom. Hopefully, the mesh will start re-routing through it now.
I'll try the reboot tonight.
Assume your range is maybe 7 feet from the metal box and figure out your placement from there. You should invest heavily in repeaters in this case because of the metal interference. Also because of the radiation angles each box will have varying degrees of interference. Some maybe will have none at all. You can also see the reconnects in the details page to identify the problem devices and place repeaters near them. You don't need to buy repeater only devices as any plugged in 500 series device should repeat. Think about replacing some regular power strips with zwave power strips for example.
Since none of my 25-30 devices are battery operated and all mains powered, they are all technically repeaters. But I am getting some strange results. For example, my kitchen Inovelli red dimmer is literally in the same box as the dinning room red dimmer. The dining room is making 4 hops and is at 100kbps
but the kitchen Inovelli red dimmer is taking a different path for its 4 hops and is only at 9.6kbps
Likewise, my Master Bathroom Sink and Entrance light switch, which is also an Inovelli red dimmer, is connecting directly at 100kbps,
but the Inovelli red dimmer for the Shower and Tub lights, which is in the same box as the Sink and Entrance lights is taking multiple hops (including going through the Sink and Entrance lights), but at least it is also at 100kbps.
BTW, the dinning room and kitchen were added at the same time and the 2 in the Master bathroom were added at the same time.
I could go on, but I'm sure you see my point. There seems to be little or no rhyme or reason as to the path and/or speed.
It seems Inovelli is going Zigbee, but I wish they would come out with 700 series red dimmers so I could (probably) get them to connect directly.
And since the kitchen and dinning room were added at the same time, I have no idea why the dinning room has 57 changes but the kitchen has 229 route changes.
Where are all the zwave power strips these days? The ZEN20 looks like its been discontinued.
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