Delay

Community Playground General Discussions
1

Hey Guys,

I have tried a few different controllers now (veralite, HD wink, smartthings). For each one, I have paired the controller with a few z-wave dimmer switches around the house and then downloaded the app on my iphone to control the dimmer switchs.

In all cases, there is a very long delay between me turning the light on/off/dimming/etc and it actually happening, I would say something on the order of 5 or so seconds.

Again, I have seen this with all the controllers so far. I want to know - what gives? Is everyone just dealing with this or is it possible to remove this delay from the system? Where is the delay coming from? Is it from the app to the controller or the controller to the switch?

Thanks!
Jason

2

Nope. No delays.

Have you tried testing for delays with your devices right next to the respective controller? I suspect that there will be no delay in that case.

I suspect that your delays are due to Z-Wave routing issues and a sparse Z-Wave mesh. If I’m correct, adding more devices should improve the mesh and reduce delays. But, remember that each controller and it’s devices is a separate and discreet Z-Wave network. Z-Wave devices that are part of network X will not participate on the mesh of network Z.

3

Hey Z-waver,

Thanks for the reply! So you see no delay at all when using the iphone app to turn on a light? That is amazing! So for you turning on a light using the mobile app is the same as just pressing the switch - it responds ‘instantly’? This would be a game changer for me if I could duplicate this behavior. Can I ask which app are you using? The Vera Mobile UI7 or the older Vera Mobile App? I found less delay when using the older app but there was still a few seconds delay between toggling the switch in the app and the light actually responding.

I am not sure the delay is really in the Z-wave network. I have experimented with putting the controller right next to a switch and it appears to have no effect. I have a feeling the delay is most likely in the communication between the app and the controller. Does anyone know if the vera mobile app ‘talks’ directly to the controller of if communication is relayed through vera’s servers?

4

I misunderstood your description, sorry. I thought you were saying that the devices were slow to respond when you issued commands via the Vera GUI, but you seem to be talking about the smartphone app. My statement, that there was no delay, was in reference to commands coming from Vera, via the GUI or triggers. Do your devices respond immediately to commands from the Vera GUI? If not, start here.

I don’t use iPhone, preferring Android. My Android app of choice, AutHomationHD has too connection modes. Many smartphone apps share this capability. It can connect directly to a local Vera via the local WiFi(or VPN) network, or it can connect to Vera remotely via 3/4G to the MCV servers.

When connecting locally, commands from my smartphone app are very near immediate.(Remember that via the Vera GUI, my devices respond immediately.) There may sometimes be a half-second delay, which is due to weak WiFi signal or the smartphone disconnecting from WiFi for battery savings.

When connecting to the MCV servers via 3/4G, like your Vera Mobile UI7 app, and most importantly having a good 3/4G connection, there is a 1-2 second delay. This is expected as the commands must traverse a relatively slow and latent cellphone network to the MCV servers which then relay the command via the internet to Vera.

Going back to your original question…
A five second delay seems excessive. That fact that it occurs for all of the controllers that you have tried indicates that the problem is with something that all of the controller installations shared. This includes iPhone and cellular network, internet connection, and Z-Wave network.

For troubleshooting, I would recommend starting at Vera. Make sure that your Z-Wave devices respond immediately to commands via the Vera GUI. From there you can move out to the MCV remote servers, via a well connected browser. If you enjoy fast response up to this point, then your delay would be from the iPhone app or cellular network.

5

If the device you are using is not connected to the local network there will be a significant delay. Do you see this delay when logged in directly to the Vera? Normally at home it takes about one second.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

6

There are multiple apps to control Vera via iOS devices. Have you tried just the one or did you try multiple and did they all show the delay? Did you try any of the 3rd party apps for iOS? Did you experience said delay while the controlling device was on the same local network as Vera?

I control Vera from multiple Android devices running 4.2 or higher of Android and when the Android device is connected to my home network (Where Vera is also connected to) there is no noticable deley using either AuthomationHD or ImperiHome. Both of which will automatically switch to local mode when they detect my local network and then talk directly to Vera without going via the MIOS servers.

Caveat: I performed the antenna mod on my Vera 3 and now 95% of my devices are directly talking to Vera without relaying via other devices. Which does seem to make my entire setup a bit faster. Not multiple seconds faster though. When I am out of range of my home network, response is not as instantaneous but to be truthful, communication has to go via the Vera servers back to my Vera across the Internet.

I no longer own iOS devices so I am not able to test those.