Is the Zooz worth the price difference? Or are there better options?
Granted I only have 6 z-wave devices but the Ring range extender has worked well for me.
My vote would be if you are only looking for the range extension and the ability to trigger automations based off the main or battery powered state then save your money and go with the Ring. If you need the siren and different things then of course the Zooz.
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If you want another option, this is reliable:
Z-Wave Hub Range Extender - Aeotec Range Extender 7 - Improves Performance and Range of Your Z-Wave Hub - SmartThings, Hubitat, Alarm.com, Ring, and More - Gen7 (One Pack) Amazon.com: Z-Wave Hub Range Extender - Aeotec Range Extender 7 - Improves Performance and Range of Your Z-Wave Hub - SmartThings, Hubitat, Alarm.com, Ring, and More - Gen7 (One Pack) : Electronics
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The Zooz is a bit smaller. The Zooz is $30 on thesmartesthouse.com. For $15 difference I'd probably go with the small company. Zooz also has the ZSE50 chime for $37. You'd get a repeater and a chime. It's just a little larger.
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Back when I was running the Hubitat 7 hub, I needed Z-wave range extenders to reach certain locations. I have one Ring extender and several Aeotec extenders. I cannot say that one works better than the other.
Now that I upgraded to the Hubitat 8 Pro hub, nearly everything connects directly with the hub, but I left the extenders in place in case they are needed.
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We have one of the Zooz chimes. I guess the essence of my inquiry is whether one “extender” is better than the others and also are the “extenders” better at meshing than any other powered Z-wave device that repeats.
My daughter is building her new house and will use Zooz LR devices for all switches and dimmers and scene controllers.
She will also have non-LR locks, motion/presence sensors, and other miscellaneous Z-wave things so she needs repeating devices for the mesh.
Looking for the most reliable way to get there.
Extenders aren't any different than any other device, they just don't do anything but sit there. Though both the Zooz and Ring can identify power losses. At this point the 800 series devices all seem to work great, mostly connecting directly to the hub when in mesh mode. I'd suggest avoiding LR for the most part other than for specific use cases.
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Is your Zwave mesh mostly battery Zwave devices, to even need a range extender? Most of my Zwave devices are wired repeaters, in-wall dimmers for most every switch in the house, and some outlet dimmers for lamps, and they repeat well to all reaches of the house (hub is at the center), and even outside, without any problems. I only have two Zwave battery devices out of about 50 Zwave devices, though.
I have several of the Zooz ones scattered about in places that would provide good (mesh) backbone coverage as necessary, but with the hub's 800 radio and most of my ZW devices now 800, I haven't seen a hopped ZW-mesh connection in a very long time.
Admittedly, we have a pretty small house on a smallish city lot, so not big surprises there.
But I do really like the power-outage reporting capabilities -- with one of these on all of the important circuits in my house, they're a nice warm-fuzzy to get an easy head's-up about any power issues.
I use LR for all devices out in our detached garage and all of my battery ZW devices. I keep the mains-powered ZW stuff in the house paired mesh, since I still have a few non-LR 700-series devices.
Mostly powered (~30 LR, ~7 700 non_LR); battery are several ZEN34/37, a few motion sensors, two door locks, and a few door/contact sensors.
Since the LRs don’t mesh, we want to ensure the mesh is strong, even if C8pro has a direct shot at most all of the devices (<100 ft).
Haven’t decided on sensors for sliders and the 4 casement windows yet. Maybe some Zigbee there.
Keeping house alarm totally independent except for arming and notifications. Will have HomeKit, ReoLink, BondBridge, matter, also.
I have both the Ring and Aeotec. The hidden plus for the Ring is that it has a built-in battery and reports "mains" and "battery" with AC power loss. Continues to repeat for battery devices and acts to trigger rules that you may want for a power failure. So for me, at least one Ring for sure.
Go with the Zooz, IMHO. My ring extender does nothing, nothing connects to it. My new Zooz siren is working well as it my Aeotec 7 repeater.
ZSE50 or ???
That's the only Zooz siren I know of... The ZAC38 (extender) has speaker-looking holes all over it, so it sure as heck looks like a siren, but it has no such abilities.
I have no idea what the purpose of those holes are - just for looks, I guess.
Yes ZSE50, despite being small it does a great job, and also supports Z-wave LR, plus it has a battery and reports mains disconnect/connect and you can add your own sounds
