Hi,
I am very new to Vera and I am having trouble with my Evolve LRM-AS dimmers. I have gotten them to include via battery inclusion and I excluded before I included. They are showing up in my dash but when I try to control them I get the following error: Cannot contact device. Error code 2. Then says unable to get any information on node. I tried network repair and when I look at the report there is a red cross sign next to configured. Am I doing something wrong? They have been included about 2 hours ago. One of them is no more than 10 feet away from the vera lite base so I am sure it is not a range issue. Is there something that I am not doing right?
If the device shows up in the Vera dashboard, then you have included it successfully. The error code indicates an inability to communicate with the node.
It is still very possible for 10 feet to be out of range for Vera. We need to know more.
Is the LRM-AS the only device you have or are there other Z-Wave nodes on the network?
The 10 foot gap between the node and Vera is clear line of site, or are there obstacles in between?
Is the LRM-AS in a metal gang box?
Are there other devices on the 908MHZ frequency that might be interfering with the Vera signal, such as a video baby monitor?
If the device shows up in the Vera dashboard, then you have included it successfully. The error code indicates an inability to communicate with the node.
It is still very possible for 10 feet to be out of range for Vera. We need to know more.
Is the LRM-AS the only device you have or are there other Z-Wave nodes on the network?
There are no other Z-Wave devices as yet. Only two LRM-AS dimmers. I have two more LRM-AS dimmers to add and two schlage locks that I have not tried to include as yet. I just got the closer one to work by doing a full power exclude and full power include, but the other one is too far to do that. Why did this work?
The 10 foot gap between the node and Vera is clear line of site, or are there obstacles in between?
Yes clear line of site.
Is the LRM-AS in a metal gang box?
Yes they are in metal Gang Boxes
Are there other devices on the 908MHZ frequency that might be interfering with the Vera signal, such as a video baby monitor?
I do have a summer infant baby monitor and not sure if this one counts but my wireless router is an ASUS AC Wireless Router.[/quote]
That a node does not work with 10 feet clear line of sight is not a good sign. It could mean that you have a very “noisy” environment. This means that there is a lot of interference on the same frequency as your Z-Wave network.
I believe that the Summer Infant Monitors, like your Asus AC router utilize the 2.4GHz frequency, but you should check to be sure. If it does not state the frequency in the manual, post the FCC ID from the back of the unit and I will look it up. Z-Wave utilizes 908.4MHz in the U.S., so those probably won’t affect Vera.
Metal gang boxes are a major problem! The Z-Wave signal(any radio signal) cannot penetrate the metal box. This means that signal can only come out of the front faceplate of the switch, in a straight line. Think of it like a flashlight beam when you point the light at a wall, that is the extent of your signal coverage. The only solutions to this is to replace the metal boxes with plastic ones or to locate your Z-Wave devices so that they face each other.
Add your other LRM-AS devices and see if when they all mesh together, if they can provide enough signal. With metal gang boxes, your range and signal quality will be FAR lower than the theoretical maximums advertised.
Your locks will not work without a robust Z-Wave network, so leave those until last.
Excellent and informative postings. I’d like to add another 2 cents today…so far I’m that makes 4 cents.
In regard to the OP’s locks. Please make sure the locks are quite close to your Vera controller. If they are not you could run into trouble connecting them. I just posted earlier about needing a repeater device that specifically supports command class/security compatible. The need for this is to have the appropriate bandwidth or software coding to transmit the encryption keys of your lock. If your locks become further away from the Vera the reliability could be reduced.
A standard device that says it is a “repeater” will not repeat the encryption keys from the lock without a device that specifically says security compatible/command class on it. Hope this helps for the future setup of your zwave network.
I many Evolve/Linear dimmers in metal switch boxes, and have never seen an error code 2, or even had any lag in activation. Tens of thousands of the evolve/linear line has been installed in large hotel projects that likely have metal switch boxes. Evolves main business seems to be zwave in hospitality. So I wouldn’t get too worried about the boxes as a major obstacle.
What does happen with metal boxes, it seems, is the preferred paths become intermittently bad. So vera spends a lot of time running heal at night and rerouting. Is there a 900mhz cordless phone by vera?
A key difference between your installation and @Peiloy’s installion is that you have many devices and he has two. This is why I recommended that he add the other LRM-AS devices he had, to see if the mesh would provide better coverage.
What does happen with metal boxes, it seems, is the preferred paths become intermittently bad. So vera spends a lot of time running heal at night and rerouting.
Hi Guys. I was away for a while so I didnt get a chance to respond.
Yes all switches in my house are in metal cans, and to make matters worse is all walls are concrete.
That being said here is where I am at:
I dont have any 900mHz devices that I know of close to the Vera. The Vera is on a media center that houses the following: AC Router, Onkyo Receiver, PS3, PVR. Would any of these create an issue?
By doing a full power exclude then include I have gotten the Evolve dimmer in the same room to work, but not the Evolve dimmer just down the corridor. I added an Aeon Labs extender between the two dimmers and both now work. Here is the strange part that I cannot understand. Nothing seems to communicate properly unless I do a full power exclude then full power include. They will add by doing standard battery inclusion but when I try to control they will not work and give me the error 2, even if the vera is sitting right next to it. This includes the Aeon extender which is on the wall on a plug. So I am very confused as to why I must do a full power ex/inc for each device and cannot use the battery method? Is it possible that something is wrong with my Vera or am I not waiting long enough with the battery inclusion? I wait until the include light finishes its rapid blinks then take it back to resting place to plug in.
You’ve essentially confirmed that you have weak/poor signal coverage. This is probably due to your metal gang boxes and concrete walls.
The media center devices you mentioned do not share Vera’s frequency and should not interfere with the signal from an RF perspective. But their metal cases and transformers can physically block Vera’s signal so make sure none of them are located between Vera and your Z-Wave nodes.
Your battery includes will probably work if you build your network out from Vera. Then after adding a new node, perform a network heal so that Vera can recalculate a route to the node, rather than trying to communicate directly when the node is too far away.
Thanks again for the help. I am having problems with the unit though, I am really beginning to think that my Vera lite is defective.
When I log in it says loading and just hangs up there. Both remotely and local. I power cycled and eventually got in but it did not last for long. There are no IP conflicts on my network. it pings fine. I got in again and did a zwave reset and factory restore. When I go to getvera it says that there is no vera on my network. I looked into my IP list and the vera still retained its old IP even though I have not set up DHCP reservation for it. When i try to log into it with the old ip it still hangs up.
