ZWave Weirdness

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1

I have a Hubitat C8 running version 2.4.0.151. It has been on line for a year but in the last week it has developed a problem where overnight ZWave stops working. All the devices are listed but none of them respond. If go to the ZWave option, all the of the buttons are grayed out. If I reboot the hub everything returns to normal. I discovered the problem when I turned on the light switch to my office physically and it is supposed to turn on a dozen or so items in my office. I have reloaded that switch, I have performed ZWave repair twice as well.

I see nothing in the logs. Mesh below.

Screenshot 2025-03-30 075608
Screenshot 2025-03-30 0756081112×802 237 KB

2

Instead of just reboot, I’d do the shutdown/power cycle thing.

Chances are it’s a device that’s acting up.

It’s a detective story finding it though.

Any old Jasco switches? They are known to bring the mesh to its knees when they start failing.

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3

Thanks for the fast response. Trying it now, but wont know until tomorrow.

No Jasco. I do have a variety though.

4

Go to Settings -> ZWave Details -> View Logs, and then leave that window up for a bit.

It's the "real time" traffice monitor of all ZWave activity (not quite a Zniffer, but similiar in concept). Anyways, look for any "spamming" sort of traffic, just before you hub goes down. - Definitely sounds like a device hammering the mesh, and the trick is to find the problem child.

Also, pasting screen shots of your Z-Wave details will allow others to see RTT and error counters - That may help identify any ghosts or devices that are generating problematic statistics.

Hope that's helpful

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5

I finally solved this. It was something that @velvetfoot said along with a methodology that @GuyMan suggested that caused me to look for the source of the problem in the variety of manufacturers that I have in my network. Rather than looking for an individual device causing the problem, I examined the issue by grouping manufacturers together and found I had an issue with Sylvania smart plugs. I removed them form the network and the issue was solved.

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6

Fantastic. I like your grouping of manufacturers idea. Are the Sylvania plugs old?

I've been on these forums for a while now, and I don't recall there being a general "how to" for diagnosing Z-Wave weirdness like this. There should be one, I feel. It's not simple, especially if you want to avoid hours of troubleshooting.

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7

that bendy loop from and to you hub looks dodgy, could it be a ghost device?

8

They were five years old, with no firmware updates. Originally bought them for my SmartThings setup.

I think a troubleshooting process is a good idea, but this was more a less a hunch.

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9

Hunches are good.

10

Nice catch and it is still there now. Not sure how to track it with no label

11

The loop is harmless, possibly the hub is reporting itself as a neighbor. Happens with Zigbee too for some people.

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12

There is a recommended starting point: How to Troubleshoot Z-Wave | Hubitat Documentation

As well as the ever popular, "get help document" - with a specific ZWave section about POE and power bricks, and radio firmware upgrades, with lots of additional links: ‼ READ FIRST - Before Posting in Get Help

A "soon to be released" beta, has a LOT of fundamental Zwave changes coming, so things are likely going to be a bit "noisy" in the Zwave space in the coming weeks.

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