Ok, so I have been building my z-wave network and things seem to be working just fine for plugged in z-wave devices. I just add them to Vera (keeping vera plugged in if they’re close by or bringing vera to them with the battery pack if further away). Vera seems to find the routing just fine and heals the whole network.
However, when it comes to adding battery z-waves, I see some serious problems. I have tried MULTIPLE devices from Everspring and Shalage (door sensors, motion detectors) and it doesnt’ seem to work. A couple of assumptions need to be made
It’s highly unlikely that people will have battery operated devices mounted directly in range of Vera. Think about it, battery devices are usually sensors that will be OUTSIDE or on the EDGES of a house, so by DESIGN, battery operated devices will be contacted through INSIDE devices (like switches or appliance modules).
The procedure described by EVERY battery device manual is: bring the controller near it, activate z-wave enrollment, then mount the device and put the controller back. NOWHERE does it say that you have to keep the battery z-wave device hanging around the controller for some extended period of time
So, the problems I experience is this:
I add the battery device, check that it’s added in Vera, then I go mount it. Then VERA does not want to configure it. It seems like VERA does NOT want to configure anything through a neighboring node. (attn: Developers, can you please confirm or deny this?? this is very important for users to UNDERSTAND if they are buying your product!)
And I don’t know how to resolve this…multiple heal/repairs don’t do crap because apparently VERA cannot configure devices through other devices?? Is this a VERA problem or a z-wave problem (I think VERA because it seems that other systems that use z-wave do not have this problem, although I will admit I have not personally used them).
So, in order to save all this trouble and heartache when adding battery z-wave devices, can the DEVELOPERS please explain the EXACT, PROPER procedure for adding z-wave battery device that will be placed out of immediate range of vera?
My assumption is that the way VERA is programmed, you need to add the device, and then keep it near vera (but how to make sure it’s active, bc most devices are only active when mounted due to tamper protection?) until VERA in her infinite finickness decides to actually configure it?
I really hope some astute forums users and especially the developers can explain this. After reading numerous threads on battery devices, I think this is the main problem that people are having. Vera is such a great platform, that this difficulty with battery z-wave is such a frusrating block from making it truly awesome, PLEASE fix it!! : )
It’s not that bad… Battery powered devices have limited range, if you add or exclude you need to either:
install the device in its place, move Vera next to the device, perform the inclusion and configuration. When done, return Vera to its place. This is why Vera has batteries. You can also do this thru the UI. OR
bring the device near Vera, perform the inclusion and configuration, and when all is OK, install the device at its place.
more tips:
different battery devices may have different ranges!
always best to have powered Z-Wave nodes near the battery-powered devices, to create a more reliable mesh
almost all battery devices have a way to force them to wake-up so that the configuration completes (check the manual)
do a manual heal when several devices are moved around
re-configuring battery devices take time (till the device wakes up and whatnot) so have patience.
Ok thank you that is very helpful!
When you say, include and configure, can you specify how to make sure the device configures? Because for some reason vera does not seem to want to configure immediately after including the device (why not?? Seems like that would be the best time?)
So lets say I take the vera next to these battery devices, can I just leave it there overnight and it will configure?? (The assumption is that all z wave battery devices wakup at a certain interval??)
But the problem is that even AFTER the device is configured, when you move VEra away back to its normal, and it does its normal heal, it will give errors again. Granted the device seems to work at this point, but can’t be configured anymore. So I think this is still a big zwave or vera limitation that devices can’t be configured through another node…
Personally, I place all of the Battery devices next to Vera for 1 day. After that I move them to their new homes and them I do a heal that night.
You really want to minimize battery devices … they do not perform as well as wired devices.
That said … the battery devices attached to an alarm system work much better. If you need wireless devices I would recommend installing an Alarm system that integrates with Vera. Than you get good wireless devices … home automation … and security system as well.
Thank you, that is even more helpful. That is what I’m getting at, there need to be a better documentation for how to properly get z-wave battery to work. Even if the mios faq just said “leave devices for 24hrs next to vera before moutning in final location” that would have saved a lot of hassle for users…
As much as I would love to make everything wired, its obviously not possible with most of the sensors (do they even make wired z-wave door or motion sensors??)
I will try your recommendation right now (leaving Vera overnight next to the garage doors). Have you ever had it not work after a day (i.e stay in the waiting for wakeup mode?). I assume that EVERY z-wave device wakes up at SOME point, so if you leave vera for a long time, eventually it will pick up the wakup and configure if it’s in range. I did read some devices don’t have wakeup though (I believe it was feature class-132) so I suppose it’s possible it will be stuck like that and need to be woken up manually?
I do wonder though, how come vera doesn’t just configure the damn things as soon as they are added??? Perhaps a dev can help explain this? It seems that other z-wave controllers do this purposefuly to avoid this kind of problem, so why not vera?
That is also a GREAT point about the attached alarm system. I am in fact doing this later, but honestly just wanted to be cheap and DIY the garage sensors (because they’re not as critical to my home security). I also have not tried out the DSC panel plugin, so I wasn’t sure how well it worked. By the way, the alarm guy was like “z-wave, uhm no we dont use that stuff for our wireless, it’s not very good”. I thought he was just being a salesman, but starting to understand why now : )
Typically, battery operated devices stay awake for a while (say several minutes) after battery insertion / first inclusion, and/or can be manually woken up, for the purpose of (initial) configuration.
Also, Vera needs to know the device’s neighbors, so that she can attempt to contact the device through those neighbors, if direct communication isn’t possible, once Vera and the device aren’t close to each other anymore. So I always assumed it’s best to bring Vera to the device, so the correct neighbors for the device’s intended location are learnt.
That’s a good point, b/c otherwise if you bring the devices TO vera, then it wil not know the neighbors at all.
It does appear that the best way is like you guys are saying is to keep vera near the device for a while, configure it, learn its neighbors etc etc, and after a while (which seems like at least a few hours to be safe, preferably a day) you can move vera back to normal spot and then it should route correctly (although during repair/heal when it tries to reconfigure devices, won’t it fail again since it’s no longer in direct range? If a device cant’ be reconfigured during repair/heal, does it just keep its original configuration? Or is there a way to prevent vera from trying to re-configure battery devices after the first config?). This method sounds like it should be in the MIOS faq because this the BEST explanation I have seen so far as to how to deal with battery devices and why it’s necessary to do so…
You are right, they are awake for a while and also have manual wakup (unfortunately usually requires unmounting and pressing the tamper switch or removing/reinsterting batteries). Because that is a hassle (until they make a simple “wakup” button which would be nice…), how do you know if the battery device will wakeup on its own at any point??
Right; potentially, that set of neighbors is disjoint from the set of neighbors in the device’s intended location. However, typically, I think there’s overlap.
Or is there a way to prevent vera from trying to re-configure battery devices after the first config?)
On the [tt]Settings[/tt] tab of the device you could elect to not auto-configure, once the initial configuration is done/works/etc.
how do you know if the battery device will wakeup on its own at any point??
One way is to see if the value of the [tt]LastWakeup[/tt] variable on the [tt]Advanced[/tt] tab changes.
Got it. That confirms that Richard’s way is the best practice. And it sounds like disabling auto configure is a good way to keep working battery devices from getting confused and wasting battery
Does anyone know why does Vera NOT configure devices IMMEDIATELY? Why does it have to wait?
At the very least, shouldn’t vera send the WAKEUP interval configuration to the device? That way if it can’t queue up the rest of the commands before the device goes to sleep, at least it tells it to wakeup later. Otherwise, the device can go to sleep and without having the wakeup interval set by vera, it will never wakeup…and you’ll be sitting there a day later still not knowing why it’s not working. Then you have to go manually wake it up (which is a pain because that usually means removing batteries etc) AND then go into the UI and hit configure now (which doesn’t always seem to work well). Perhaps this should be a patch/bug suggestion???
Personally, I never wait for wake-ups, but make sure the device configures while awake. You could do a [tt]Configure node right now[/tt] if things seem stuck.
I’m assuming the devices have a default wake-up (that can be overridden by the controller).
Just to share what I do for battery devices, I follow a mix of @Richard’s and @OTis
I include and configure the battery device close to Vera, in order to check all is OK, updates are occuring etc. leave it for a day or two.
Once I’m happy with it, I then move it to its final position.
Then in its final position, I manually wake it up. do a Poll Now to check that it can still be reached by Vera directly (as its last know position was as a direct neighbour)
Next, irrespective of the result of the Poll Now, I then do a ‘Configure Node Right Now’ which i understand is sort of a mini-heal or repair that checks/updates any new configs, settings, routes and new neighbour nodes.
Seems to work well…
Then every now and then I do a full system heal to factor in all the other nodes on the network.
As a data point, I just included an Aeon 4-in-1 on an ‘empty’ Vera. After the initial inclusion, Vera reloads and then seems to enter the ‘wait for wake-up’ stage. I helped things along by pressing the button on the 4-in-1, so Vera would receive the wake-up notification and move on. Even though I believe the 4-in-1 was still awake.
After that, the additional sensors appeared and the device was operational.
i dont see the point in adding a device through a neighbouring device… whether its out or inside.
you can include the device in vera by holding it next to it or holding vera next to it (connected to laptop)
after including it will start to auto-configure. so when u see the device listed that is being added just continu to dashboard and click device wrench.
in there you find an button to configure now. now on the z-wave device wake it up. to do this : after inclusion press tamperswitch or inclusion-switch 3 times in 1.5 second. or for other just press it. use the tamper switch not the detector magnet.
now press on configure now and it will auto configure.
this is finished you can install the device and put it 3 neighbours ahead if necessary.
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