Is there something you have to do to turn on the hub z-wave logging?
http://{HUBIP}/hub/zwaveLogs
I ask because since the last update to 2.2.7.126 I am no longer seeing anything appear on this page when it is open.
I have done a number of actions including trying to send commands to devices, individual device repair and a full z-wave repair.
The latter was probably not a good idea, but since the update to 2.2.7.126 none of my z-wave devices are working, and I am not sure if this is a hub issue or part of the ongoing problems I've been having with z-wave in my house.
By not working I mean I am no longer seeing status updates from z-wave devices at all (such as power consumption) which I was previously seeing. Example device is my Fibaro plug which is 2m from the hub in the same room with a reported 43dB LWR RSSI from the Z-wave Mesh Details app.
Nah. Sometimes the page shows stuff, sometimes it doesn't. I will say that even when it does show stuff, it never shows everything. I'll see a lot of zwave traffic, even that originating from the hub, on my sniffer that registers nada on the zwave log page.
That log page is pretty useless in my opinion. I certainly wouldn't rely on it for anything.
Zniffer is just a USB stick on a computer so mobility has its virtues. However, I didn't go that path for my Zniffer. Placement relative to the devices you wish to sniff is very important. It's an entirely independent radio and thus if you want it to "hear" conversations, it needs to be in range of those conversations. That's tricky in a mesh where one device might be 3 hops away and there is no location that can hear all the devices/hops in the message flow. In that situation, near the hub is the best compromise because you can see the conversation from the closest hop and can interpret that acks and responses actually originated on the end device. A Zniffer isn't a better radio... although one could be constructed with an external antenna
I was hoping that there was something which allowed for "promiscuous mode" or something like that to show all traffic. It's a shame the hub does not have the capability of trace logging of all z-wave messages it sees/sends - that would be really helpful to me at this point.
Maybe I need to go and read up on how z-wave actually works too
I wouldn't like that at all I want the hub to do my Home Automation functions. Now if the hub had an 8 core M2 (Apple's next CPU) I'd be all over this request.
Hmm, yes, this is interesting to me since I'm always Zniffering around looking at stuff. Something a little more polished (and can presumably better-interpret Zniffed data) could be useful.
Does the standard SDK include promiscuous? I thought that was the whole reason for re-flashing the USB stick into a Zniffer. I understand the RF is there but it was my impression that promiscuous was not.
The SDK coughs up almost all of the messages it knows of, but not the same as a sniffer does. The main difference is a sniffer can report on everything it sees without being joined to the mesh - a standard coordinator node can only report on what it sees on the joined network (for the most part).
But really, what I think most people want to see if the packets on THEIR mesh anyway, so a sniffer isn't really what most people want - it is just what we have to use as we can't see the messages from the hub.
Something like the logging done in zwave me would be really nice for techy people.
(EDIT: That is not meant as an endorsement for zwave me or z-way - I have TONS of issues with that product in general. I just like some of the logging. )
I'd be cautious with the Z-Wave ToolBox. I spent a lot of time with it a year ago, working with the vendor regarding several issues with the firmware. Unfortunately the team that did all the technical work on the unit had moved on so the vendor was unable to address any issues. In the end, they refunded my money and told me to just keep the box. It's essentially abandonware.
One very strong recommendation I would make is that if you get one, do not connect it to your LAN if you have any dependance on mDNS (I.E. anything Apple). There is a bug in the version of Avahi installed on the unit which wreaks havoc on name conflict resolution. [Alternatively, if you have a ACL capable switch and are using wired ethernet, you can block all mDNS (port 5353) from/to the unit.]
That is good to know. I purchased one more than 2 years ago, and it did help me resolve a bunch of z-wave issues I had at the time. Have used it just once since then, and its been sitting unplugged for over a year.
However, I didn't go that path for my Zniffer. Placement relative to the devices you wish to sniff is very important. It's an entirely independent radio and thus if you want it to "hear" conversations, it needs to be in range of those conversations. That's tricky in a mesh where one device might be 3 hops away and there is no location that can hear all the devices/hops in the message flow. In that situation, near the hub is the best compromise because you can see the conversation from the closest hop and can interpret that acks and responses actually originated on the end device. A Zniffer isn't a better radio... although one could be constructed with an external antenna 
I just like some of the logging. )
