I have an existing z-wave network in India that is powered by an imonitor controller (Eurovigil). Given all the amazing things that HA can do, I want to transition over to a Raspberry 3B with Hass.io with a zwave.me UZB1 stick (that has the frequency set to India).
I have also installed zwave2mqtt so that I can have all my z-wave devices talk through mqtt. There are about 10 to 15 z-wave dual relay modules (controlling light switches) that are already a part of my existing z-wave network. I want to transition all of these over to my new Raspberry based HA setup.
If there is a way for my HA based controller to join the existing network and then take over as the primary, that would be fantastic. The other option would be the more cumbersome option of having to disassociate each of my existing relay modules (by opening up all the switch panels on various walls and pressing the button, etc) from the current z-wave network and reestablish them afresh with my new HA based controller.
Zwave hubs/controllers cannot join others. The best path forward is your second option: exclude every device from your old controller, then add to your new controller. Unfortunately, most (if not all) of the device & entity IDs will change, so you’re going to have to redo any automations you have set up.
Thanks for the response. This was exactly what I was dreading. Having to remove every switch panel on various walls and having to reset and then include in the new network sounds daunting to say the least. More importantly, like you pointed out, have to redo all the automations and scenarios too. I still think it might be worth it since HA is so capable & flexible and will let me control devices with my Google Home.
I’ve never used it, but there is a “Controller Shift” command to transfer the network from one primary controller to another. The primary controller you’re transferring from would need to support the “shift” functionality. Search for “z-wave controller shift” for more details. If the “imonitor” controller does not expose this command, then it’s probably not possible and you’ll need to exclude and re-include.
Controller shift can be done, for example, on a Windows PC and a USB Z-stick with the SiLabs PC-Controller software. Or, it looks like it’s also possible with a Z-stick and the OpenZWave Control Panel using the Transfer Primary Role command (HA does not expose this).
Ah, interesting. I have made a quick check with my current imonitor controller and it doesn’t appear to have a “controller shift” option. It only allows for node creation, deletion, network update, etc. I will take another look.