Are your other zwave repeaters LR compatible?
What does the zwave mesh map look like? Are the blinds connecting directly to the hub or are they connecting to a nearby device first? Which zooz radio are you using?
LR doesn’t use repeaters, everything is controller direct.
I’m using a Zooz 800 series, model ZST39 LR.
But I’ve moved the shades to about 6’ from the stick, in clear air no walls, and still had issues. Though the closer the less trouble.
I’ve also tried setting them up with standard protocol (which will use repeaters) but they refuse to include, they give some nebulous error in the logs about 0xcc not implemented and then fail.
I have another stick (same model) coming tomorrow, going to set them up on that and see what happens, at least the log won’t be cluttered with other devices and maybe I’ll see a clue. This way I can also, if I really have to, put the controller right beside the window. Shouldn’t be necessary, I mean “long range”, but…
Do they work as expected using the Smartwings remote?
Edit: one other question, when you do the factory reset are you setting the upper and lower limits before trying to pair it?
Yes. The remote works perfectly, never misses a beat.
And yes, after the factory default I paired to the remote, set up/low limit. The problem came when they told me to reset it again consecutively – i.e. two 4-pulse hold of the motor button. Prior to that when you did the command to pair with z-wave, the motor did an extra jog after about 2 seconds. After that double factory reset that no longer happens, and there is no indication in the log that it does any communication at all.
My GUESS is that they did not know that the double reset somehow broke the link (logical link not physical) from motor to zwave module, and there’s something necessary to restore it, but so far asking both US and China support has not yielded anything (first said they didn’t think so, the other just ignores most of my questions).
LR DOES use repeaters for backwards compatibility… which is why I asked what the zwave network map looks like.
The issue you describe does seem new. In my one troublesome shade, I did not encounter it. I hope then can get it straightened out for you. I have one more to order soon - kind of makes me consider the matter over thread version.
I don’t think I exactly followed their instructions when I dealt with my problematic shade. I took to disconnecting the battery for 60 seconds after resetting the device. Then I set the upper and lower limits. Then disconnected the battery again for 60 seconds then tried zwave pairing. The whole thing was very frustrating because I had smoothly installed 7 others by then. It was weird.
Only if added with standard protocol though.
The map shows the shade (when i can include) with a direct LR connection. It’s circled below. There are weird paths in some of the standard protocols that one day I need to figure out or override, but the LR’s (all blue) go direct.
At this moment in time there’s only one shade that is included.
You can also try downgrading your firmware to 1.10
https://reddit.com/r/homeassistant/comments/1bbgef6/zooz_zst39_zwave_lr_800_usb_stick_reliability/
Maybe try a USB extender so you’re not getting interference with your hardware, if you haven’t already.
I would try and Aeotec radio… I’ve had excellent luck with mine.
I think the latest has resolved the issues they had middle of last year, plus there are issues going backwards. More to the point, I have quite a few LR devices (as well as standard) that all work fine.
The 800 series Aeotec isn’t shipping yet as far as I know, doesn’t seem right to go backwards. I’d rather they bring their LR module forward with current firmware!
I am using an extension on the USB.
Well, there are some pretty negative reviews I’ve seen written about their M/T implementation as well.
It seems like they make good hardware but poor controller modules, whether the firmware or hardware.
I did make some progress by breaking their antenna loose (it’s hot-glued to the top of the zwave module inside) and leaving it sticking up out of the case. Still not adequate but better.
I do have a bit more information on this.
It appears (based on certification date, and some feedback) that they only recently started shipping the LR version of the shades. The certification date is Jan 2025.
I set up an isolated stick (nothing else on it) and put it equidistant from each shade, about 8’. I included the two that still work (one has no zwave activity at all).
One has RSSI at -89dBm (that’s the working one), the other at -100dBm. Same distance, no walls… over ten times the signal on one versus the other. And -100dBm is near the noise floor.
I don’t know why, unless there is just that much variability in their modules. I am hesitant to crack open the module (they are sealed pretty tight) so long as I am getting support, I guess it’s possible the antenna is loose, though it’s not loose enough you can tug on it and feel it move.
The third shade module is just gone, no longer responds. They are sending me a new one (actually two) but that will take 3 weeks +/- from China. I do not think it will fix this third shade as I put a scope on the leads to that z-wave module, thinking I might look at the protocol messages, and found there’s no power going to the module – zero on all four wires. The wiring looked good going into the motor, the motor works fine (with remote), so I wonder if something blew up, or (my best guess) is the factory reset turned off the zwave and there’s some process you have to go through to turn it on. But they say not.
This is not fun, I bought z-wave because I thought it was the least problematic protocol. The scary thing is it may have been. 
This sucks to hear. I had planned on buying some outdoor shades for our deck. That’s definitely on hold until this gets sorted.
I thought I would provide an update, though it is difficult without making it a confusing mess.
I was sent a replacement z-wave module from the US. This worked better, despite having older firmware (or maybe because of older firmware), it was FW 1.9.0 SDK V7.16.3 vs FW 1.10.0 same SDK. It was also a bit backwards, with the antenna coming out the same end as the RJ11 jack, though that is not a real issue.
I was also sent three replacement modules from China that arrived yesterday. These had FW 1.1.2 SDK V7.18.8 (so a different FW numbering sequence I think). The latest ZWaveJS could not recognize the product information at all, and they identify in it as a “Window Covering V1” whereas the originals were a “Multilevel switch V4”.
The good news is the new modules had better signal strength; the bad news is they do not work correctly. In HA they report their position properly, but the open/close controls are reversed. This means if fully open or fully closed they will not move (because to move you have to “open” it from the currently open position, and vice versa). Worse, if you try to operate them from the fully open position they drop off the network and have to be manually re-added (not exactly included, but running the inclusion on the module seems to make it be alive again, whereas a ping will fail).
So these are not usable at all. They said this is because they have not been certified, implying that HA will magically work once they are. I am skeptical.
But this seems a fiasco of firmware variants.
Also, my longest shade still will not work. it was completely unusable (from zwave), then one of these modules worked briefly and partially (it would report position but not move the shade). It then went dead again - I think there’s a bad connection somewhere, and they plan to send me a replacement entire shade. But I really wonder with what firmware.
Every shade works beautifully with the remote control, they look nice, a tad loud but appear well built. But SmartWings has made a complete mess of the z-wave modules and firmware so far.
It’s probably going to be several weeks before I know more with shipping what it is from China. But I would definitely be reluctant to head down this z-wave rabbit hole until they get their software act together.
This is so disappointing. My experience has been the total opposite but I have an earlier version of their firmware and radio. I was about to throw more $ at them for some outdoor blinds too. I wanted to stick with zwave as It seems rock solid in my house.
I’m sorry you’re having to deal with this.
Exactly why I went this route, Wifi is always so proprietary unless you can take control with esphome, bluetooth is a mess for many reasons, and I was afraid matter was a bit premature. Zwave just works, generally. I worried about battery life, about fit and finish, all sorts of things. This was not on my radar.
Will update in a few weeks.
I’m curious… which FW version & SDK version was that? Is it possible to ask for a module with the same version again?
It reports as Z-CM-V01 by ZVIDAR.
Firmware 1.90
Annnd I’m seeing it is saying it’s zwave plus V2! I just assumed it wasn’t.
Interesting, so did you include it as standard protocol?
When I tried standard it wouldn’t include. I’m wondering if some of their issues were the LR protocol. But 1.9 is the one that I got from US support and that seems to work best. But China support has taken over and they sent me the three that don’t work with reversed controls.
But at this moment I have two of three working, so going to wait and see what they say. It all feels very fragile.
I’ve asked, by the way, if I can flash different firmware, and asked which is the right, etc.; they just ignore those questions.
My zwave controller is not LR compatible.
That may be the difference here.
Interesting it has the same firmware version. Sure there’s no “LR” on the label? 
Seems odd they didn’t make any changes to go to the long range chip. But the FW versions could just be random numbers, since I got one with a lower number and later SDK.