I currently have 76 devices in my 2500 sq ft home that are Z-wave. It’s a mixture of wall outlets, switches, sensors, and window coverings. All the window coverings are battery powered, and tend to cause me the most issues. I have a handful of battery powered motion sensors as well.
In all these devices, looking at the table of devices in Z-Wave JS, of the 76 devices, 17 devices are not Z-Wave Plus (generally 300 series devices). 2 of these are PIR motion sensors, and the rest are older GE/Jasco switches and wall outlets. This of course means they are powered, but as they are 300 series, they have a more limited range and I believe are slower to respond than 500 or 700 series devices.
In terms of a strengthened mesh, is it worth it to upgrade these devices? Is upgrading those devices going to help strengthen the signal to those window coverings, that I do have issues with getting the signal to? All of those window coverings have other Z-Wave devices in the same room, but I’m wondering if the 300 series could be a weak link in that mesh.
I’d like to know if anyone has done this and found the results worth the cost.