Instant Status Reporting

[asbril]

I have seen so many comments on which devices do or don't report instant status to the ISY that I am starting a new topic and hopefully getting some clarification.

 

Some commenters mention that status reporting only works if the device communicates directly to the ISY, without going through the mesh.

 

I am looking for a switch (on/off  as well as dimmer) that reports status to the ISY (without need for query).  Some time ago I tried a Cooper switch but that did not really do a good job at reporting the status and it has the strange quirk that the little sentinel light on the switch is On when the light is ON. This is annoying as it is useful for that little sentinel  light to be ON when switch is on OFF, so that you can find switch at night.

 

What do people recommend as the best Zwave switch with instant status reporting ?

 

Thanks for your feedback

[andyf0]

I have been using Jasco/GE ON/OFF switches for over a year now. They associate with the ISY and report status when the paddle is pressed. However, Jasco has now released a Z-Wave Plus version of the switch which I have on order from Amazon. I've told myself I will only buy Z-Wave Plus devices from now on.

 

Check them out here: http://www.ezzwave.com/z-wave-products/

[asbril]

I have been using Jasco/GE ON/OFF switches for over a year now. They associate with the ISY and report status when the paddle is pressed. However, Jasco has now released a Z-Wave Plus version of the switch which I have on order from Amazon. I've told myself I will only buy Z-Wave Plus devices from now on.

 

Check them out here: http://www.ezzwave.com/z-wave-products/

Thanks Andy. I have about 20 GE/Jasco switches and they do not have instant status reporting. Are you saying that the new Zwave Plus DO have status reporting ?

[vjk]

I have seen so many comments on which devices do or don't report instant status to the ISY that I am starting a new topic and hopefully getting some clarification.

 

Some commenters mention that status reporting only works if the device communicates directly to the ISY, without going through the mesh.

 

I am looking for a switch (on/off  as well as dimmer) that reports status to the ISY (without need for query).  Some time ago I tried a Cooper switch but that did not really do a good job at reporting the status and it has the strange quirk that the little sentinel light on the switch is On when the light is ON. This is annoying as it is useful for that little sentinel  light to be ON when switch is on OFF, so that you can find switch at night.

 

What do people recommend as the best Zwave switch with instant status reporting ?

 

Thanks for your feedback

 

There are roughly two kinds of zwave  status reporting: "real", i.e. a zwave device sends a network frame describing its status to the controller, and emulated where a device NIF (a brodcast frame) is heard by the controller and the controller subsequently polls the device to get the actual status.  The first one is fully routable and is implemented by associating a controller with the  device.  The second method is not routable by design and can be used only if the device is in the controller RF signal range.  That's how a GE device that do not have "real" instant status reporting can sometimes pretend it has.

 

Having said that, there appears to be no new zwave switches with "real" instant status on the market which is a bit surprising. Both the Cooper line and  Leviton Vizia RF+ devices are pretty long in the tooth. However, they used to be considered pretty reliable when reporting their instant status.  Since you had issues with a Cooper switch, you may try a  Leviton VRS15-1LZ with which I had good experience, i.e. status was reported in less than 100ms and with different controllers.  If it does not work for you, you can always return it  I imagine.

[vjk]

Thanks Andy. I have about 20 GE/Jasco switches and they do not have instant status reporting. Are you saying that the new Zwave Plus DO have status reporting ?

There are several zwave plus devices on the market, but I am not aware of any zwave plus switches having instant status capability. I doubt they exist.

[andyf0]

Thanks Andy. I have about 20 GE/Jasco switches and they do not have instant status reporting. Are you saying that the new Zwave Plus DO have status reporting ?

 

They work fine for me. When I press the top paddle the ISY gets an DON 100 and an DOF 0 when the bottom paddle is pressed. I have never understood all those folks who say this doesn't work. I haven't tried the Z-Wave Plus switches yet. Amazon has them 2 weeks out. Here's the node info for one of my Jasco switches.

Jasco.txt

[andyf0]

There are several zwave plus devices on the market, but I am not aware of any zwave plus switches having instant status capability. I doubt they exist.

 

Well that's not true. The Homeseer WS1000+ & WD1000+ switches are advertised as having instant status. They do other proprietary stuff though in support of the Homeseer controllers.

[asbril]

They work fine for me. When I press the top paddle the ISY gets an DON 100 and an DOF 0 when the bottom paddle is pressed. I have never understood all those folks who say this doesn't work. I haven't tried the Z-Wave Plus switches yet. Amazon has them 2 weeks out. Here's the node info for one of my Jasco switches.

Jasco.txt

Andy, I opened the Event Viewer and did some testing with two GE switches. It worked half of the time. Later today, I will do some more testing (when the family is awake.....).

[asbril]

Well that's not true. The Homeseer WS1000+ & WD1000+ switches are advertised as having instant status. They do other proprietary stuff though in support of the Homeseer controllers.

On Amazon this is what is says about Homeseer device Instant Status :

"........Supports instant status when controlled locally when used with HomeSeer systems..........."

Has anyone tried on ISY ?

[ldb]

I am using Leviton Vizia RF+ VRMX1-1LZ dimmers with success including status reporting.  My only complaint with them is not getting instant ON response when controlled by the ISY.  They do provide instant ON from manual operation if so programmed at the switch. 

[MWareman]

Well that's not true. The Homeseer WS1000+ & WD1000+ switches are advertised as having instant status. They do other proprietary stuff though in support of the Homeseer controllers.

I have one of the Homeseer devices, it works flawlessly with ISY, instant status and all.

The more advanced features are in the works (coming in v5), but the basic features work very well.

 

I cannot speak to 'needing the mesh'. All zwave devices need a strong mesh to begin with, so I'd start there anyway.

 

I also have a couple GE/Jasco switches. I've never got instant status out of those... It's why I've switched, so to speak....

[MWareman]

On Amazon this is what is says about Homeseer device Instant Status :

"........Supports instant status when controlled locally when used with HomeSeer systems..........."

Has anyone tried on ISY ?

Yes. Me. It works well.

 

Double and triple tap doesn't work yet. It's coming in ISY v5....

[asbril]

Yes. Me. It works well.

 

Double and triple tap doesn't work yet. It's coming in ISY v5....

Allright..... I just ordered one ON/OFF and one DIMMER Homeseer  Zwave plus switches.   They are available on Amazon as of Feb 2. To be followed.

If they work then I will gradually replace those of my existing switches that initiate a program (to direct other switches ON or OFF).

[mwester]

Alas, the homeseer z-wave switches are WHITE only...

 

Huge negative spousal-acceptance-factor there, sufficient to keep me looking for another solution for the switches that DO need instant status.

 

(and a comment on that -- I have a bunch of lights here that work find without instant status -- I think the Insteon 3-way mechanism has "trained" us all that we MUST have instant status.  However, the z-wave three-way solution uses the traveller wire, so for many cases the 10 second polling delay is quite acceptable.  Not ideal, but acceptable.  Especially given the noise sensitivity of the Insteon gear; one never really knows if the switch one has laboriously installed is actually going to talk with the ISY...)

[andyf0]

Andy, I opened the Event Viewer and did some testing with two GE switches. It worked half of the time. Later today, I will do some more testing (when the family is awake.....).

 

One thing I discovered with these switches, after months of trying to figure them out, you have to tap the paddle fairly quickly. If you press the paddle and hold it in for even a minuscule amount of time then the status is not transmitted. You could try that when doing your testing.

[andyf0]

I have one of the Homeseer devices, it works flawlessly with ISY, instant status and all.

The more advanced features are in the works (coming in v5), but the basic features work very well.

 

I cannot speak to 'needing the mesh'. All zwave devices need a strong mesh to begin with, so I'd start there anyway.

 

I also have a couple GE/Jasco switches. I've never got instant status out of those... It's why I've switched, so to speak....

I too have one of these switches. However, I have not obtained the flawless results you have.

 

I'll admit I believe the switch is in a sort of Z-Wave dead spot, I've surrounded it with repeaters, it has a Z-Wave repeating thermostat right next to it and yet I cannot get the primary node to reliably turn on/off when operating it via the paddle. Sometimes it will work fine but most times when I press the top paddle I get a DON from the scene 1 node, when I press the bottom paddle I get a DON from the scene 2 node, but the primary node stays off. For some reason without warning the primary node will turn on/off as expected for a couple of operations but then resume just activating the scene nodes.

 

So I'm trying a new Jasco Z-Wave Plus switch that doesn't have the proprietary double and triple tap features, when it arrives.

[vjk]

The Homeseer WS1000+ & WD1000+ switches are advertised as having instant status.

Well, yes and no.

 

The "real" instant status  notification is achieved by associating a target node (a controller) with the dimmer, for example. Also, a reporting zwave command is associated with the target node ( either SWITCH_BINARY_REPORT or SWITCH_MULTILEVEL_REPORT).  What's reported is an on/off state or a dimming level. So, a switch has to implement ASSOCIATION_COMMAND_CONFIGURATION and SWITCH_BINARY_REPORT or SWITCH_MULTILEVEL_REPORT in order to send an unsolicited status report.

 

The Homeseer WS1000+ & WD1000+ switches do implement ASSOCIATION_COMMAND_CONFIGURATION but they do not support SWITCH_BINARY_REPORT or SWITCH_MULTILEVEL_REPORT. Instead, they support CENTRAL_SCENE_NOTIFICATION.  The notification is similar to SWITCH_BINARY_REPORT or SWITCH_MULTILEVEL_REPORT, but not quite because it reports what button was pressed and how (double tap etc) rather than the actual device state. So, a dimmer level would not be available, I believe.