Just remember that adding chatty devices without S0 does significantly reduce the traffic by about 2/3, those zooz 4-1's can still saturate the mesh if you add more than a few of them. Something to keep in mind if you start seeing issues again at least you have a good suspect to track it down to.
Even with just the one Zooz sensor I'm noticing issues with z-wave response. I remove it and the problems go away. Looks like I'll be replacing this sensor after all.
You'll be much happier with any zigbee motion sensor. The response time is much better. Also, try to pick the sensors that cover your needs in an area instead of all in ones. Where I need humidity like the bathrooms, I use the Nyce ceiling mount motion sensors with humidity and temp. Anywhere else I use the Samsung 2018 motion sensors. I also compliment the bathroom motion sensors with the Jasco zwave in wall motion sensors with occupancy mode enabled and auto off disabled. Then use motion lighting rule to handle them. The zwave association in the switch makes it faster than even zigbee.
The magnetic mount makes the Samsung motion sensors nice ceiling mount ones as well. I stick them to the vents in some areas where I don't need humidity, such as the guest restroom (no tub, or shower).
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Right now I have a bunch of Dome Z-wave sensors throughout the house which work well enough but they can be a little slow. I just bought a Jasco motion / dimmer and if that works well I plan to replace the existing light switches and Dome sensors with those. The Zooz sensor was mounted on the soffit in front of the house. It was used to control the flood lights over the driveway. I don't really care about temp or humidity outside. I have a PWS linked to HE that handles all of that so I'll probably end up putting one of the Dome sensors where the Zooz sensor was.
Is the chattiness specific to the Zooz sensor or does it also apply to Fibaro and Aeotec?
Zigbee is a no-go for me due to saturation of 2.4Ghz band in my house.
All three channels 1, 6, and 11 are saturated? Even so 15, 20, and 25 are only on the side lobes and are usually fine. With a preference for 25 since its only covered by 1 side lobe and 26 is a lower powered channel and not all devices support 26.
I don't know if the others are affected but there are a ton of people with issues with the zooz ones. Sometimes you can get away with using one or two but it really depends on your mesh and it differs from setup to setup.
Are you speculating, or have you run into issues? I have 4 separate wifi networks (two of which are 2.4GHz) , plus a 2.4GHz repeater for the one network in the garage, and my Zigbee have zero issues.
And that doesn't even include the printer or other ad-hoc networks, nor bluetooth, or the four 2.4GHz networks from the neighbors.
I am not in a extremely noisy environment, but enough so where I probably should have some issues with some devices. Even my motion sensor and plugs that sit inches away from the one wifi access point do not give any problems.
I'm referring to articles such as this.
https://www.metageek.com/training/resources/zigbee-wifi-coexistence.html
I think sideband lobes are a valid concern. I have 5 Ubiquiti Unifi APs spread through the house, using the entire 2.4GHz band. Since the 2.4GHz issue is already a documented issue, I'm pretty sure I will have problems here.
Sideband lobes are only an issue usually if they are in a really noisy environment and within about 2 feet of the router or ap. I'm a really heavy wifi user with on average 2.4 TB wifi usage per month to the internet and another TB or two of local traffic and 0 Zigbee issues.
Samsung zigbee sensors are a bit hard to get a hold of these days. Any experience with Philips Hue sensors?
I don't, I just troll ebay and buy any I find. I don't even really need em at this point but it's become kind of like an Easter egg hunt for me. If they have a make an offer button I usually offer 35. Most of the time they take it.
Got me another easter egg just now.
Little tip if it happens again cut the power to your Mains powered devices in other words turn the breaker off or pull the airgaps.
Hey Lewis,
First off, I did your external antenna mod (thank you for that) and it helped, but I'm still experiencing issues with my z-wave mesh... I've been trying to troubleshoot and narrow it down and I came across a few posts about S0... I have two GoControl GD00Z-5's in my garage that are pretty close to where my z-wave hub is located in the kitchen a few feet away... I'm wondering if the S0 nature of their pairing is causing me some issues... I see in this thread, you mention the newer GD00Z-8, which I have at another house and it is indeed paired S2. You also mention using PC Controller to add devices without security. Is that something I should attempt with these two GD00Z-5's? Would it even then work in Hubitat without security and using the generic driver?
I'm also considering my problems might be several enerwave mico relays I'm using to control decorative lanterns/lamps around the property. I even went as far as to drill tiny holes in the base of the lanterns/lamps so I could run the tiny wire antenna out into the open...
Anyway, just interested in your thoughts on the garage door controller and anything else I should look at.
@SuperDupe
S0 and even s2 should be removed for all but locks and garage doors. Have you also checked your z-wave settings page for ghosts?
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no ghosts... i've become pretty good at using PC controller and other means to eliminate them... the two S0 devices i have are my two garage door controllers... I'm just wondering if they are causing me issues. @lewis.heidrick talked about adding devices into the mesh using PC Controller to avoid the security settings... It might not even be possible with the garage door controllers. If they are part of the problem, and i can't include them without security, I might consider buying the newer version that supports S2.
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You could use a zen-16/17 which is 700 series chip and an ecolink tilt sensor to handle your garage
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The Zooz 16/17 are definitely solid options for the garage door - I use a Z17, and it's been a champ in that role. Though I could've used S2 for it, I paired it as "No Security" (not to be confused with "S0").
I have an older (but super trusty) Yale z-wave door lock that pairs as S0 no matter what -- it's the only S0 thing in my mesh, so it hasn't caused me any grief. But I'm not interested in tempting fate with any additional "noisy" S0 or S2 devices, so I don't use S2. Someday, I'll do something different with that S0 lock and then I'll consider playing around more with S2 in my mesh, but until then, I KISS as much as possible.
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s2 isn't really chatty. For your garage I would recommend it and it shouldn't impede the speed of your mesh. It's when you add so much with it enabled, the cumulative effect is slow down from constant decryption processing. So a couple of things won't hurt at s2...I'd leave your lock at s0, again only one device and s0 is still better than nothing for a lock.
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