Questions about reliability

Community Playground Getting Started & Initial Setup
1

Okay, I love my Vera Lite, and I’m quite happy with it overall. However, I’ve started having some really problems with it.

Sometimes I’m simply not able to control my devices from any apps on my phone, and their status will either take forever to update or commands simply won’t go through. Other times, lights will take a VERY long time to react to commands.

I’ve done these heals that I’ve been reading about, though I’m not sure I’m even doing them correctly. All I know is that every day I have multiple failed commands, which is something I didn’t have before my recent move OR before I had my Vera. When it was just GE switches, modules, and remotes, everything worked flawlessly. Then, I added the Vera Lite and I didn’t have any failed commands either. I recently moved, and in the process removed a bunch of devices and added others, including about a dozen CA600’s and a Kwikset lock.

Since then, my network’s reliability has taken a nose dive and it’s very frustrating. The lock, in particular, is ridiculously unreliable. I’ll press the unlock button on my phone, and the lock will open like 30 seconds later, if it decides to at all. Then it will take about a minute to update my app that it’s been unlocked, which is stupid because you’d think that if the lock got the signal to unlock and was able to do so, it would immediately report back that it was successful.

But I digress. How do I improve things here? I feel like I’m doing something wrong, but I don’t even know what to ask. For example, I notice this setting for “use vera routing instead of Z-Wave,” but in all of my searching on these forums I can’t find anyone who mentions why this setting exists and why I’d want to use it. It isn’t even mentioned in the Wiki (though the older version, “use mios routing…” is there, and isn’t explained either).

I’d appreciate some help setting me straight on all of this. I’m going to do my best to become an expert on this stuff so I can have some real fun with it! :slight_smile:

2

I have sometimes issues like this with my Vera 2
But not daily!

anyway if you already had your z-wave network before adding veralite i suggest that exclude all devices and re create a new z-wave netwrok (to have a new routing table)

3

I did this when I got the Vera Lite. I had everything paired to a GE remote as the primary, and I went around excluding all the devices from that network, then re-added them to the Vera.

4

How many zwave devices are installed? Locks are very picky. How far is Vera from the lock? Is it in direct line of Site of the lock? Communication between vera and the lock is time limited. You only have a few seconds for the communication between the lock and Vera before the request is expired. This is due to the encryption and an expiration of the request. If you do not have good communication between the two, you’ll get delays and wrong status. You’ll need to add devices near the lock that support beaming. Like the ge modules.

  • Garrett
5

Thanks for the response, Garrett, I appreciate it.

I currently have 12 CA600 switches, the Kwikset lock, and I think five GE lamp modules.

Vera is not in direct line of sight of the lock. It is one floor below, but only about 8 feet to the side. So I’d say the two are about 12 feet from each other total. Directly below the lock is a GE lamp module, and that module is in line of sight of the Vera.

Now that I think about it, I put the Vera in a basement corner because that’s where my network’s hub is. But it doesn’t have to be there. I have ethernet throughout my house, so I could put it more or less in the middle of my home in my home theater… Hmm, I might try that. That wouldn’t be any closer to the lock, though, probably further away in total but on the same floor.

So are the GE modules and switches better at passing the signal along than the CA600’s?