There aren't too many 800LR mfrs out there yet, far as I can tell. ZOOZ almost has a corner on the market.
i like zigbee many times i will buy it over zwave if i can.
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I got rid of all zigbee except one.
any antenna suggestions? i have my hub in the basement not the most ideal location RF wise but i like everything remote. i have considered moving the hub to the main floor but then i will lack a UPS and POE adapters on the C8 are problematic as i learned lol
Basement is the worst place possible to put an omni directional antenna, of course.
There are a ton of threads on here for which antenna people used. There are a lot of 3.3dB and 5dB RP-SMA connection antenna on amazon that people have successfully bought. The zwave antenna is the one closest to USB. Note that the 5dB ones are pretty huge/long (factors in if you have the hub somewhere visible).
For the record, the OEM antenna is like a 0.87dB one (in the zwave spectrum) based on the FCC specs. So even one of the 3dB range could be a good improvement (on paper - in reality who knows).
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Zooz LR contact sensor 140' from the hub, through one interior and one exterior wall w/stucco (and a fireplace/chimney) directly between the hub and the outdoor location. C8-Pro w/this antenna. 100% reliable, zero issues.
This (ugly as F) antenna.
Bingfu 4G LTE RP SMA Cellular Antenna 7dBi Outdoor A 9ntenna (2 Pack) Compatible with Spypoint Link Micro Covert Spartan Stealth Cam Tactacam Muddy Trail Game Camera Security Camera Wireless Router https://a.co/d/3UuqQ5n
This other one below has gotten some love from folks around here, and is not ugly:
https://www.l-com.com/wireless-antenna-900-mhz-3-dbi-rubber-duck-antenna-rp-sma-plug-connector
But as Jason says, basement location not helping...
L-Com are good.
Can also just search for "lora rp-sma antenna" on amazon, that yields a zillion hits all of which should work (lora and zwave lr are similar frequencies).
Or get an SMA connector antenna (a bit more common/more options) with a converter to RP-SMA.
I have a ton of 915MHz antenna lying around from my LORA work.... So I thought I would test something...
I used an extra Zooz ZSE42 800LR I has lying around and tried multiple different antenna on my Hubitat C8 Pro. Hub and devices in the exact same location for each test (across the house from each other. 3 or 4 walls, 50 feet).
I did 6-7 rounds of tests on each antenna, but that still isn't much so the data won't be perfect.
TL;DR: Using an antenna with better specs on paper MAY be better, but MAY NOT be better. You absolutely can not tell just from the spec sheets, and have to measure it before and after to really know if the new antenna did anything to help.
OEM Antenna:
- Avg: -91.8
- Min: -98
- Max: -86
Z-Wave Antenna off my Zwave.me Z-Station (should be better as it is a 1.2dB antenna vs stock 0.86dB):
- Avg: -95.8
- Min: -97
- Max: -94
- So was actually worse than the OEM antenna. :shrug:
Old LORA antenna I had laying around. Don't know the specs, but I would guess ~2-3dB based on size/type. But it is single frequency, not omni, so should be better attuned for the frequency in question.
- Avg: -87.5
- Min: -94
- Max: -79
- So better than the OEM by a reasonable margin. 4dB improvement on average is actually a lot.
Antenna off my main LORA controller. Should be 5dB.
- Avg: -89.4
- Min: -97
- Max: -79
- So SLIGHTLY better than the OEM, but not by nearly as much as the specs indicate it should be.
OEM Antenna again to make sure something didn't change in between tests:
- Avg: -93.1
- Min: -96
- Max: -89
- About the same as the 1st time, which is good.
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Thanks for the scoop
Ugly...I don't care about too much, I would love for a solid POE solution then I would move the hub without hesitation
There a are known reliable solutions...
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This is literally awesome some great work here, I was about to be excited but Amazon shows delivery Jan 19-21. I hit ebay scored 2 for $60 I will have them next week. -
PT-PTC-AT
Your hard work is much appreciated! @danabw
Wish you had the one I have, would like to see how it compares...
I don't deserve credit for that topic - the testing was done by the actually awesome @dennypage, who does deserve accolades for that impressive contribution to the forum. 
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FYI: there are no repeaters in LR. I assume the Zooz product you are talking about is the ZAC38, a (regular) 800-series Z-Wave repeater. I think the theoretical range of a hop was increased slightly from 700- to 800-series, though that information is hard to find since nearly all of SiLabs' marketing focuses on the LR range with 800 -- but in any case, that isn't relevant to classic mesh topology as any repeater uses.
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Missed that, good catch (as usual). 
I think manufacturers are using 800 chips for marketing purposes to get you to switch from 700 devices. Example: Zooz sells the ZAC38, which is an 800 mesh repeater that has nothing to do with 800 LR- as LR doesn't use the mesh!
Well 800 has a number of other benefits other than LR - especially on battery operated devices (power usage on batter is TREMENDOUSLY lower on 800 vs 700 - regardless if it is paired LR or mesh). So I don't think it is only for marketing purposes.
But you are right that a lot of people get confused on LR vs non-LR, and sometimes automatically (incorrectly) equate 800 with LR.
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Be careful with the l-com 5db antenna. It worked great on my C7 but when I used it on my C8 Pro I couldn’t pair any new devices. Ended up purchasing the 3db version and it works great
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your right this was in my efforts to get my sheds up, non LR
