So quick question - I have gotten into the Zwave world yet but plan to shortly. I will be adding it to my ISY, Should this be able to communicate with dry contact items like the MiMO with no issues? Is the Zwave communicates from the ISY reliable? I have a 2 story house with the ISY in the basement - any issues with 2nd floor?

Zwave is a mesh network - it's communication relies on having several non-battery devices to form a mesh, ideally spread around the house. It you are planning on secure devices, the requirement tightens somewhat requiring security capable non-battery devices to form the mesh.

 

Plan for at least 3 other powered devices from the beginning, in addition to any battery devices you are planning for.

The Aeon siren works wonders to tighten the Z-Wave mesh and it's security capable.

The Aeon siren works wonders to tighten the Z-Wave mesh and it's security capable.

This is what I use, with great success. I have three of them as a base mesh...

Great advise - Thanks! I guess my biggest question is will all zwave devices act like other native Insteon devices in my system?

I believe the answer to that question depends upon which ISY firmware version you are on. If 4.X, my experience is that zwave devices behave fine as scene responders, but cannot act as scene controllers. Perhaps this is device dependent...I have tried only two zwave devices in a controller mode. To trigger a scene via zwave device requires a program, and only then based upon status (versus control) of the device.

 

I understand that firmware 5.X improves upon this, but use of this firmware is not for the faint-of-heart or those who are easily frustrated. Version 5 is still in development mode.

Edited December 28, 20168 yr by oberkc

The ability of a Z-wave device to be a controller or trigger a program depends on the manufacturer of that device.

So I have ordered the ZWave board. Wiki seems to have a good tutorial. Is that tutorial still valid? Anything change?

I am in the same boat, having just installed the ZWave board. I would suggest that for every device you add, you explicitly disassociate the device from the any ZWave network before you add it. Sounds funny, but every device I tried adding did not register with the ISY controller until I did this.

That's true. It's always a good idea to exclude a Z-wave device before including it. Excluding it twice is even better.

So I have ordered the ZWave board. Wiki seems to have a good tutorial. Is that tutorial still valid? Anything change?

 

Besides the physical hardware install you still need to purchase the $1.00 Z-Wave activation module via the Admin Console.

So I just received the ZWave board. Is the antenna onboard or is it suppose to have an external one that I missed on the website?

The Z-Wave module includes an internal antenna. There is nothing that needs to be connected. The external antenna module is discontinued.

Thanks Stu!