Hello,
I am using HA with Z-wave and RfxTrx 433 devices.
The 433 devices with mainly temp sensors is working very well but the Z-wave I feel is not so good.
Several Telldus switches broke within two years and the range is not reliable.
Since I like to control greenhouse and such I need reliable switches that is bidirectional so 433 will not apply, Is there anything with more range and reliability than Z-wave you recommend?
It’s only a few switches/sensors so price no issue.
Running HA on a i5NUC if that matters.
Hope for suggestions, best if they co-exist with the 433 and Z-wave that still is alive 
Direct range between any two Z-Wave devices is typically around 6 to 8 meters, more obstacles (like walls), reduce that range. Zigbee’s range is similar.
Z-Wave Long Range, the new 800 series of Z-Wave, extends that considerably. LoRa also has a very long range.
Is there mains power in the greenhouse?
The main thing with mesh networks is to add mains powered devices (Zigbee & Z-Wave are very similar) to act as repeaters / routers.
The next longest range (easy) radio optionsis a WiFi access point with Sonoff / Tasmota / Shelly WiFi based devices. WiFi can go a long way; even longer with a mesh AP along the way.
In all cases, the easiest way to get signals over a longer distance is a mains socket half way, and a repeater device in a box. I’ve some mesh switches with no loads, just acting as routers (e.g. a cheap IKEA Zigbee switch).
Hello and thanks for update.
I have mains all the way, in the greenhouse and also in a couple of places between the greenhouse and the Z-wave stick, yet I see it’s not reliable.
There is aprox 20-25m beween the mains loaded Z-wave devices (telldus switches and others) yet I feel it is often reported “dead”.
Is there any way I can see the network routing or mesh topology?
e.g who is talking to who?
I had something a few yesra back but that plugin is long removed 
Bying z-wave extenders seems no difference to what you are suggesting.
Should I move from Z-wave to Zigbee?
I assume I need yet another USB dongme in my NUC then… and additional costs…
please advise
Hello,
Will these long range work with my Z-wave usb stick or do I need to by more HW to the controller?
Hi,
I’ve seen one Zigbee Sonoff door sensor that sleeps for (presumably) longer than a ZHA timer and gets reported as Unavailable until the door changes state - then works fine.
Z-Wave has always “just worked”, once dead devices were deleted from the controller (that symptom is a 2-minute pause).
There are some mesh visualisation tools are in HASS:
- Z-Wave JS - can only see logs to check for timeouts by eye (must have been thinking of openHAB)
- Zigbee ZHA - visualization shows the mesh
http://homeassistant.local:8123/config/zha/visualization - Zigbee Z2MQTT is supposed to show more than ZHA, but I use ZHA
TBH, mesh and radio propagation is so complex (lots of reflections that you would not expect) that it’s best just to let the kit “heal” itself. All you can usefully do is to add extra mains powered devices to give more coverage - there are no manual radio config changes.
The aerial on the controller is utterly irrelevant with mesh - just add more mains powered devices to act as repeaters / routers and improve the mesh.
Thanks a lot,
Will the Zigbee ZHA visualization show also Z-wave devices, I only have the HA z-wave JS, the standard.
I get your point in allowing the mesh to be left, will get a few new switches and evavluate
Thanks
No, because they’re not Zigbee devices connected to your Zigbee coordinator with ZHA.