Is the raspberry Pi4b (4Gb) the right solution?

Hardware
#1

Hi,

I’m running HA on as rpi4B 4GB for 2 months now (switched from zwave.me) with some integrations and Zwave with zway UZB gen5 controller stick
I have around 120 zwave nodes, almost all of them zwave+
Alls is kind of ok, if I look at cpu/mem load of the Rpi then I don’t see any high values, temperature also ok.
But, now here’s the thing, from time to time, on very simple automations , it takes like 8 seconds before a light turns on. for example, I have a fibaro multisensor and fibaro dimmer2 switch close to the controller, I created an automation to turn the light on when motion is dected however, I can see an 8 seconds delay between the motion detection and the “turn on” of the light.
I can’t figure out why, is it zwave, is it HA, is it the hardware…
So, my question, if you like at my zwave network (amount of nodes) , is the RPI the right solution ? is the delay all “in the network” or can cpu power , hardware latency (internal) also be a factor here ? would switching to an intel NUC for example solve this ? (tough question, I know)

Like to hear your experiences, especially from the ones with over 100 zwave nodes as well.

#2

Well, I “only” have 47 Zwave nodes, so I’m a little boy in comparison.

But my experience is, that when I’ve switched from RPi4 to a SFF intel celeron PC with 4GB, the difference was night and day. On Zwave side everything reacts just instantly. No exceptions.

That said, no guaranties, that it will solve your problem. But hope, yes…

#3

Ok, so you also had zwave delays, migrated to the SSF Celeron and that solved your zwave delays if I understand correctly ?

#4

yes, but, I never did enough research about it to say 100% sure, that the problem was not somewhere else. So, maybe this was the solution, maybe it was the rebuild of the Zwave network. (Yes, with that hardware migration I took the chance and made a total new start).

But well, I see a lot of improvement. Database readout is also way, way faster…

#5

No. RPi4 4GB with ~ 50 Zigbee devices, HA container, MQTT container and Zigbee2MQTT container was exhausted and unreliable. After all - it’s still based on a mobile phone platform. And of course, after two years SD card became corrupted.

Changed to a cheap x86 based PC (Minisforum N40) with embedded eMMC SSD and never experienced any issues again.

1 Like
#6

If you go into debugging in ZWave2MQTT can you see the motion detection is triggered and then the command coming back out to the dimmer? Does it take 4 or 8 seconds to arrive into the host or is it the CPU on the Pi which is taking so long?

#7

@m0wlheld , I don;t use any containers or anything like that, also not MQTT. alsu using USB3 instead of SD (I learned from that in the past… ;-))
The system does not look “exhausted” (well, at least not in RAM or CPU) but there are more aspects in a computer which can bring latency off-course.

#8

I don’t use Zwave2MQTT, just ZwaveJS UI (but I think that’s the new name right ? anyway, it has “MQTT” disabled)
But I can clearly see (also in the automation) that the motion detection arrives instantly, then there is a “stall” for 8-9 seconds in which nothing happens (the automation is waiting for confirmation light is on at that moment) , then light is turned on and then automation continues.

#9

Obviously the hardware/software stack in the PI then alright. Thanks for confirming!

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#10

You do. But that doesn’t matter as they don’t have a significant performance impact.

#11

Ah, you mean that is “by default/hidden” ?

#12

At least with HA OS. There might be a chance that you use a Python venv, but you for sure would have mentioned it.

Irrelevant anyhow.

#13

Install the latest zwavejs UI add in.

How many of your nodes are running as S0?

I originally installed my network at a time before ZwJSUI defaulted to no security and unwittingly joined over 40 nodes as S0 security (they’re pre S2). S0 has 3x the overhead for communication. (it’s bad if you have a lot of them)

I went through two weeks ago and rejoined all the nodes that don’t need security (about 40 of them) and the network is now lightning fast. The update for ZWaveJSUI that came out yesterday highlights S0 nodes in the security column in orange instead of green…

#14

None of the nodes are running S0

1 Like
#15

@NathanCu , what I also wonder (and see a lot) are things like this… that looks like lot’s of traffic for just one simple sensor, is that normal ?

2023-01-31 18:15:15.237 INFO Z-WAVE: [Node 225] Metadata updated: 48-0-Motion
2023-01-31 18:15:15.241 INFO Z-WAVE: [Node 225] Value updated: 48-0-Motion true => true
2023-01-31 18:15:15.282 INFO Z-WAVE: [Node 225] Metadata updated: 48-0-Motion
2023-01-31 18:15:15.286 INFO Z-WAVE: [Node 225] Value updated: 48-0-Motion true => true
2023-01-31 18:15:15.449 INFO Z-WAVE: [Node 225] Metadata updated: 48-0-Motion
2023-01-31 18:15:15.454 INFO Z-WAVE: [Node 225] Value updated: 48-0-Motion true => true
2023-01-31 18:15:15.468 INFO Z-WAVE: [Node 225] Metadata updated: 48-0-Motion
2023-01-31 18:15:15.471 INFO Z-WAVE: [Node 225] Value updated: 48-0-Motion true => true
2023-01-31 18:15:15.535 INFO Z-WAVE: [Node 225] Metadata updated: 48-0-Motion
2023-01-31 18:15:15.538 INFO Z-WAVE: [Node 225] Value updated: 48-0-Motion true => true
2023-01-31 18:15:15.568 INFO Z-WAVE: [Node 225] Value updated: 113-0-alarmType 0 => 0
2023-01-31 18:15:15.573 INFO Z-WAVE: [Node 225] Value updated: 113-0-alarmLevel 0 => 0
2023-01-31 18:15:15.579 INFO Z-WAVE: [Node 225] Value updated: 113-0-Home Security-Motion sensor status 8 => 8
2023-01-31 18:15:15.674 INFO Z-WAVE: [Node 225] Metadata updated: 48-0-Motion
2023-01-31 18:15:15.678 INFO Z-WAVE: [Node 225] Value updated: 48-0-Motion true => true
2023-01-31 18:15:15.812 INFO Z-WAVE: [Node 225] Value updated: 113-0-alarmType 0 => 0
2023-01-31 18:15:15.817 INFO Z-WAVE: [Node 225] Value updated: 113-0-alarmLevel 0 => 0
2023-01-31 18:15:15.822 INFO Z-WAVE: [Node 225] Value updated: 113-0-Home Security-Motion sensor status 8 => 8
2023-01-31 18:15:15.834 INFO Z-WAVE: [Node 225] Metadata updated: 48-0-Motion
2023-01-31 18:15:15.837 INFO Z-WAVE: [Node 225] Value updated: 48-0-Motion true => true
2023-01-31 18:15:15.860 INFO Z-WAVE: [Node 225] Metadata updated: 48-0-Motion
2023-01-31 18:15:15.863 INFO Z-WAVE: [Node 225] Value updated: 48-0-Motion true => true
2023-01-31 18:15:15.872 INFO Z-WAVE: [Node 225] Metadata updated: 48-0-Motion
2023-01-31 18:15:15.875 INFO Z-WAVE: [Node 225] Value updated: 48-0-Motion true => true
2023-01-31 18:15:15.883 INFO Z-WAVE: [Node 225] Value updated: 113-0-alarmType 0 => 0
2023-01-31 18:15:15.886 INFO Z-WAVE: [Node 225] Value updated: 113-0-alarmLevel 0 => 0
2023-01-31 18:15:15.890 INFO Z-WAVE: [Node 225] Value updated: 113-0-Home Security-Motion sensor status 8 => 8
2023-01-31 18:15:15.963 INFO Z-WAVE: [Node 225] Metadata updated: 48-0-Motion
2023-01-31 18:15:15.966 INFO Z-WAVE: [Node 225] Value updated: 48-0-Motion true => true
2023-01-31 18:15:16.044 INFO Z-WAVE: [Node 225] Metadata updated: 48-0-Motion
2023-01-31 18:15:16.049 INFO Z-WAVE: [Node 225] Value updated: 48-0-Motion true => true
2023-01-31 18:15:16.065 INFO Z-WAVE: [Node 225] Metadata updated: 48-0-Motion
2023-01-31 18:15:16.068 INFO Z-WAVE: [Node 225] Value updated: 48-0-Motion true => true
2023-01-31 18:15:16.077 INFO Z-WAVE: [Node 225] Metadata updated: 48-0-Motion
2023-01-31 18:15:16.081 INFO Z-WAVE: [Node 225] Value updated: 48-0-Motion true => true
2023-01-31 18:15:16.148 INFO Z-WAVE: [Node 225] Metadata updated: 48-0-Motion
2023-01-31 18:15:16.151 INFO Z-WAVE: [Node 225] Value updated: 48-0-Motion true => true
2023-01-31 18:15:16.266 INFO Z-WAVE: [Node 225] Metadata updated: 48-0-Motion
2023-01-31 18:15:16.271 INFO Z-WAVE: [Node 225] Value updated: 48-0-Motion true => true
2023-01-31 18:15:16.293 INFO Z-WAVE: [Node 225] Metadata updated: 48-0-Motion
2023-01-31 18:15:16.297 INFO Z-WAVE: [Node 225] Value updated: 48-0-Motion true => true
2023-01-31 18:15:16.319 INFO Z-WAVE: [Node 225] Metadata updated: 48-0-Motion
2023-01-31 18:15:16.323 INFO Z-WAVE: [Node 225] Value updated: 48-0-Motion true => true
2023-01-31 18:15:16.337 INFO Z-WAVE: [Node 225] Metadata updated: 48-0-Motion
2023-01-31 18:15:16.342 INFO Z-WAVE: [Node 225] Value updated: 48-0-Motion true => true

#16

Yeah whatever that device is is spamming the living heck out of your network.

Definitely look at ways to calm it down. Also look for noisy power reports.

#17

It’s just a fibaro motion sensor, thats all.
I have no idea why it behaves like this… maybe I should re-interview it ? exclude and include it again ?

#18

Ok, I’m on an intel NUC I5 4Gb now, that’s quite a fast machine that was around here with a nice SSD integrated, let’s see if this makes a difference…

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#19

Exclude, factory reset, include. That would be my bet…

And, also, check battery. They sometimes report more, than it is. Resulting in weird behavior because of low power.

1 Like
#20

Yep, I’m also checking if any weird associations at the moment, but I’m not so sure how that exactly works in the GUI, it looks a bit strange compared to other systems I think.
Anyway, only the 1st association group “lifeline” should be set, nothing else, so , should also the 2 in this screenshot be removed ? (Node 205 is my controller)

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