I’ve read through this and I’m still not sure...
Should I try to use my Wink2 as a repeater or just buy the Aeotec units?
Wink as a repeater might work but is likely to introduce its own inconsistencies from time to time. If you can handle the oddities that will come up, leave it, but you will likely want to replace it.
How would Wink Corporate reach your Wink hub if its no longer connected to your LAN/WLAN? Or as another option, sits within a firewalled VLAN that doesn't allow incoming connections? 
Sad to see what's happening at Wink.
Good stuff.
Thanks for sharing.
Just FYI, I too notices that when I placed my Hubitat hub in the same location my Wink Hub 2 was, it could not reach devices that couldn't benefit from the mesh.
Do you think that the Wink Hub 2 will continue to work in this capacity after Wink shuts down services?
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UPDATE BELOW.
Can you elaborate on how much time transpires between steps 3 and 4?
I'm following these steps and nothing is being detected by Hubitat.
Wink Hub 2 and Hubitat hub are 4 ft apart.
UPDATE:
I got it.
I had to RESET ZWAVE on the Wink Hub 2. Then it paired right up.
Thanks again.
Does this mean that my Wink Hub 2 will now operate as a repeater?
Do I need to do anything to keep it working at optimum?
Also what do I set it to? Generic Z-wave Repeater?
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Seems like reasonable choice.
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Tossing in my experience. My nearest Z Wave neighbor to my pool light using an old GE/Jasco 12722
switch was my HE. Could not get it to talk, granted this is a distance greater than 60ft, through multiple walls, stucco, the works (and the pool light switch being in a metal weatherproof enclosure). Adding in my old Wink Hub 2 as a repeater worked like a champ. Had to experiment with placement of the WH2 as not everywhere I put it would keep a good connection. Again, the stucco, windows, just lots of interference overall.
I'm not going to say anything specifically about either hub antennae, as my experience has less to do with strength but more to do with location. I cannot move move my HE, but I was able to put my WH2 wherever I needed. See above. In the end I was able to find a spot within range of my HE that was suitable to extend further to the switch. Benefit now is I have a great Z Wave mesh on the back side of my house (front side was covered by front door, garage door, thermostats).
All that said, I will be getting an Aeotec 6 or similar for no other reason that visuals. The WH2 is just a bit too big\bulky to have sitting out with its only purpose being as a range extender.
Quirky Tapt switches are zigbee not z-wave, and the Wink hub 2 cannot act as a zigbee repeater for HE. So, while something changed by your pairing WH2 to HE, the underlying mechanism remains to be clarified.
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Just want to share my experience with successfully using Wink hubs as repeaters. In my case I'm using two original, 1st-gen Wink hubs (Not Wink 2).
Here are the steps I followed (hat tips to @ssj4gogeta2003, @dewhite04):
- Wink > Hub settings > Reset Z-Wave
- Wink > Hub settings > Learning Mode
- Hubitat > Devices > Discover Devices > Z-Wave > Z-Wave Inclusion
- Device should show up, hit "Save".
- Hubitat > Devices > (Device you just added) > Device Information > Type:
- Choose "Generic Z-Wave Repeater" and hit "Save"
- If you need to move the Wink hubs and Hubitat to their final intended locations, run:
- Hubitat > Settings > Z-Wave Details > Repair Z-Wave
The end result is that I'm now consistently able to communicate with two Schlage BE469's and a BE469ZP (Z-Wave Plus) from very far away. I can also rule out other hard-wired Z-Wave devices acting as repeaters, as these locks are the only Z-Wave devices in the home.
I was even able to pair with one of the locks with a repeater in between, at a distance that I wasn't able to with just the Hubitat. And one of the locks is going through at least two hops (between both Wink hubs) before reaching Hubitat.
Another promising note: I've observed the Wink hubs repeating signals even when they can't reach Wink's servers. I'll have to do some more concrete testing, by actively blocking the two hubs from reaching the internet, and power-cycling them; but early results are good so far!
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You are correct, I was mistaken when I wrote my message and I have a GE\Jasco 12722 out for my pool light. As I typed my prior message, and even now, I am staring at the TAPT switch on my desk. #faceplam
*edited my prior message to avoid confusion
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I am having the same issue with the Wink hub (Wink 1) rediscovering devices that had been previously excluded and repaired to Hubitat After my last device was removed from Wink, I reset the Wink zwave, set to learning mode, then paired to Hubitat. No problems with any of that. Then Wink starts finding switches without being placed in include mode ... I guess it’s always in include modes. So far it has found 5 and I can’t find any way to stop this auto discovery. I was hoping to use it as a repeater but I just want it to sit there and repeat signals not discover devices that already are included to Hubitat. Both hubs can control the switches that were discovered by Wink. I think I just want to remove those switches from Wink and shut it down again. Now I’m not even sure how to do that, if I go through an exclusion using the secondary controller (Wink) is it going to only remove those devices from the secondary controller only or does it exclude from the primary as well? This gets messy fast.
Its discovering strictly z-wave devices that are already paired to HE because you have connected Wink to HE as a secondary controller. The switches are not paired to Wink as a primary controller.
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Just unpair Wink from Hubitat. Reset Wink's z-wave controller.
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Thanks, If Wink is operating as a secondary controller to Hubitat, can it still include devices (which had not been previously discovered by Hubitat) as a primary controller? Would those devices be visible to Hubitat?
You can't have two primary controllers on one zwave network.
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I wasn't thinking on the same network, I was wondering if the Wink hub could be primary on it's own (separate) mesh and then secondary on a Hubitat mesh. It sounds like the controller can be either a primary or a secondary on a single network, but it cannot be a primary on one network and a secondary on another network, is that right?
Correct.
I'm like you switching from Wink. What device driver did you use in Hubitat for Wink Hub 2?
You don't need to use one.
Thanks! So just leave it as "Device" and not change it to Zwave repeater?
