Fired up my new VeraLite on Friday with the single switch I had at the time, waiting for a lot of 20 Scalage RP200 modules. They came today so I got then installed across my entire first floor and what I’m finding out is that I’m not able to communicate from one end of the house to the other, let me explain… I have 12 RP200’s installed and operational scattered in every room across my first floor, from one end of the house to the other, nice coverage for the mesh network. I currently can only install the VeraLite at either end of the house. Whichever end of the house I install it I find the devices that are at the other end of the house (farthest away) go un-responsive. Moving the VeraLite to the opposite end of the house allows the perviously un-responsive modules to work fine BUT modules at the other end now go un-responsive, I think you get it.
I was under the impression that these modules acted as repeaters and trust me they are spread nicely across the entire floor. In either location I end up with one or two un-responsive modules that are within 5-6 feet of a module that works just fine, why is that working module not relaying the signal to the module that is showing as non-responsive…?
Not familiar with the RP200 modules but did you do a network heal after installation? The routing is pre-determined based upon the AutoRoute variable on the device. This is populated when you perform a network heal.
You need to do a NETWORK heal after you include the devices and have Vera in it’s final place.
(If you add or move any node including Vera … you must redo the network heal)
This is where it discovers the configuration of the mesh.
Darn, I had read that somewhere. I did the heal and now it’s all just crazy… devices that are within 5 feet of the Vera are in error (red) in UI7 saying unable to get any information on node. See screen shot attached, the candle in office is 5 feet from the unit.
UPDATE - Went back after about 30-45 minutes and everything had settled down, the current status card says all is OK. I can now control all devices and get no more errors. It’s like the heal took a while to work it’s way thru the network despite the fact that UI7 said it was successful way before it really was.
You posted as I was typing. Yes it will go through after the heal and configure each node that needs configured. If you sat there and watched it going you would have seen each one configure. If you have a lot of nodes that need configured it can be like watching paint dry but it will eventually complete. If there is only a few that need configured the rest of the network will be available and working even though it is still configuring nodes in the background.
It’s best to start the heal at night … and just check back in the morning.
You do not want a lot of other user initiated activity while the heal is going on.
Thanks guys, played with it a lot last night, all devices are running fine with zero errors. The best part is that the devices that are @ the opposite end of the house from the VeraLite are working perfectly. The next challenge will be the two devices that are going in our barn, which is about 60’ from the nearest repeater/module.
Just a comment to need to do a “repair” after adding devices is somewhat counter intuitive, IMHO.
It all depends. Sometimes the auto-routing employed by z-wave devices is enough, most of the time it is not.
To give your barn the best chance of working with z-wave, install a lamp module as close as possible to the barn on the second floor of your house or maybe even one of these:
A better bet may be to activate Insteon support and use an Insteon based switch for the garage as it actually uses the power lines to transmit the signal.
Another possibility for your barn is to get network connectivity out to the barn, then get a bridged Vera in the barn to control the modules in that barn.
You can run Ethernet cable out to the barn, or you can set up a wireless access point/repeater in the barn that reaches back wirelessly to the house.
And you would have the added advantage of internet in the barn.
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