I'm just chipping in here to say 'thanks!' for your detailed post and commentary in this thread. It was useful enough to get me to register an account, just to say thanks.
I had a spare Aeotec Z-Stick that I've now converted to a Zniffer... seems to work well and confirms that my mesh is a bit ed ... I'm currently a Home Assistant user (have been for a few years) but will be changing over the C-7 when it is released and I can get one shipped to AU.
In the mean time, I shall be zniffing and trying to fix things, before migrating every device over.
Hello:
Just a quick question, from the curious.
Do you find that using Home Assistant, it still is "all about the mesh"?
That is, Is the key to making all your automations run smoothly, fast all the time, dependent solely on the strength of your mesh, even when running Home Assistant?
Do you have a zigbee or zwave mesh or both?
What are you using for your zwave / zigbee radio? Does that make a big difference?
My 2p... and I'm not an expert by any means - I've just been hackin away at home automation for a while...
The software is a means to an end, whether that be Hubitat's software, Home Assistant or something else. It talks to the hardware (radios) that do the actual comms with the devices (where you want, eg, the light to go on). Yes, the software layer has a role and can make/break your automation setup... but if the lower layers (hardware, protocols, etc) aren't working well, then the software can 'talk' to it as much as it wants, it is still broken. TL;DR - yes, the mesh really does matter.
I've only got Z-Wave and some wifi attached gear (mostly non-critical - it's stuff I found I could talk to and get interesting info from).
I've got 99% Aeotec devices -> Nano Dimmers + Wall Swipes, Nano Dual Switches, with one Fibaro 2.5kW switch that does the reason I got into automation... it turns the espresso machine on when the bedroom lights start to dim up in the morning! If that relay isn't working, I don't care about the rest of the setup Also have some Aeotec RGBW LED strips which are pretty cool, it must be said, and they literally dim up from 1%.
my experience is using the Australian frequency gear. This may have other characteristics, like interference, than in other regions.
I've got some older Aeotec 'smart switches' that seem to work well... until they just stop. Now looking at the mesh, I can see that they're chatting happily with other z-wave gear... just Home Assistant has given up talking to them. Then a while later, they re-appear... however looking at the mesh itself, I can't see any reason for it.
I've had HA for quite some time... since about version 0.60 and now on 0.103.6 but it refuses to update any further on my ubuntu box. And I've lost patience with it. I've previously bought and tried to get HA working on a Pi 3B+ but it never plays well with the Z-Wave mesh if I bring the Z-Stick over. It starts to see about 6-7 devices then gives up. Hence I started looking around again for 'solutions' and found Hubitat, which I'm looking forward to trying.
I've been using the Aeotec Z-stick Gen5 as my primary controller. It's been pretty good but not sure if it or Home Assistant are the root cause of my issues... it's time to restart the mesh from scratch.
Hopefully that's answered most of your queries... if not, let me know where I can be clearer. Cheers.
I am curious about something @csteele mentioned in another thread:
I do have Zniffer software and Silicon Labs stick. My MS6's are terrible repeaters because they communicate to the hub via 9.6. I have several devices that a zwave repair routed through them so via Zniffer or other tools can I update the route to move those devices to another router? If yes any tips or tricks on how to do this?
The choice of router to use is based on the ZWave Repair results. Your only option to affect routes is by the placement of routers. They each report back to the Hub a list of their neighbors they can hear. The Hub then identifies the optimal routing and distributes the fragments. Move or Add a router and you affect that set of decisions.
I swapped all but one of my MS6's out for the Inovelli 4-in-1s also relocated my router back to the main floor. Things have definitely improved z-wave network throughput-wise - though it's been a little while since my last zniff...
edit: I used 4-in-1s because they are powered like the MS6's but do not repeat. They are a lot sleepier but for my use-case (basement motion) it's fine.
Has anyone successfully downloaded the zniffer from silicon labs recently? I'm trying to follow, and it seems like silabs has rearranged their site and the zniffer has disappeared. Maybe. Maybe I'm blind??
I can get the z-wave programmer, but nowhere on the dev tools page ((you know the website but I can't post links)/products/development-tools/software/z-wave/embedded-sdk) does it list the zniffer. Is it gone or am I completely blind? (And if it's gone, could someone slide it under the table to me? Pretty please???)
You now have to install Simplicity Studio. Once installed, click on the wrench and go to add/remove tools. It's a bit of a byzantine journey to find what you're looking for, but it's in there.
I notice that the UZB stick suggested (ACC-UZB3-U-STA) is for Z-Wave 500 Series, is it still recommended or is there a similar product for Z-Wave 700 Series? First time going into Zniffing so I rather just do it right the first time.
Looks like it. That said, I'm not 100% sure if there is a firmware for sniffing for the UZB7 - I've never looked. I use my UZB7 as a secondary controller, not a sniffer.
Ahh, is there any benefit for a 700 series controller for Zniffing purposes only? Does the 500 series controller not detect 700 series products for example?
Yes - better antenna/radio = more range = it can hear more messages. That said, you should try to put the sniffer close to the hub if possible anyway, so that it hears the same massages as the hub. And if you do that, range of the UZB3 doesn't really matter in practice.
Any time you put the sniffer somewhere drastically different than the hub it may not see all the same messages as the hub. Which can be OK - depends on what you are doing. You just have to keep that in mind.
Unfortunately no, the UZB7 cannot be converted into a Zniffer. There are other changes coming to the Zniffer software so the UZB7 is probably never going to be a Zniffer. For now the only solution is to convert a UZB3 into a Zniffer
It was useful enough to get me to register an account, just to say thanks. 
ed ... I'm currently a Home Assistant user (have been for a few years) but will be changing over the C-7 when it is released and I can get one shipped to AU.
Also have some Aeotec RGBW LED strips which are pretty cool, it must be said, and they literally dim up from 1%.
