DAlter01 Posted June 5, 2022 Posted June 5, 2022 I have roughly 25-30 Z-wave devices and several are having connection issues reported to the ISY994. In trying to figure out the comm issue, I think a point to start is an issue I have with 3 of my 4 Aeotec 7 repeaters. They appear to show a pending write update, though maybe I am misinterpreting the green indicator flag. I've tried update neighbors and write updates. Neither resolves what I believe is a pending write/update. The problem has existed for some time so the indicator flags are not going to self-heal. Does anyone have info on what the ISY is trying to tell me with this indicator flag on these devices and how I might resolve it? These three repeaters are not the devices experiencing the comms issues mentioned above, but these repeaters were installed strategically in order to resolve the comms issue. The comms issue persists, though seemingly to a lesser degree. I'm running 5.3.4 on my ISY994 for UI and Firmware.
Techman Posted June 5, 2022 Posted June 5, 2022 What Z-wave dongle do you have installed in your ISY, the 300 or 500 series?
DAlter01 Posted June 6, 2022 Author Posted June 6, 2022 8 hours ago, Techman said: What Z-wave dongle do you have installed in your ISY, the 300 or 500 series? 500
Techman Posted June 6, 2022 Posted June 6, 2022 You should have at least one repeater within about 20 feet of your ISY. Keep in mind that these are RF only devices and should be installed in an open area with little obstruction and as high up as possible to insure good RF signal coverage. The green 1011 indicates that there are pending writes to that device so it's possible that your Z-wave mesh network has some weak coverage areas. 1
DAlter01 Posted June 6, 2022 Author Posted June 6, 2022 7 minutes ago, Techman said: You should have at least one repeater within about 20 feet of your ISY. Keep in mind that these are RF only devices and should be installed in an open area with little obstruction and as high up as possible to insure good RF signal coverage. The green 1011 indicates that there are pending writes to that device so it's possible that your Z-wave mesh network has some weak coverage areas. Thank you. I have a repeater 18 inches away from the ISY. And, I have a fairly well developed mesh. I just counted, I have 31 wired devices (along with over 150 Insteon ones). Three Z-wave devices are having intermitant comm issues and then I have these three repeaters with the green indicators which are located less than 10' from fully functional in-box devices (plastic boxes). The three devices with intermitant comm issues are all less than 15' from at least two other fully functional devices. I can't understand how I have weak coverage, but the proof is in the pudding, it seems. Thank you for confirming the green 1011 means a pending write. I figured that was the case but wasn't 100% sure. With that confirmed, I can focus on how to solve. I guess I'll pick up a few more repeaters and see if I can figure out where my bad spot(s) are. One of the repeaters that has the green 1011 is 18" away from the ISY and it's dongle. Something in the back of my mind is telling me my dongle is having trouble talking to the Aeotec repeater 7. That repeater should not have difficulty receiving anything from the dongle.
DAlter01 Posted June 6, 2022 Author Posted June 6, 2022 1 hour ago, Techman said: You should have at least one repeater within about 20 feet of your ISY. Keep in mind that these are RF only devices and should be installed in an open area with little obstruction and as high up as possible to insure good RF signal coverage. The green 1011 indicates that there are pending writes to that device so it's possible that your Z-wave mesh network has some weak coverage areas. So, it seems I got those repeaters working, hopefully. I excluded them, factory reset, and then included them. They don't show a pending write anymore. Hopefully, that holds true over the next 48 hours or so. I thought I had done that previously but realized I had only done that to the three devices that are having comms issues.
Techman Posted June 6, 2022 Posted June 6, 2022 (edited) The Aeotec repeater 7 is a repeater/signal amplifier and shouldn't be having issues, especially the one closest to your ISY. Try excluding it from the ISY then Include it to see if the 1011 gets resolved. Keep in mind that the repeaters will be constrained by the older Z-wave devices in your network (the 300 and 500 series) so you won't be taking full advantage of the 700 series capabilities. The Polisy uses the 700 series Z-wave, you might want to consider upgrading to a Polisy later this year once their new 700 Z-wave/Matter board is available Update: looks like our posts just crossed. Glad to hear you're up and running again. Edited June 6, 2022 by Techman 1
DAlter01 Posted June 6, 2022 Author Posted June 6, 2022 14 minutes ago, Techman said: The Aeotec repeater 7 is a repeater/signal amplifier and shouldn't be having issues, especially the one closest to your ISY. Try excluding it from the ISY then Include it to see if the 1011 gets resolved. Keep in mind that the repeaters will be constrained by the older Z-wave devices in your network (the 300 and 500 series) so you won't be taking full advantage of the 700 series capabilities. The Polisy uses the 700 series Z-wave, you might want to consider upgrading to a Polisy later this year once their new 700 Z-wave/Matter board is available Update: looks like our posts just crossed. Glad to hear you're up and running again. Thank you for your help @Techman I do intend to upgrade to Polisy soon. I picked up a USB PLM last year when they were still available directly from Smarthome. After that conversion I'll have a couple of high priced serial PLM's to sell on Ebay, amazing prices. FYI, on one of the Aeotec 7 repeaters, I couldn't get it to exclude until I plugged it in 18" from the ISY. It wouldn't exclude 10' away either. The others I was able to exclude/include from their installed locations. That one was acting a little different from the others so maybe it is a little suspect.
DAlter01 Posted June 6, 2022 Author Posted June 6, 2022 1 hour ago, Techman said: The Aeotec repeater 7 is a repeater/signal amplifier and shouldn't be having issues, especially the one closest to your ISY. Try excluding it from the ISY then Include it to see if the 1011 gets resolved. Keep in mind that the repeaters will be constrained by the older Z-wave devices in your network (the 300 and 500 series) so you won't be taking full advantage of the 700 series capabilities. The Polisy uses the 700 series Z-wave, you might want to consider upgrading to a Polisy later this year once their new 700 Z-wave/Matter board is available Update: looks like our posts just crossed. Glad to hear you're up and running again. Upon closing the UI and re-launching it, those three Aeotec 7 repeaters are giving me the write pending indicator again. I do know that these three Aeotec 7's are early releases. The fourth one, that is working correctly, is only about 2 months old and was labeled as v2 when I purchased it. Since the three wiht a problem were purchased when this repeater was first released I believe the three with the write pending issue are v1. I'll reach out to Aeotech to see if they can shed some light on the issue.
DAlter01 Posted June 6, 2022 Author Posted June 6, 2022 8 hours ago, DAlter01 said: Upon closing the UI and re-launching it, those three Aeotec 7 repeaters are giving me the write pending indicator again. I do know that these three Aeotec 7's are early releases. The fourth one, that is working correctly, is only about 2 months old and was labeled as v2 when I purchased it. Since the three wiht a problem were purchased when this repeater was first released I believe the three with the write pending issue are v1. I'll reach out to Aeotech to see if they can shed some light on the issue. Aeotech got back to me. There isn't a v2. That was something erroneously labeled by a retailer. However, there is updated firmware to v1.05 that resolves a lot of "issues". I think I am experiencing on of the "issues". I gather my new (fourth) one has v1.05 firmware and the three with an issue are an earlier firmware. Since the ISY994 and Polisy do not currently support Z-wave device firmware update, I guess my options are 1) purchase new repeaters 2) wait until Polisy is released with its new Z-wave imbedded controller 3) purchase an inexpensive Z-wave hub that will allow updating the device firmware and go through that bit of brain damage. 1
lilyoyo1 Posted June 6, 2022 Posted June 6, 2022 12 hours ago, DAlter01 said: Thank you. I have a repeater 18 inches away from the ISY. And, I have a fairly well developed mesh. I just counted, I have 31 wired devices (along with over 150 Insteon ones). Three Z-wave devices are having intermitant comm issues and then I have these three repeaters with the green indicators which are located less than 10' from fully functional in-box devices (plastic boxes). The three devices with intermitant comm issues are all less than 15' from at least two other fully functional devices. I can't understand how I have weak coverage, but the proof is in the pudding, it seems. Thank you for confirming the green 1011 means a pending write. I figured that was the case but wasn't 100% sure. With that confirmed, I can focus on how to solve. I guess I'll pick up a few more repeaters and see if I can figure out where my bad spot(s) are. One of the repeaters that has the green 1011 is 18" away from the ISY and it's dongle. Something in the back of my mind is telling me my dongle is having trouble talking to the Aeotec repeater 7. That repeater should not have difficulty receiving anything from the dongle. Keep in mind that having a repeater too close is just as bad as having one too far. There's a chance it may not even be used for repeating. If it is, you can also potentially be wasting a hop. For example, one of my outlets is a couple of feet from my controller. It's not a repeater to any of my devices. It's not a problem since it was out there for other purposes but just using that to show being close isn't a catch all 1
lilyoyo1 Posted June 6, 2022 Posted June 6, 2022 (edited) 3 hours ago, DAlter01 said: Aeotech got back to me. There isn't a v2. That was something erroneously labeled by a retailer. However, there is updated firmware to v1.05 that resolves a lot of "issues". I think I am experiencing on of the "issues". I gather my new (fourth) one has v1.05 firmware and the three with an issue are an earlier firmware. Since the ISY994 and Polisy do not currently support Z-wave device firmware update, I guess my options are 1) purchase new repeaters 2) wait until Polisy is released with its new Z-wave imbedded controller 3) purchase an inexpensive Z-wave hub that will allow updating the device firmware and go through that bit of brain damage. You can purchase a zooz zwave stick and use that along with the simplicity studio PC controller software to update your devices. Buy the zooz USB stick from UDI since they said those who purchase it from them will get a full credit towards their new board. That way, once you buy your polisy, you'll already be ready with your other pieces Edited June 6, 2022 by lilyoyo1 1
DAlter01 Posted June 6, 2022 Author Posted June 6, 2022 1 hour ago, lilyoyo1 said: You can purchase a zooz zwave stick and use that along with the simplicity studio PC controller software to update your devices. By the zooz USB stick from UDI since they said those who purchase it from them will get a full credit towards their new board. That way, once you buy your polisy, you'll already be ready with your other pieces Excellent, I'll do it today. Thank you!!
DAlter01 Posted June 6, 2022 Author Posted June 6, 2022 1 hour ago, lilyoyo1 said: Keep in mind that having a repeater too close is just as bad as having one too far. There's a chance it may not even be used for repeating. If it is, you can also potentially be wasting a hop. For example, one of my outlets is a couple of feet from my controller. It's not a repeater to any of my devices. It's not a problem since it was out there for other purposes but just using that to show being close isn't a catch all I'd read somewhere from someone (you know how reliable that is) that onboard transmitters are typically weak so it is good to have a repeating device within a few feet of z-wave hub. I'll wash that memory from my head and move that first repeater out a ways. Thanks!
MrBill Posted June 6, 2022 Posted June 6, 2022 5 minutes ago, DAlter01 said: I'd read somewhere from someone (you know how reliable that is) that onboard transmitters are typically weak so it is good to have a repeating device within a few feet of z-wave hub. I'll wash that memory from my head and move that first repeater out a ways. Thanks! That's correct. The devil in the details is the definition of "close". 18" might be too close... i.e. over modulation... the human analogy is that when a sound is over amplified we can't hear it correctly because it's too loud. On the other hand it's a known fact the 500 series has a weak transmitter.
lilyoyo1 Posted June 6, 2022 Posted June 6, 2022 25 minutes ago, DAlter01 said: I'd read somewhere from someone (you know how reliable that is) that onboard transmitters are typically weak so it is good to have a repeating device within a few feet of z-wave hub. I'll wash that memory from my head and move that first repeater out a ways. Thanks! It's sound advice but 18" may be a bit much. Even with wifi routers, they say your device shouldn't be too close. @MrBillresponse hit the head squarely on the nail
Techman Posted June 6, 2022 Posted June 6, 2022 @DAlter01 Have you tried removing power from the ISY then power up again to see if the problem clears up? It's strange that the devices seem to work until you reopen the admin console. Aeotec has the Z-stick which I used for updating my Aeotec devices. Here's the link: Z-Stick Gen5+ – Aeotec 1
DAlter01 Posted June 6, 2022 Author Posted June 6, 2022 1 hour ago, Techman said: @DAlter01 Have you tried removing power from the ISY then power up again to see if the problem clears up? It's strange that the devices seem to work until you reopen the admin console. Aeotec has the Z-stick which I used for updating my Aeotec devices. Here's the link: Z-Stick Gen5+ – Aeotec Well there you go. The good old power cycle. Guess what, it worked. All those times I told my wife, have you power cycled it? And, I didn't follow my own advice. I guess I have to be a little more understanding with her from now on given I failed to follow my own advice. I did power cycle the ISY and it appears to have resolved the issue with those repeaters. I've closed and relaunched the UI several times and the issue has not returned. So, maybe it is behind me. Though, I have ordered a USB stick and will update the firmware anyway. Thank you 1
Techman Posted June 6, 2022 Posted June 6, 2022 Glad to hear it appears to be resolved. When you update the repeaters, start with the one closest to the ISY and then work out from there.
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