I'm hoping to move from a Wink Hub to HE however I'm having issues with z-wave range on two of three test devices, both AC powered. Perhaps it's my approach or technique? I'm looking for any suggestions to sort this out definiteively.
Both of these devices work well with Wink and at ranges of perhaps 50' through several walls (2x4 wood framing with wallboard, residential construction), without any repeaters. When I move these devices to the HE the usable range is less than 20' and line of sight, i.e. I need to place the HE in the room with the device for it to be usable.
My first thought was that the HE z-wave radio/antenna could be faulty in some fashion however I have a third device that works well with both Wink and HE, across multiple rooms, which I think indicates the HE's physical hardware is working well.
I'd have expected the two AC powered devices to work at least as well as the battery operated door sensor however I'm seeing the opposite. I actually purchased the smart plug to use as a repeater however with a usable range < 20' and needing to be in the same room as the HE that's not viable.
If that's all the z-wave devices you have, then you don't have much of a mesh.
I know the Monoprice plug functions as a z-wave repeater. The GoControl/Linear GDO should also work as a repeater, but it pairs securely with HE, and I don't know if it will repeat to devices that don't pair securely.
I would recommend building a z-wave mesh with a range extender really close to the HE, and include devices in place - rather than moving them to the hub, or moving the hub to them.
I also moved from Wink and found that adding a few Aeotec range extenders dramatically improved the stability and function of my z-wave mesh.
It's absolutely your technique and it's something I see a lot of new owners doing when testing the waters with any type of home automation hub. All Z-Wave and Zigbee devices operate at distances because of their mesh networks. If you are coming from an established system like Wink, SmartThings, Home Assistant, etc, then you already have had a mesh built up that has had time to configure itself and figure out routes and such. By removing a couple of "test" devices and adding them to a new system, you are breaking that mesh and expecting it to be as good as your previous one. It won't work that way and you are creating a false test result.
You mention that on Wink, the devices worked well at 50+ feet without repeaters? I don't think that's correct. Most, if not all, non-battery Z-Wave devices are repeaters and cheap devices like the Monoprice ones can barely achieve 30-40 feet on a good day without some sort of repeater between them and the hub (Monoprice, while well priced, typically use lower end radios in their products). So, whatever is still sitting on your Wink hub was acting as a repeater (or repeaters) for the test devices you paired with the HE hub.
My suggestion would be to use a bigger test pool of devices so that you can actually build a proper Z-Wave mesh.
I should have mentioned in my first post that these 3 devices, with the exception of the Wink Hub, are all of the Z-Wave devices I have, and that I'm testing with single devices only. There's no existing mesh, just a Z-Wave base + one device.
Backstory: The only z-wave device I had prior to this is the garage door opener controlled from Wink, everything else in my home is using other protocols. When my garage door opener didn't work with HE as I expected I picked up a few more z-wave plus devices that I'd like to add and I've been testing further with those. I didn't like testing with just a single device.
The Wink can link and operate any one of these devices at range through walls, without any other z-wave devices being present.
The HE can only see the monoprice contact sensor at range through walls. I can include any one of them by placing the HE in the same room as the device for that step however that device can't be controlled without the HE remaining in that room.
I could see the monoprice devices being on the low end but I'd expect poor performance with the Wink as well if that were the sole issue. Leading me to think it's more an issue on the HE side of the equation.
Thank you, I'd read this before posting and tried to apply what I'd learned though I don't have a mesh to speak of yet.
Thanks, I'd not heard of those before. I'd thought to use the plug as a range extender but that's not working out so well I may try one of these.
I may try one of these.
