I have several Z-Wave sockets around the house and down the garden to control various bits, and on the whole it works well, every day 2 of the Z-Wave locks drop out, and I have noticed they route through two sockets that turn off for a few minutes each day, coincidence? I think not, however, I thought that a Z-Wave socket plugged in and turned on at the wall (as in it’s in the UK wall socket and the Wall socket is switched on.) would still repeat even if the Z-Wave socket is off on it’s own switch… Is this not the case? It’s not a problem if not as I can do some swapping around of items just wanted to check first before swapping stuff around. Thanks in advance.
If when off it is still connected and controllable by network they should be repeating
Do the locks have general communication problem that becomes worse when sockets are communicating on network(to update their on/off status).
Hi there, Yes they are still controllable as they switch back on with an automation, so I assume they are still alive, t’s just weird at pretty much the same time each day, around 1pm, we loose 2 locks for about an hour, if I go out to the locks open the door close it they are fine again, I will take a look at what is going on on the switches at that time, thanks for the suggestion.
ZwavejsUI and HA show communication stats for devices
I’ve learned that many drops or retransmission is sign of poor connection to network. Look into that.
I had network drops around same time every day in very consistent fashion. Turned out to be switch mounted 150 ft from controller with bad connection. Removed it and issues resolved. Possible another device is creating the issue for the locks(other device flooding network enough to block locks that see the flood and wait to conserve battery vs your other powered devices that will transmit regardless of conditions). Maybe there problems is symptom of other condition
I wouldn’t worry about those plugs repeating properly if they’re online they’ll repeat - your locks may not actually be USING them though - depending on how you added them.
What you’re describing SOUNDS like some kind of signal issue. It could be weak signal between the repeater and the lock, the coordinator (stick) and the repeater, or - whatever. It could also very well be what @tmjpugh describes - a badly behaving device. You have to look at all of it.
Also, if these are older Zwave devices (not plus) they may not automatically update routes on their own without being told. So that means, depending on the order you added devices, they may not have the optimal route back to the hub. (My locks are Schalge non-plus Zwave, I have to pair them LITERALLY on top of the controller because of S0 whisper mode pairing and then move them to their final location.
THis leaves the route busted until I manually fix it. So, I have to immediately heal them to restore proper routes else they do exactly the same thing you describe - Work for a while then drop.) You may try healing the devices in the repeating chain one at a time working from the controller outward toward the lock. (DO NOT run HEAL network. it’s like using a nuke when you need a scalpel.)
Ensure you’re using a USB extension to connect your Coordinator stick to your HA box. USB3 is known to cause interference with these things and just a half meter USB cable is usually enough to eliminate it. It matters because bad signal there can also munge the signals your lock/coordinator is sending - and when the controller doesn’t respond to something the lock sent or vice versa… (doesn’t matter WHERE the signal got corrupted) Guess what? Drops. Alternatively, you can use a small USB2 hub.
Finally - when in doubt - MORE repeaters. I use 25’ (~7.5m) as my distance for planning between repeater nodes. If distance between nodes are more than that - I add more. Yes, that means I have nearly 100 Zwave devices in a ~3000 Sqft residence. But I also dont see random drops ever. (Instead, I just get it works or it doesn’t 
) Having just one repeater in path doesn’t leave you ANY redundancy. I put a Beaming capable (most modern plus devices) repeating device right next to my lock in every install I do and make sure after healing that the lock knows about the beaming repeater node. (JS UI can tell you what neighbors any given node ‘sees’)
3 Likes
Good Morning Nathan, Thank you so much for a most helpful and complete reply, I will work through everything you have said today, they are L1 Yale locks with S2 security and am using brand new Fibaro sockets.
I am using a Pi with a SSD and I have both Zigbee and Z-Wave dongles on USB extensions, however, I did buy a posh USB hub and it is USB3 so that is interesting will get a USB 2 hub bought today and try swapping it out.
Thank you again, I will let you know how I get on.
Hi Nathan, I have now replaced the USB hub with a 2.0 version, separated the two dongles a bit and healed each device from the controller out, I will let you know how it goes, thank you again.
1 Like
Hi Nathan,
I have now changed the USB set up with a 2.0 and separated the two dongles and moved the dongle nearer the back of the house, with quite a bit of success, one of the 2 locks that were playing is now very stable, so this seems to be simply a hardware position issue, I will play more with the routing to see if I can get the last lock to behave. It seems patience is the key with Z-Wave.
I would like to thank you for all your sterling advice.