Wink Hub 2 as zwave repeater/secondary controller

🛎️ Get Help
21

I too am interested to know more about the possibility of using a Wink Hub 2 as a repeater. I'm just finishing up migrating to the HE and have most of everything working quite well. After unpairing the last device last night, I started to lament the need to box-up and store the Wink which has always been so reliable, but-for the cloud end of things.

At the same time, the BE469 lock on our front door is still a little bit flaky, so I have been looking for definitive commentary on the best z-wave repeaters to use...

22

Have you considered using your Wink hub as a z-ave repeater?.

If that isn't satisfactory, a number of us use the Aeotec Range Extender 6 as a z-wave+ repeater. Works really well - I purchased 4, and have no issues with either of my z-wave locks (BE469, FE599).

23

@ssj4gogeta2003 - Did you need to reset your WH2 before taking this on? Curious as to the state of the Wink before you got it to work.

24

I don't remember by whom it was posted, but I do recall reading that this didn't turn out well for someone that tried it. I was modestly interested in using my old Wink v1 hub for the purpose. I don't actually need Z-Wave repeaters for my total of two Z-Wave devices, both very close to the hub, but I was curious. After reading the post, I decided against it.

25

Was interested but couldn't get it to pair. Like many users, I have a Schlage BE469 lock that misbehaves on Hubitat- I have an in-wall z-wave plus repeater capable switch 3 feet from the lock and the Schlage still seems to have connections issues. It was flawless on the Wink. Seemed like an intriguing experiment, not to mention it would save buying another dedicated range extender if it worked. I'll keep poking around. Thanks for the reply.

26

John, I'll save you the headache, this should solve the issues as it has with many of us, "typical" repeaters won't improve anything on the locks ....maybe do a video on how this fixed it, probably get lots of views.. :grinning:

Here is the thread that explains this.

2 Likes
27

Just to check back in after my previous post...

I did have a little hiccup pairing the wink to my HE's z-wave network, but after performing a "reset z-wave" on the wink hub and then issuing a "learning mode" command to the wink while HE was in discovery mode - it joined without issue. I placed the wink in an upstairs closet that is about halfway between the HE and the BE469 and performed a z-wave repair after that. So far, much more stable operation over the past 36 hours and no perceived side-effects. I have a rule that turns on our foyer lights when the BE469 is unlocked in the evening or night hours. So, I'll know if operation becomes less stable pretty quickly.

I'll report back if I come to have any suspicion that the wink is causing problems...

3 Likes
28

@dewhite04 That was the trick. Paired right up in about 10 seconds after I performed a reset Z-wave on the Wink. I didn't have any Z-wave devices left on the Wink, so it wasn't an issue.

1 Like
29

I want to see that video. And I want to see you with a pink wool beanie :grinning:

1 Like
30

I promised to report back, and so here is me reporting back.

After pairing the WH2 as a repeater my BE469 did improve its performance, such that I was able to download lock code lists and make changes to them. However, I found that it still was not stable enough for me (required rebooting hub/lock every couple of days to get consistent notifications and triggers). I eventually caved and bought an Aeotec repeater. That has made things almost totally reliable for the past week or so.

I did exclude and shutdown the WH2 this week because it seemed extraneous, although I have no good reason to believe it was doing any harm or causing any issues. In fact, it might have been capable of solving my issues if I'd had the patience to try it in a few different locations around the house. I did not.

2 Likes
31

I tried this with my Wink. Did anyone else have some of their devices "mirrored" on the Wink hub? Not sure if that was supposed to happen? I also got the duplicates in Alexa via Wink.

32

I didn't have any of those problems, probably because I had removed each of my devices from the Wink while migrating them over to HE. I also performed a z-wave reset on the WH2 before trying to pair it with the HE.

Also, I think you just replied to a comment I made at /r/homeautomation about Lutron Picos.

Slow afternoon...

33

I also did the Z-wave reset, and had nothing on the Wink. Not sure why things were showing on both hubs?

Yep, a bit slow this afternoon while I am waiting for dinner to come out of the oven.

34

Adding another hub to an existing ZWave results in the new hub being what ZWave calls a Secondary Controller.

The list/map of the devices existing on the primary gets copied to the secondary, and that's it.. never again. The next ZWave device you add will probably only appear on the primary hub. The secondary will know nothing about it. You could pair it via the secondary and in most cases the secondary will inform the primary in the sense of acquiring the next ZWave address from the Primary.

After the original pairing of the two hubs, you would be able to use either controller to turn devices off and on, or brightness, etc. What would probably NOT occur is that a door sensor wouldn't tell the secondary. The Door sensor would have been paired with the primary, would never learn of the secondary and thus would never have a reason to send a packet to some "invisible (to it)" device.

Polling by the secondary would eventually have the states sync, but by then, perhaps something else would be out of sync.

If there's a mechanism for the Secondary to send it's list/map to another device (Alexa/Google Home, etc.) then that would occur, resulting in doubling of devices on Alexa.

On the day I purchased my first Hubitat hub, 18 months ago, I had 4 Hubs in exactly this situation.

I had a SmartThings Hub joined to a Staples Connect hub and a Aeon ZStick (running Open Remote) all joined to one ZWave network. By carefully poking the join buttons, I could get most of the devices to all of the hubs. I also has a Wink1 hub joined, but it was a serious disappointment and I never bothered using it for anything. I pulled the Hubitat out of it's box and Joined it as a Secondary the same as the other 4.. for a total of 1 primary and 4 secondaries. Keeping them all up to date was tedious but for the most part, I wasn't adding new devices.

I left it that way for maybe a month before concluding that Hubitat would do all I needed. I could see the future where I had only ONE hub. I did the standard migration of Excluding devices from the old network and Including them to Hubitat. I did it in a day, but no one recommends that. I had pretty big advantage because I already had all the Rules needed on Hubitat. I just had to pair a device and then get it back into it's rule(s).

I took that path so you wouldn't have to :smiley: :slight_smile:

Fast forward 18 months and I'm back to having 5 hubs. :smiley: Three Hubitat, a SmartThings and Homebridge, all tied together via HubConnect.

2 Likes
35

@dewhite04 Sure is a slow afternoon.... because I replied to @neonturbo on Reddit today too. He gave our props to our products!!!

36

I saw that. I just ordered a color remote from you less than an hour ago. In fact, it was your announcement on r/homeautomation and @neonturbo's comment that convinced me to jump on board.

Edit - very slow afternoon :grin:

37

@neonturbo I didn't have any Z-wave devices on my Wink2, so nothing mirrored. But I am curious, was functionality bi-directional? I.e. could you control Z-wave devices from both Hubitat and Wink?

38

Website say 38 minutes ago. Thank you!

1 Like
39

I could control ZWave devices from any of the 5 Hubs I had joined to one ZWave network, assuming of course that a hub knew about the device. I could, from Wink1 or StaplesConnect, turn a light switch on or off; dim a dimmer, etc. Yes, CONTROL a device. What didn't happen is seeing the change on any other Hub. I could turn a switch on, but all other hubs saw it as off.

1 Like
40

@csteele Okay, so my Wink2 was moved to the other end of my house and is really just a Z-wave repeater at this point. I had some outdoor bulbs Hubitat couldn't reach on its own. And now they work fine. But.... I also have a Vera Plus and a SmartThings V3. I have the rest of my Z-wave devices (GE switches, bulbs, controllers) all in Vera. I love the associations and they are the only reason I have not unplugged that thing. I would love to join that thing to Hubitat as a secondary. But would I loose the ability for Vera to define associations? And while the vera wouldn't know the status of Z-wave devices on the Hubitat, would the Hubitat know the status of Z-wave devices on Vera?