Hi,
I had a mixed Z-Wave & Z-Wave plus network, running with OZW 1.4 (the old style) and a Zwave.ME Board on a Raspi 4 / Hass.io system.
I excluded all old non plus devices and restarted the network. How can I check, if it is really in plus mode?
The log says nothing …
Thanks, RaKa
The plus mode is per node and not for the whole network. You can have plus and non-plus devices in the same network.
You need to add the nodes secure to use them in plus mode.
As a sidenote, most of the time it’s better to use non-plus mode due to the unnecessary overhead of plus.
Sorry, mixed up Z-Wave plus and secure nodes.
No that’s not correct
Are confusing Z-Wave Plus with Secure nodes? You can’t disable Z-Wave Plus, and you certainly would not want to. For most cases, you would want to avoid adding nodes securely (S0 security) due to network overhead.
Sorry guys, I mixed up secure and plus, fixed my post
I seem to vaguely recall there were benefits to having an z-wave network with only plus devices? That somehow one single non-plus device has an effect on the whole network?
The difference between ‘plus’ and ‘none plus’ is the expiration of a patent where it infringed the patent if when the device was switched, it told anybody imediately, so it will update, just not quickly (these are ‘none plus’ devices).
You got round this by polling the device
Polling is bad, try to avoid where possible
Where you NEED full update then set the polling as low (less frequently) as you can (less traffic)
@Rakaandro
To check what is what for a device.
Go to the Z-wave configuration page - select the node concerned - then click node info - if its plus then ‘is z-wave plus’ will be true
Caution: I have 3 z-wave hub sticks (1 aeotec, 2 everspring) all are plus but info says they aren’t
Also (as freshcoast says) a secure message takes 4 message blocks, a none secure takes just 1
I recommend using secure only for devices that ‘require’ it. ie some locks
Does that also mean that a battery powered device such as a door/window sensor will last longer on one battery if it is included in non-secure mode?
Possibly I’ve never done the check.
Battery devices don’t ‘re-telegraph’ messages so they save battery power that way at least
Why would you possibly want to include a door or window sensor in ‘secure-mode’ ???
Some people think that others want to hack their systems by sitting in a van outside your house (remember the 50 foot transmission radius) and listen in on messages over z-wave. Why would they do that ? What does ‘this’ message mean ? trying to sort out which one belongs to a window you want to pry open is a much greater investment in time than a simple burglary is possibly worth.
Watching when you open a window and seeing the message sent etc.
Just jam the frequencies and everything goes dead
Controllers never report back as “Plus”, that is normal. The CommandClass that indicates whether a device is Z-Wave Plus is describing the connection between the Node you are looking at and the nearest (network-hop-wise) controller.
So in the case for the hub sticks, it’s not Z-Wave Plus as the internal communication inside the stick isn’t using the Z-Wave protocol.
(The Z-Wave Alliance put out a book every few years explaining basically the whole protocol and the little “this is why” things for how the protocol works and how it appears to end users. Even for non-techies who just want to use the devices, it’s a good read 
)
Thanks to @all,
Conclusion:
If I have a Z-Wave controller (plus compatible) and a sensor (in plus mode) that are sent via a power plug (Z-Wave Plus, as a relay), there are no disadvantages if a non-plus device is in the system is logged in. Neither in the range nor in the transmission speed of the Plus devices?
No
My understanding of this situation is that if you have the 1st gen non plus stuff in your network that all of your network will fall back to the non plus specs.
Therefore any benefits of the plus are negated as long as you have even one 1st gen device enrolled on your network.
That said it doesn’t mean you can’t have a successful zwave network with a mix of devices.