Maybe not possible but it would be nice to be able to convert a mesh ZWave device to LR without deleting it and re-pairing it as LR (and go back again). I presume this isn't a trivial requests but if there were a clever scheme to do this "behind the curtain" it might promote more experimentation with LR. Of course it presumes you have a LR capable device.
I have a few nodes I wouldn't mind seeing operating under LR but the task of doing it today seems a lot of effort for just a test.
A hot-swap-while-staying-on-the-network sort of thing along those lines is not possible (and that's not a limitation unique just to Hubitat).
I don't think any sort of test is needed. As long as the device is not being used a repeater for multiple other devices then it could be safely re-paired as LR with no reason to go back.
I ran into some issues while I was testing the device->virtual device->device swap method and have decided that I need to test the process further before attempting this as part of an upgrade related Z-wave LR fix.
Essentially I created a virtual thermostat and swapped it for my z-wave thermostat. Everything looked good, so next I swapped my (still existing and not re-paired) z-wave thermostat back over from my virtual thermostat. Everything appeared to look good again but to my amazement, all of my rules continued to use the values that were obtained from the virtual thermostat. In both instances, I used "Swap Device" in settings to perform the swap. How did I determine that this was the case? After the final swap back, I noticed that temperature related rules weren't firing unless I changed the temperature in the virtual thermostat. Same thing for thermostat mode.
I had to restore from local backup to correct the problem. My fear is that this may not be a remedy if I actually exclude/include the actual device as part of the method. I have 18 rules that depend on my main thermostat, many of them quite complex so re-building from scratch could be quite involved.
Did you Update/Done the each rule post-swap?
Though very admittedly irrational, I confess I've always been leery of Swap Devices for some reason, especially combined with a new-device inclusion... I have used a basic swap successfully in the past, but lately I've found myself going back to doing manual swaps rule-by-rule using virtual-device intermediaries. Though that's significantly more work, it gives me greater peace of mind that nothing is left behind / left hanging.
yup. tried both. It did appear that the first swap worked correctly. Rules were firing on the virtual thermostat as they should have. It was the second swap that failed.
I do want to perform a more controlled test on this however. When I noticed the thermostat wasn't working correctly I went into full panic mode and didn't carefully document/perform multiple troubleshooting steps then quickly restored from backup once I had initially confirmed that the virtual thermostat values were still being used. Its cold here in the frozen north and rules control all of my zone heating as well as electric baseboards so I was on the clock so to speak to get everything up and running again. Once the temps even out here I'm going to do another controlled test of this method now that I know what the problem is.
yes I understand the steps, I'm just whining about how many steps there are. I also had some issues with smart start (instructions are not identical to current iPhone app and I was never given a choice of mesh or LR but fortunately it connected as LR as I wanted) of the few LR I have already converted so I'm not a smart start fan. I was just postulating if someone out there knew enough of the ZWave low level stuff to create an app with one button press the device swaps from mesh to LR. Sounds like that isn't achievable.
For me this means removing the switch plate to get to the QR code, going through the steps you list, then reinstalling the switch plate. Not an endless task but more than I hoped for.
When pairing an LR-capable device via SS, it always defaults to LR unless you take explicit steps to pair it Mesh -- in other words, it won't offer you that choice as an inherent part of the pairing process. But it's totally possible to do -- I've successfully paired numerous devices Mesh via SS.
I was a SS holdout until LR came on the scene -- though I've long used S2, I've historically just done the ol' 5-digit DSK manual inclusion. But after using SS in combination with Jeff's very-awesome SS Manager app, I regret that -- SmartStart is pretty darn great once you get going with it.
Now with new ZW devices, I take a picture of the QR and store those (I'll do the same for Matter if/when I ever start using that). I use that picture for the first inclusion to verify it works well, and then I know I always have a good record for the future.
I have no plans to re-pair any existing non-SS devices via SS simply to get them in that way, but if/when a future need requires re-pairing or replacing those, I'll definitely SS 'em.
There was never an choice presented, it just takes whatever defaults are in the QR code and applies them. You can make changes from there before you power up the device.
Correct, I don't think it is possible with the way Zwave works. You will always have to exclude or reset the device and pair it again.
One thing Hubitat COULD do, is simplify the swap procedure. For example what if they made it so you could put a device on "HOLD" for replacement so when you exclude it, it only removes it from the radio and keeps it in the devices list. Then when you pair it back you just have to swap once. They could also have an option on the swap to automatically delete the old device after the swap.
given the random issues with LR paring error and having to reset zwave totally if it occurs.. if its working i would not fff with the LR stuff.. thats just my opinion.
The bootstrapping issue? You would only need to reset the radio if you want to use LR. Usually if getting the error it is the first time trying to pair a LR device and none will pair. You can keep using the hub without LR (as I have done on my main hub). It is not something that will randomly occur and then zwave stops working.
If not that, then what are you talking about?
I added a few Zooz 800 series scene controllers recently using Smart Start and they all paired as long range. I've since had to switch them all to mesh as every one of them was failing to send and receive commands to my C8 Pro running Z wave JS. It can't have been a range issue as four of them were one room away from the hub. Maybe interference on the LR frequency? Wherever it was, LR was a failure for me.
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