Hi! I've read through similar posts, and I wanted to get some help here. I've got a 12727 switch... And I can't get it to pair with HE, but it pairs immediately with ST. I've done the exclusion, and nothing happens. When I look in the device status, I can see info for 2 devices, but in reality, I am only trying to pair 1 device here. I do have 2 other switches that work fine, and are accounted for, and not listed below. Is there anything else I can try, or do I need to suck it up and buy a new switch?
ETA: I did remove those two orphan entries, and I lost connection to one of the other working switches also a 12727. I was able to exclue and include it. The "good" switch is slightly closer to the hub, but the "bad" switch is also directly across the room and line of sight form the working one.
Ok that looks good. You see that firmware update button at the top? Click it. It will update the z-wave firmware of the hub. After it's rebooted shutdown hubitat from the settings menu and unplug (from the wall not the hub) for 5 mins and power back up. Factory reset the switch (do not exclude) and make sure ST is off. Attempt pairing again.
Thanks! I'll try that. I had updated the main firmware. I didn't realize there was a second firmware for ZWave. I'll also have to check how to factory reset this switch, as it doesn't have an air-gap switch.
-Stephen
No luck so far. I did the firmware upgrade, factory reset, and tried pairing again, and it's the same thing, not wanting to respond to the paring.
-Stephn
One of your issues with only having 2 devices is lack of repeaters (even though they are mains repeaters) your mesh is weak at the moment. So distance issues can certainly have an effect. Seems your front door is closer to your hub than the kitchen
Sadly, No. I have some other sensors I could see about putting into the network. I'm still puzzled that the ST hub never has issues to pair the same switch, with the ST hub being in the same location.
Many of the ST sensors are dead right now. I can see about replacing batteries in one to see if it would repeat. I guess I'm still not clear why the Kitchen Spot sees the hub, but seemingly not able to repeat to the garage door, which is in the same room,
If it helps, the Front Door (closest to hub) is ZWave Plus. The rest are just ZWave. Would replacing with ZWave Plus make a difference?
Your scenario with the 12727 is very common and is similar to what I encountered when I moved several of thse from SmartThings a few years ago. The ST hub had no issues including or excluding them in place but they need to be very close (pretty much adjacent) to HE to include.
The 12727 doesn't have a factory reset capability (this isn't uncommon for non Z-Wave plus devices; see https://community.smartthings.com/t/need-to-factory-reset-ge-12722/133375 ). Neither network wide inclusion or network wide exclusion work with this device. if you haven't verified that it has been excluded from ST (you should have seen a message), best bet is to redo the exclusion on ST, move the HE hub adjacent to the switch (or vice/versa) and then include it.
Z-Wave Plus devices have better range and should support network wide exclusion though in practice it sometimes doesn't work well; newer devices might support network wide exclusion though this is another Z-Wave feature that can't be taken for granted. Once included the 12727's will work fine, though they may not report local button presses back to the hub. SmartThings polled these devices for status changes; HE by default will not.
Battery powered sensors are edge devices. They do not repeat. I would recommend buying a couple of Ring v2 Extenders. They're fantastic and they have battery back up in them.
Interesting thoughts. I need to find my longer network cable and run it as close as I can. (It's POE to a proper splitter, so at least if I can get the cable close enough.?)
As for the other one that did connect in the kitchen, is it that it's not going to help me repeat the signal until it's been discovered?
Unless the devices support the special NWI explorer frames (many older Z-Wave devices do not) they won't help with the inclusion of devices that aren't in direct range of the hub. HE's Z-Wave radio doesn't seem to have the same range as ST's hub.
Also, many of these older non-plus Z-wave devices don't report the current switch status to the hub. I know it is true for my Jasco 12724 paddle dimmers (*), but maybe it's not the case for the 12727 toggle switch.
If so, you'll probably want to enable the Z-wave Poller built-in app to poll the switch state. This is built-in to SmartThings, but on Hubitat you need to explicitly turn it on.
(*) this was one of the reasons I've long since replaced all my 12724s with Z-wave plus devices. Well, I kept one 12724 in the cellar in a location that is never physically touched, so I don't ever need to poll it.
Hmmm.. Knowing this is more spendy, I could reasonably expect to solve my problem with a couple of new ZWave Plus switches, correct? Or am I still needing to have the hub close by for pairing, and so the initial distance is always going to be a factor here? I've already got one of these at my front door (which is close to the hub.
ETA: or do I get a WiFi dongle and a small battery pack to pair the device? From what Iām more reading, this has solved some issues.
Unfortunately, there are no guarantees; in my experience (admittedly with a mix of device vintages) NWI isn't 100% reliable. Typical was the Z-Wave Plus repeater component of my Iris V2 plugs. Mine had to be within a couple of feet of HE to include even though the Zigbee part of the plug could join from anywhere in the network.
I found that using my old TP Link wifi extender (with built in ethernet port for an HE connection) was more convenient than dragging out my 100' etherenet cable last time I had to include on of my Jasco switches.
FWIW if you can afford it, Zwave plus devices are generally a better choice than vintage Zwave devices. GE/Jascos newer models are quite well thought of by many in this community, but they tend to be a bit pricey.
Personally, if going with Zwave Plus, i tend to buy Zooz or Inovelli, they tend to be cheaper, and are often on sale.
