3 floor building & zwave

Community Playground General Discussions
1

Hello guys

Do you recommend applying z wave (Micasaverde - vera) on a 3 floor building with 8 m x 24 m area for each floor?
This building is already built and finished so we need a wireless solution

I need more like a BMS system and i couldn’t find more flexible BMS wirless system

2

If that’s too big an area, and possibly too many hops for the amount of devices then others have had success using the MiOS bridging feature where you split the Zwave network into separate networks and bridge / link the Vera’s via Ethernet or WiFi.

Every installation is different and aside from the area there’s a lot more to consider like the type and QTY of nodes, building construction, and local interference, so its difficult to say if you would get away with one or not!

You could always try one, and then if it doesn’t work then try the bridging feature with more!

3

If a Z-Wave device is too far, are there any Z-Wave repeaters that can extend the distance for Z-Wave communication? I haven’t really heard of any products to deal with this :l… im sort of curious.

4

Most fully powered (mains powered) Z-Wave devices in the network will repeat the signal. These act as a “hop” in the Mesh network and there’s an overall limit of ~4 hops permitted in a Z-Wave network.

I have Z-Wave appliance modules in my house from when I initially setup. These act as repeaters, as do other fulltime powered devices (light switches, power outlets, etc), for devices that might not be directly contactable from the Controller device (Vera).

Battery-operated devices typically don’t repeat a signal since you cannot guarantee they’ll be online at the time.

5

I recently heard of beaming in z-wave devices, is that generally associated with battery powered devices that will allow them to react as a repeater or to wake up for long enough to do this?

6

Some battery devices can respond to a beam and some can’t! locks are a good example of a device that do support this, however for this work a powered/permanently on device also needs to support beaming, and be near by!

The above function just enables battery enabled devices to leave the radio on, but in a low power mode so that they can be woken in order that something can be received! Generally battery devices only transmit either on a schedule, or if something changes on the device.

7

Guys do you have any technical graphs shows the dB distortion of the Z-wave signals?
I couldn’t find any technical data regarding the waves
I want to approximately how much devices do I need

8

I have a single Vera installed in my 3-story townhome. 1st floor is garage/entry, 2nd floor is living space, and 3rd floor has two spare bedrooms. Vera is installed near the edge of the 2nd floor. I have multiple Z-wave devices (scene controller, light switches, door lock) on the first floor, Vera + scene controllers, switches, plug-in modules on the 2nd floor, and some plug-in modules on the 3rd. 90-95% of the time I have no trouble communicating to any devices. I think strategic placement of signal relays (plug-in modules) is key.

9

Same here :slight_smile:
3 story townhome, Vera on second floor.

Works perfectly as long as you are using devices that are not battery operated.

Flo

10

[quote=“frichter09, post:9, topic:171603”]3 story townhome, Vera on second floor.
Works perfectly as long as you are using devices that are not battery operated.[/quote]
The only device I have occasional trouble with is the Kwikset (battery operation). That’s the other 5-10% from what I mentioned above.

11

While people commenting on how far / well zwave propagates in a structure one huge variable that isn’t brought up is the type of construction and how loud / noisy (wrt radio signals) your area happens to be.

For example…

User A has a 500sqf condo and zwave doesn’t propagate at all…
User B has a 3000sqf home and zwave works great…

The difference?

User A is on the 65th floor of a steel and concrete skyscraper in midtown manhattan with umpteen thousand people all sharing the same 1/4 acre piece of real estate and has neighbors in all directions with similar makeup. If you find it annoying when a microwave, hair dryer or vacuum causes bad reception of OTA TV signals or wifi problems… Just imagine a building with hundreds or thousands of them all warming up coffee in the AM or veggies at dinner time. This is the same reason why cordless landline phones behaved so poorly in heavily populated areas (also in low pop areas with lots of flat open space for signals to travel) … Especially in the early days. People would often have a phone ring only to find it was for someone 2 floors up or 1 building over or the house directly behind you.

User B is in a 10 year old wood and sheetrock home with 1 acre of property.

It’s funny… Given all the major TV networks have ginormous antenna on the empire state building ( was the world trade center) you’d think everyone on the manhattan would get great OTA reception… Nothing could be further from the truth… The amount of steel and concrete structures causes nothing but havoc … However a small hamlet just 5 miles away THEY get crisp clear signals 24/7/365.

As with most everything… In the end, it always comes down to location location location with type of construction coming in a very close second. Radio friendly materials being wood and sheetrock while rebarreinforced concrete and/or metal studs or plaster and lath being more on the unfriendly side.

With plaster and lath, it’s not the plaster thats the problem … Nor the wood lath strips, but the bazillion nails needed to secure said lath to the wood studs… 900mhz just doesn’t like to pass thru lots of metal.

12

Good response. My place is all concrete, wood, & drywall… signals get passed without much trouble.

13

I have a 2 year old 2 story townhouse that is made out of wood and sheetrock. I have a lot of z-wave devices in my home. Vera is located at the ground level in my garage. Communication between all of my devices are about 99% reliable. I have a few battery powered devices on the third floor that do not have issues (hsm100).

So yes, the environment plays a huge roll in the success of communication reliability.

  • Garrett