Stupid Question: Zwave JS or ZwaveJS2MQTT for fresh install?

[randomstring (Bryn Dole)]

I’m doing a fresh install after my SD card crashed. Making lemonade out of a bad situation by taking the opportunity to clean up the configuration and names, and finally install move to the HomeAssistant Blue. Much cruft has accumulated since version 0.4.

Question: What Zwave integration should I install? The vanilla Zwave JS or the ZwaveJS2MQTT. I do use MQTT heavily already in my setup.

I’ve found a lot on the how but nothing on why choose one over the other.

[cgarwood (Charles Garwood)]

Use the Z-Wave JS integration and for the add-on use Z-Wave JS if you want basic functionality, or use zwavejs2mqtt if you want an advanced control panel to go along with it. Both addons work with the normal Z-Wave JS integration, and despite the name, zwavejs2mqtt doesn’t talk to the Home Assistant integration over mqtt.

[firstof9]

@cgarwood

zwavejs2mqtt doesn’t talk to the Home Assistant integration over mqtt

Unless you want it to for some reason or another.

[randomstring (Bryn Dole)]

OK, at first I thought you meant you can use both. That seems to not be the case, as both want to have control of the z-wave stick device.

It looks like zwave2mqtt has a more advanced UI? Why would I not choose zwavejs2mqtt?

[mwav3 (Tim)]

The main reason people choose zwavejs over zwavejs2mqtt is zwavejs is the “official” addon, and zwavejs2mqtt is a community addon.

What this really means, or possible future issues choosing zwavejs2mqtt might create, I don’t know. I suppose if an issue comes up down the road switching shouldn’t be too difficult.

I run a container install of homeassistant though, so I have to use a docker install of zwavejs2mqtt. As far as recommending one over the other, until you can do everything in the zwavejs integration that you can do in the control panel of zwavejs2mqtt, I would install zwavejs2mqtt. One example is you can’t set zwave associations without zwavejs2mqtt right now.

@randomstring

OK, at first I thought you meant you can use both. That seems to not be the case, as both want to have control of the z-wave stick device.

Yes, you can only use the zwavejs or zwavejs2mqtt addon, not both. The confusion is that either one can use the zwavejs integration. It’s important not to confuse the zwavejs addon with the zwavejs integration- they’re two different things.

You can also choose mqtt if you go with zwavejs2mqtt, although I would only use mqtt if you need it for some reason outside of Home Assistant.

This post does a good job visually explaining everything

Zwave & Home Assistant Overview

Introduction Currently, there are 3 different ways to integrate a ZWave network . This is a broad overview of each method. Zwave JS Addon & Zwave JS Integration (Websockets) ZWave JS UI & Zwave JS Integration (Websockets) ZWave JS UI & MQTT Integration (MQTT) Note: The legacy Zwave 1.4 and OpenZwave (Beta) integrations no longer exist and are not covered in this overview. Glossary Addon - Click on the link for a description. Integration - Click on the link for a description. Zwave JS …

[randomstring (Bryn Dole)]

@mwav3

As far as recommending one over the other, until you can do everything in the zwavejs integration that you can do in the control panel of zwavejs2mqtt, I would install zwavejs2mqtt. One example is you can’t set zwave associations without zwavejs2mqtt right now.

Thanks @mwav3 this post is exactly what I needed.

[joelp]

I went with zwavejs2mqtt docker container and the ZWave JS integration. As others mentioned, it was the control panel functionality that I really appreciated. I also have DIY projects that listen to zwave/# topics via MQTT, so having both WS and MQTT is nice.

To move from ozw (beta) over the weekend, I disabled ozw container, installed zwavejs2mqtt, and before changing anything in HA I was able to get my Z-Wave network in good shape (all config found) in about 30 minutes (20 devices). Using the control panel like that gave me a lot more confidence to then delete the ozw (beta) integration in HA.