Out of range issues

Community Playground Getting Started & Initial Setup
1

I need some help with installing Z-Wave Plus devices on my Vera Plus.

I bought Dragon Tech WS-100 in-wall switch. Installed in in a far corner of the house. It works manually. My Vera Plus is in the opposite corner of the house from the switch, with a couple of walls in between. I tried including it in UI7, but Vera cannot see the device when in inclusion mode - probably too far. So I took Vera Plus, powered it up close to the new switch, and included using buttons on Vera Plus. Then moved Vera back to its permanent location. I can see the switch in the interface, but it shows as device no longer connected. Probably too far.

So I bought another Dragon Tech WS-100 in-wall switch and installed it midway between my Vera Plus and the first switch, with an intention that the new switch will act as a repeater of the Z-Wave signal. The new switch included fine, even through the wall, and is working fine with Vera. Now, I though Vera would automatically fix the connection to the first switch because it is close to the working second switch. But it did not. I waited for a supposed automatic overnight network heal, but it did not help. So now I have:

Vera → Switch 2 → Switch 1

And Switch 1 is not working with Vera. I am confident that the distance between Switch 2 → Switch 1 is not an issue. How to fix it? Any ideas?

2

I would suggest that you exclude/unpair Switch 1. Then include/pair Switch 1 again.

3

I don’t have internet at Switch 1 location. For this reason I included it using buttons on the Vera Plus unit. Is it possible to exclude/unpair it using buttons, without internet?

4

See the post at [url=http://forum.micasaverde.com/index.php/topic,36436.msg271000.html#msg271000]http://forum.micasaverde.com/index.php/topic,36436.msg271000.html#msg271000[/url]

5

Thanks for the link. Issue still there. This is what I did:

powered off vera and disconnected from internet
moved vera close to switch 1 and plugged into power outlet
once lights are on, excluded switch 1 using vera buttons
powered off vera
moved vera back, powered on, connected to internet
logged in UI7, switch 1 is gone
reset the switch according to instructions (3 taps up, 3 taps down, led blink to confirm)
powered off vera and disconnected from internet
moved vera close to switch 1 and plugged into power outlet
once lights are on, included switch 1 using vera buttons
powered off vera
moved vera back, powered on, connected to internet
logged in UI7, switch 1 is back there
tried controlling switch 1 from UI7, got error can’t detect device

I will wait for overnight heal again, hoping it will solve the issue. The distance between switch 2 and switch 1 is about 10 m (35 ft), but there is a wall in between.

Is there a way to force network heal now, so that I don’t have to wait until next day every time?

6

[font=trebuchet ms][size=small]See http://forum.micasaverde.com/index.php/topic,34413.msg276593.html#msg276593[/size][/font]

7

Did a network heal as described in the link. All devices showed Can’t Detect Device and stayed that way for several hours, probably until overnight automatic heal, when Switch 2 came back. But Switch 1 still says Can’t Detect Device. When I try controlling it in UI7, it says sending command, tries several times, and then says Cannot contact device, error code: 1.

To summarize, the setup is this:

Vera Plus → 10m distance → Switch 2 (works fine) → 10m distance → Switch 1 (does not work)

All devices are Z-Wave Plus, which are supposed to have extended range. I don’t think 10m (35ft) distance with a wall in between could be a problem, but it looks like it is? There is no possibility to put another repeater device between Switch 1 and Switch 2 because of wiring. So I guess I am stuck.

8

There are other options that could help you create a higher quality mesh network that should include S1, S2, and your Vera.

Use a range extender (e.g. [url=http://www.amazon.com/Aeotec-Z-Wave-Extender-Repeater-DSD37-ZWUS/dp/B00K7QZUZM]http://www.amazon.com/Aeotec-Z-Wave-Extender-Repeater-DSD37-ZWUS/dp/B00K7QZUZM[/url]) in a location somewhere between S1 and S2.

Use a Zwave Plus SmartSwitch ([font=verdana][url=http://www.amazon.com/Aeon-Labs-Aeotec-Z-Wave-Switch/dp/B00VQISOCG]http://www.amazon.com/Aeon-Labs-Aeotec-Z-Wave-Switch/dp/B00VQISOCG[/url]) in a location somewhere between S1 and S2.[/font]

[font=verdana]Edit: Both of these will plug-in to a standard receptacle.[/font]

[font=verdana]Also something I should have asked before this. Is S1, S2, and Vera in the same building?[/font]

9

Yes, it’s the same building. Switch 1 is in the hallway to the garage, Switch 1 is in the living room near the door to the hallway to the garage. There is a wall between 1 and 2. There are no receptacles between 1 and 2, and no in-wall switches, so I cannot add any other device there. So I guess there are 2 possibilities:

  1. The issue is not a distance, but something else and there is a way to make it work
  2. The issue is the distance, and there is no way to make it work

By the way, now when I log in to UI7, it is no longer saying Can’t Detect Device. It is now saying Device failed to configure. So I logged off, and logged in again. Now it is saying ERROR: Unable to get any information on node.

10

I had a similar problem, but I solved it by using a 50’ network cable. That allowed me to but the VP right next to my devices. Ran the software on my laptop. It went through the normal process of attempting to pair, un-pairing and then pairing. This was at a pretty extreme range in an outbuilding and using a wifi extender to hook the network cable into. Once I got the hub back inside the home, everything showed up as it did while I was pairing. The paired devices were GE receptacles and switches.

11

@echino

I did a trial include of a GE/JASCO switch that I temporarily located in a space on the second story, right rear-side of my house. My VeraPlus controller is located in the basement level, left front side of my house. There are floors, ceilings and walls between the switch and the controller. There are no other devices on this controller that are between the controller and the GE/JASCO switch. The switch paired directly to my controller and is working fine.

I believe your issue is something other than distance and that you should be able to make it work.