Could anyone provide the azimuth and elevation patterns for the ZWave and Zigbee antennas please?
I tried Hubitat a few months back and ended up sending it back because it couldn't reach all the devices my Smartthings had connected. However, Smartthings is really becoming unreliable and I'd like to give HE another go.
I'll likely end up with multiple hubs connected together through a master hub to reach all my devices (I found the ZWave mesh networking lacking and it slows motion control responses). However, I'm trying to decide where (and how) to install them. Right now I have my AccessPoints installed on a vertical wall which is not ideal as their pattern greatly favor an upside down, ceiling mount. I'd like to know the same for the Habitat Elevation since I'll have to run CAT6 cabling to it (wireless capabitiliy PLEASE!).
In light of actual azimuth and elevation charts, can anyone say whether or not mounting a HE on the broadside of a wall (and next to a 2.4G/5G AP - which I don't think will make a difference) is a good idea for ZWave and Zigbee connectivity?
And the antenna are omnidirectional. Orientation of the hub will have little impact on performance (in general). Placement near RF blocking materials (duct work for example) will have a much larger impact.
Thanks Ryan, I was thinking of using the HubConnect application....
Will this not work? I know it is designed for Smartthings integration but I didn't read anything about it not being available for just Hubitat hubs (I was planning three).
I appreciate the comment on the mounting orientation.
You can...but there is no need to do so. Repeaters will get you just as good a coverage. Setting up 3 zigbee and 3 z-wave networks and then linking all 3 hubs together isn't really necessary unless you have hundreds of devices. Any mains powered device will be a repeater. Building out your mesh will be very important.
Azimuth is the angle of radiation of the antenna.. Based on the FCC report for the new C-7 hub, horizontal polarization has a slightly higher signal strength than vertical. That doesn't give a specific angle, but it does indicate that signal strength is greater on the sides of the hub, than top or bottom. From that you can extrapolate the angle.
Elevation is usually stated in HAAT (Height Above Average Terrain)... In this case, simply how high you place the hub.
Did you move all devices over? If you didn't move all of your ST devices to Hubitat, chances are you were probably a few repeaters short, and this didn't have a strong enough mesh.
It can help, but it can hurt too.. Trying to strengthening a mesh by splitting devices across hubs can work if you have a lot of devices, but if you do not have a lot of repeating devices it can actually weaken a mesh. So that's something to be aware of.
However, if you have a large house, detached garage, etc., then using multiple hubs to increase the footprint of a smart home can certainly make sense.
