Z-Wave radio repeatedly going offline at random times, requiring power cycle

There are two common reasons for Z-wave problems as you describe. The same as mentioned above, in @NoWon's case or an overwhelmed radio that is bombarded with frequent events. If you have power/energy reporting devices, try to reduce the number of events they generate. Screening the logs would tell you if you have power reporting devices that generate events every few milliseconds apart. If you don't think you are dealing with either of these problems, then please send an email to support@hubitat.com so we can further investigate.

My email actually said I previously had a ghost device in my network and after removing it and rebooting my hub Zwave was still failing.
The C7 hub Zwave was failing before running any Zwave repair.
To which support said it was due to one of my devices.
Which it may very well be.
Hub may look like it is failing but it may actually be a faulty device causing it.
I don't expect support to figure out if one of my devices is faulty.

I happen to remove my Aeotec Multisensor 6 (2 of my 13 zwave devices on the C7) simply because they were the easiest and so far I have not have any failures. But the failures only occurred every week or so (4-5 times total).
So will see if or when the C7 hub Zwave fails again.
Wait and see game now.
I had another Aeotec Multisensor 6 on one of my other C5 hubs and I didn't have any issues.

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Hey @jpelzer - I can help a bit possibly. I had similar issues with my C7 and I believe the culprit is S0. I would have automations that never ran or partially ran and while @bobbyD and I tried our best to figure it out, we couldn't get to the bottom of it.

Recently, we released a beta version of firmware for the Ilumin bulbs and I paired all of them non-secure and my C7 has been absolutely rock solid. Hasn't missed a beat on about three weeks now.

Here's a link to the beta firmware that should help:

Hopefully it helps!

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Thanks Eric! The S0 problem had been top candidate, so I'll definitely try this update. I have about 50 Inovelli dimmers and switches, and had 8 Illumin, down to 4 right now. I'll try those 4 with this update tonight.

I've had same issues on a c5 for well over a year

Well, I was getting very slow speeds and timeouts attempting to do the firmware update, so I'll have to do that separately. I removed the remaining 4x S0 bulbs from my network, and now it's worse! LOL. I'm getting about 30 minutes uptime max. I'm going to do a soft reset and a cloud restore.

For anyone wanting the auto-recovery, I have a Rule Machine entry that triggers when it sees the zwaveCrashed event and shuts down the hub, and then a Node Red flow that is pinging the Hubitat and if it gets 5 consecutive timeouts will turn off the hub via Kasa wifi switch, and turn it on a minute later.

From my admittedly limited understanding of z-wave, the C7’s 700 series chipset is different from the 500 series chip in the C5 and C4.

Not sure how likely it would be for C4 or C5 z-wave issues to be directly related to what the OP is reporting. Consider starting another thread or opening a support ticket?

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Well, something is definitely screwy. I took an Inovelli double outlet plug and did a remove... It removed a red series dimmer switch upstairs. I removed it a second time... It removed a GE outdoor plug. Third time, it removed the outlet I was attempting to remove. Fourth time, it removed 'unknown device' as you'd expect. Reincluded the dimmer, then the modem locked up again.

I must have raised at least 3, they go unanswered.
The team on hear try a bit but apart from try next firmware, as of yet.

Best fix I have is removing z-wave devices and replacing with zigbee . It reduces the frequency of lock ups

I love hubitat but have had so many issues with z-wave that I've progressively moved more and more over to zigbee. Zigbee seems absolutely solid and maintenance free compared to z-wave.

I am having almost identical problems to everyone else here. C7 hub latest firmware with a Conexis L1 z-wave module - every few days I can no longer open the front door. needing a Hubitat reboot.

I know its not best practice to have a single device so I added an Aeotec 5 mains plug solely as a repeater and I can see that the lock is using it to route but same performance issues.

In such a simple setup I am presuming there is something going on with the Hubitat implementation of z-wave. as much as I got frustrated with SmartThings this same mix of zwave devices worked perfectly for over a year.

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Now that I have the automatic fail detection and recovery, there seems to be a pattern... Need more data to determine what it is, but the timestamps on these crashes don't seem random... Though it might just be as simple as a cron running that determines that zwave has crashed.

I have not have had a Zwave network fail on my C7 in about week but going to settings and Zwave details and then Zwave logs letting it run for 2-4 hours I can see I have an issue with my Aeon Labs ZW080 siren. Where the siren is reporting every second or less.
So more than likely that combined with my other Zwave devices reporting is the reason my Zwave network was failing on my C7.
My removing the 2 Aeotec Multisensor 6 earlier likely took some load off the network enough for it not fail. So the Aeotec Multisensor 6 are likely fine to use.

Without actually unpairing or powering off any devices you might be able to simply go to the devices page and at the top right hand side select the X and then disable 1 Zwave device at a time to see if this helps you find the device causing the problem..

Had a crash last night at 2:42am:

The Z-wave logs at the time don't look especially exciting. I don't know if routeChanged: true is normal or and indicator of an issue. Those three devices are all Aeotec Smart Switch 7 plugs. The rest of the network seems to be pretty quiet unless something is happening. I'll replace them with Kasa outlets and see if stability improves.

Basement South Exhaust Fan2021-03-28 02:56:14.337 seqNo: 189, routeChanged: false, transmissionTime: 64ms, repeaters: [3d, ad], speed: 100 kbs, rssi: [-95 dBm, N/A, -79 dBm, N/A, N/A], Ack channel: 0, Transmit channel: 0
Basement South Exhaust Fan2021-03-28 02:56:13.833 seqNo: 189, routeChanged: false, transmissionTime: 42ms, repeaters: [3d, ad], speed: 100 kbs
Basement South Exhaust Fan2021-03-28 02:55:14.133 seqNo: 188, routeChanged: false, transmissionTime: 42ms, repeaters: [3d, ad], speed: 100 kbs, rssi: [-97 dBm, N/A, -80 dBm, N/A, N/A], Ack channel: 0, Transmit channel: 0
Basement South Exhaust Fan2021-03-28 02:55:13.832 seqNo: 188, routeChanged: false, transmissionTime: 148ms, repeaters: [3d, ad], speed: 100 kbs
Basement South Exhaust Fan2021-03-28 02:54:12.660 seqNo: 187, routeChanged: false, transmissionTime: 148ms, repeaters: [3d, ad], speed: 100 kbs, rssi: [-97 dBm, N/A, -79 dBm, N/A, N/A], Ack channel: 0, Transmit channel: 0
Basement South Exhaust Fan2021-03-28 02:54:11.251 seqNo: 187, routeChanged: true, transmissionTime: 15ms, repeaters: [3d, ad], speed: 100 kbs
Basement South Exhaust Fan2021-03-28 02:53:10.104 seqNo: 186, routeChanged: true, transmissionTime: 15ms, repeaters: [3d, ad], speed: 100 kbs, rssi: [-95 dBm, N/A, -79 dBm, N/A, N/A], Ack channel: 0, Transmit channel: 0
Basement South Exhaust Fan2021-03-28 02:53:10.100 seqNo: 186, routeChanged: false, transmissionTime: 61ms, repeaters: [3d, ac], speed: 100 kbs
Basement South Exhaust Fan2021-03-28 02:52:09.175 seqNo: 185, routeChanged: false, transmissionTime: 61ms, repeaters: [3d, ac], speed: 100 kbs, rssi: [-96 dBm, N/A, -86 dBm, N/A, N/A], Ack channel: 0, Transmit channel: 0
Basement South Exhaust Fan2021-03-28 02:52:08.772 seqNo: 185, routeChanged: false, transmissionTime: 8ms, repeaters: [3d, ac], speed: 100 kbs
Basement South Exhaust Fan2021-03-28 02:51:07.400 seqNo: 184, routeChanged: false, transmissionTime: 8ms, repeaters: [3d, ac], speed: 100 kbs, rssi: [-98 dBm, N/A, -86 dBm, N/A, N/A], Ack channel: 0, Transmit channel: 0
Basement South Exhaust Fan2021-03-28 02:50:06.310 seqNo: 183, routeChanged: true, transmissionTime: 33ms, repeaters: [3d, ac], speed: 100 kbs, rssi: [-96 dBm, N/A, -86 dBm, N/A, N/A], Ack channel: 0, Transmit channel: 0
Basement South Exhaust Fan2021-03-28 02:50:06.108 seqNo: 183, routeChanged: true, transmissionTime: 27ms, repeaters: [2a], speed: 100 kbs
Basement South Exhaust Fan2021-03-28 02:49:05.064 seqNo: 182, routeChanged: true, transmissionTime: 27ms, repeaters: [2a], speed: 100 kbs, rssi: [-95 dBm, -86 dBm, N/A, N/A, N/A], Ack channel: 0, Transmit channel: 0
Basement South Exhaust Fan2021-03-28 02:49:05.060 seqNo: 182, routeChanged: false, transmissionTime: 1023ms, repeaters: None, speed: Unknown
Basement North Exhaust Fan2021-03-28 02:47:08.121 seqNo: 180, routeChanged: false, transmissionTime: 1023ms, repeaters: [3d], speed: 9.6 kbs, rssi: [0 dBm, 0 dBm, 0 dBm, 0 dBm, 0 dBm], Ack channel: 0, Transmit channel: 0
Basement North Exhaust Fan2021-03-28 02:46:03.267 seqNo: 180, routeChanged: true, transmissionTime: 14ms, repeaters: [3d], speed: 9.6 kbs
Storage Room Lights2021-03-28 02:36:43.558 seqNo: 78, routeChanged: false, transmissionTime: 1ms, repeaters: None, speed: 100 kbs, rssi: [-103 dBm, N/A, N/A, N/A, N/A], Ack channel: 0, Transmit channel: 0
Storage Room Lights2021-03-28 02:36:43.553 seqNo: 77, routeChanged: false, transmissionTime: 7ms, repeaters: None, speed: 100 kbs, rssi: [-103 dBm, N/A, N/A, N/A, N/A], Ack channel: 0, Transmit channel: 0
Basement North Exhaust Fan2021-03-28 02:35:54.661 seqNo: 76, routeChanged: true, transmissionTime: 15ms, repeaters: [aa], speed: 9.6 kbs, rssi: [-93 dBm, -92 dBm, N/A, N/A, N/A], Ack channel: 1, Transmit channel: 1
Basement North Exhaust Fan2021-03-28 02:35:49.736 seqNo: 76, routeChanged: false, transmissionTime: 199ms, repeaters: [3d, 48], speed: 100 kbs
Basement South Exhaust Fan2021-03-28 02:34:48.496 seqNo: 75, routeChanged: false, transmissionTime: 199ms, repeaters: [5c, b5], speed: 40 kbs, rssi: [-100 dBm, -85 dBm, -92 dBm, N/A, N/A], Ack channel: 1, Transmit channel: 1
Basement South Exhaust Fan2021-03-28 02:34:46.487 seqNo: 75, routeChanged: false, transmissionTime: 11ms, repeaters: [5c, b5], speed: 40 kbs
Basement South Exhaust Fan2021-03-28 02:34:46.185 seqNo: 74, routeChanged: false, transmissionTime: 7ms, repeaters: [5c, b5], speed: 40 kbs, rssi: [-100 dBm, -86 dBm, -92 dBm, N/A, N/A], Ack channel: 1, Transmit channel: 1
Basement South Exhaust Fan2021-03-28 02:34:45.883 seqNo: 73, routeChanged: false, transmissionTime: 7ms, repeaters: [5c, b5], speed: 40 kbs, rssi: [-100 dBm, -85 dBm, -91 dBm, N/A, N/A], Ack channel: 1, Transmit channel: 1
Basement South Exhaust Fan2021-03-28 02:33:44.677 seqNo: 72, routeChanged: false, transmissionTime: 7ms, repeaters: [5c, b5], speed: 40 kbs, rssi: [-100 dBm, -83 dBm, -91 dBm, N/A, N/A], Ack channel: 1, Transmit channel: 1
Basement South Exhaust Fan2021-03-28 02:32:43.383 seqNo: 71, routeChanged: false, transmissionTime: 7ms, repeaters: [5c, b5], speed: 40 kbs, rssi: [-100 dBm, -86 dBm, -92 dBm, N/A, N/A], Ack channel: 1, Transmit channel: 1
Basement North Exhaust Fan2021-03-28 02:32:12.216 seqNo: 145, routeChanged: false, transmissionTime: 5ms, repeaters: [3d, 48], speed: 100 kbs, rssi: [-95 dBm, N/A, -75 dBm, N/A, N/A], Ack channel: 0, Transmit channel: 0
Basement South Exhaust Fan2021-03-28 02:32:12.212 seqNo: 144, routeChanged: false, transmissionTime: 6ms, repeaters: [5c, b5], speed: 40 kbs, rssi: [-100 dBm, -85 dBm, -91 dBm, N/A, N/A], Ack channel: 1, Transmit channel: 1
Basement South Exhaust Fan2021-03-28 02:31:42.068 seqNo: 70, routeChanged: false, transmissionTime: 6ms, repeaters: [5c, b5], speed: 40 kbs, rssi: [-100 dBm, -83 dBm, -91 dBm, N/A, N/A], Ack channel: 1, Transmit channel: 1
Basement South Exhaust Fan2021-03-28 02:30:40.740 seqNo: 69, routeChanged: false, transmissionTime: 7ms, repeaters: [5c, b5], speed: 40 kbs, rssi: [-100 dBm, -85 dBm, -93 dBm, N/A, N/A], Ack channel: 1, Transmit channel: 1
Basement South Exhaust Fan2021-03-28 02:29:39.450 seqNo: 68, routeChanged: false, transmissionTime: 8ms, repeaters: [5c, b5], speed: 40 kbs, rssi: [-100 dBm, -85 dBm, -92 dBm, N/A, N/A], Ack channel: 1, Transmit channel: 1
Basement South Exhaust Fan2021-03-28 02:29:09.691 seqNo: 67, routeChanged: false, transmissionTime: 6ms, repeaters: [5c, b5], speed: 40 kbs, rssi: [-100 dBm, -85 dBm, -91 dBm, N/A, N/A], Ack channel: 1, Transmit channel: 1
Basement South Exhaust Fan2021-03-28 02:28:39.053 seqNo: 67, routeChanged: true, transmissionTime: 185ms, repeaters: [5c, b5], speed: 40 kbs

Going from your screen shot I would say your Basement South Exhaust Fan2021 is the problem.
My siren was doing the same thing.

I turned the reporting on all three down as much as possible, and I'm generally getting a report every 5 minutes now. I haven't had a crash yet today, so I'm hopeful. I'm waiting for Amazon to deliver the Kasa plugs so I can remove those plugs from the network fully.

Well, I don't want to speak too soon, but since lowering the reporting interval on the Aeotec plugs to 10 minutes (they still report every 5 minutes, not sure if the driver is goofy or the firmware), I haven't had a lockup.

Aeotec Plug settings now:

Changes I've made to the network:

  • 3x Aeotec plugs set to minimal reporting (see above)
  • 8x Inovelli Illumin bulbs joined as S0 have been removed. I plan to re-add them using the beta firmware at some point in the future, but right now they're gone. They didn't seem to affect stability.

I was having Z-Wave occasional slow responses to commands (up to 5 seconds sometimes).

I just happen to turn on a light (GE/Jasco switch) and got the dreaded "click...click". Replaced the switch with a spare (always keep a few of these laying around).

For the past 4 days, the Z-Wave response time has been lightning quick.

So - yes - a bad device (or a device that is about to go bad) can cause issues with the mesh!

FYI; i have one aeotec smart switch 7. It works but shows very long response times 2-13 seconds and with many neighbors is continually rerouting. I'll replace it with the zooz power switch I used formerly. Just wanting stronger zwave 700 response but....