I am in New Zealand (so NZ/AU frequency) and have a Veralite bought direct from Micasaverde with a NZ/AU dongle that says 921.42 MHz on the back. Initial setup seemed OK, firmware updated.
I am trying to add my first and only device I have - a Schlage Link lockset bought locally from NZ distributor so should be on the same frequency as the veralite although I can’t find a frequency anywhere on it or the documentation that came with it.
I have tried with batteries and without, with the unit right next to the door lock.
I have tried putting the veralite into pairing mode via the web login menu Devices | Add Devices | Add ZWave devices, like light switches, door locks, thermostats, etc. I have also tried putting it in pairing mode by pressing the + button on the front. Both methods result in an orange light flashing about once a second which I think is what it should do (?).
When I enter the 6 digit programming code that came with the lock it does three beeps and three orange flashes as I think it should, but when I enter # 0 it flashes red and makes a dual tone noise which seems to indicate it has failed.
The veralite doesn’t change from the slow orange blink at any point and the lock doesn’t appear in the list of devices.
Couple of things I am wondering:
Is my dongle the right frequency? It says 921.42 MHz on the back.
Does the dongle work? When I press the button on the side of the dongle nothing happens - shouldn’t the light around the button come on?
Because this is the only device I have I don’t know if the problem is the lock or something with the veralite and dongle setup. Obviously if I had another device I could narrow it down…
After a bit more reading I’m suspecting there’s an issue with the NZ/AU dongle. I have set the port to USB0 and that made no difference. My symptoms are the same as this Australian user’s:
Locks can be a bit problematic when pairing because they are among the few Z-Wave devices that use encryption. It is possible that the specific combination of Vera + USB dongle + that brand of lock has an inherent incompatibility, say, in the Z-Wave protocol versions that the devices speak. As you say, if you had another device to pair you’d know.
What is the exact string you’ve put in the Vera’s settings for the dongle port? At least we can check you got that right.
I appreciate it’s hard for anyone to say what the problem is based on the info provided so can I just ask for tips on what you would do to narrow it down, like is there any diagnostic test I can do with the dongle, or something that should 100% make the light come on and if it doesn’t I’d know it is faulty?
Yep, that is exactly what I have in mine. (A similar setup: US Vera Lite with Australian Aeon Labs USB stick.)
You could see if you can update the firmware of the USB stick. Not that I think that the firmware is necessarily out of date, but more because that will prove that the stick isn’t DOA. The firmware updater is a Windows program you get from the aeotec website.
Progress of a sort… dongle firmware installed OK and now the blue light flashes when it is installed in veralite where before it did nothing. But the pairing outcome is no different to what it was.
One possibility is that the lock is already paired to some other Z-Wave network. Even on new equipment this sometimes happens, say, because the factory tester forgot to exclude the device again after testing. Try going through the motions of excluding the device (I do this with a long press of the Z-Stick button). Any controller can exclude any device?it’s a failsafe measure for users who have lost/broken their controller?so this will either succeed, allowing you to re-pair the lock, or fail, meaning the lock wasn’t ever paired. The lock may have its own processes for unpairing too; secure Z-Wave devices sometimes do. Read the docs.
Continuous flashing of the Z-Stick LED is something that old firmwares used to do. Now the light stays on solid. It’s odd that yours is doing that, but I can’t point to a good explanation why.
I’m scraping the bottom of the barrel here. If I were in your place I’d either go fork out $100 for a Z-Wave appliance module as the simplest test device, or take the lock back for a swap, or start contacting support.
A 1 hour support call with Micasaverde established for sure that the lock could not be enrolled (ie it wasn’t user error), but as it was my only zwave device it wasn’t clear if the problem was the lock, Vera or the dongle.
Called the Schlage distributor in NZ and the product manager was very knowledgeable and helpful - even sent me a zwave switch to test free of charge and told me to keep it!
The switch wouldn’t enrol either, so back to Micasaverde support.
Conclusion is that the dongle is faulty, but as they now make Veralites for NZ/AU without a dongle it seems I will get mine replaced with one of those. Just waiting to hear how the replacement will be done - i.e. where I need to send the faulty one to.
I’ll report back when the replacement is here and hopefully working with the Schlage.
Closing this one out… excellent support from both Schlage locally and Micasaverde. It was a faulty dongle and the replacement Veralite paired immediately with the lock just by hitting the + button on the Vera unit and entering the 6digit code into the lock followed by #0 (this Schlage lock has a “#” button instead of a “Schlage” button).
Happy camper now…
Best Home Automation shopping experience. Shop at Ezlo!
