Aeotec Z-Wave Range Extender and Repeater

Generally I have a reliable system with some 120 devices, but occasionally devices that are the longest distance away from my controller fail or are very slow to respond. Given that most of the devices are easily within range of each other (no device is more then 15') would an Aeotec Z-Wave Range Extender and Repeater help? Does it actually increase signal strength allowing fewer jumps or is it just another device to fill in holes in the network?

Radjin~

[jay (support)]

The range of Z-Wave devices is generally the same (gen 5 devices are supposed to be stronger) - I don't believe the range extender does anything different than any other routing slave.

Having said that, it might be worth trying anyway. The slow response is likely because it requires multiple hops to get to the distant devices. You might do a resync of the devices in between the Z-Stick and the endpoints (moving from the Z-Stick outward) which may help fix any network routes that may be somewhat wonky.

I would also add that any battery powered devices are probably also not factoring into the coverage of that distance. I believe most (all?) battery powered devices are passive and not repeaters.

I would guess that the Z-wave poll interval also affects the network availability (speed) with your 120 endpoints.

Peter

The range of Z-Wave devices is generally the same (gen 5 devices are supposed to be stronger) - I don't believe the range extender does anything different than any other routing slave.

Having said that, it might be worth trying anyway. The slow response is likely because it requires multiple hops to get to the distant devices. You might do a resync of the devices in between the Z-Stick and the endpoints (moving from the Z-Stick outward) which may help fix any network routes that may be somewhat wonky.

I am currently in the process of re-syncing devices outward, but thanks for the suggestion. I read on their website that it not only repeats the command but amplifies. Just wanted to see if anyone found that to be true.

I would also add that any battery powered devices are probably also not factoring into the coverage of that distance. I believe most (all?) battery powered devices are passive and not repeaters.

I generally never use battery devices because of reliability but if I do I power them with a conductor and transformer, ( aron labs multi-sensor). Your right in that they are not repeaters and I use them only for information.

I would guess that the Z-wave poll interval also affects the network availability (speed) with your 120 endpoints.

Peter

Indeed. A few are set to poll every 30 min and one every 5. The rest are set to only poll when activated. Generally the system is pretty responsive, it's just the distant ones now and then. Usually even with as much as a minute lag they eventually respond.

The range of Z-Wave devices is generally the same (gen 5 devices are supposed to be stronger) - I don't believe the range extender does anything different than any other routing slave.

Having said that, it might be worth trying anyway. The slow response is likely because it requires multiple hops to get to the distant devices. You might do a resync of the devices in between the Z-Stick and the endpoints (moving from the Z-Stick outward) which may help fix any network routes that may be somewhat wonky.

While re-syncing devices I get an error on every device stating the device might be asleep, yet I can turn it on and off as well as get status instantly.

My apologies if this is the wrong place to post this question.

LOG:
May 20, 2015, 7:52:48 PM
Z-Wave sent "Light - Guest Room Cabinets" on
Z-Wave sent "Light - Guest Room Cabinets" off
Z-Wave Syncing - started for device "Light - Guest Room Cabinets"
Z-Wave Syncing - retrieved module neighbors list: 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 38, 46, 61, 62, 63, 68, 69, 76, 77, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 102, 104
Z-Wave Syncing - requesting neighbor list update of "086 - Light - Guest Room Cabinets"
Z-Wave Syncing - neighbor list update failed -- will try to update nearby neighbors first
Z-Wave Syncing - requesting neighbor list update of "003 - Printer - David's Office - 253"
Z-Wave Syncing - nearby neighbor list update failed (not critical, so ignoring)
Z-Wave Syncing - requesting neighbor list update of "004 - Light - David's office porch"
Z-Wave Syncing - nearby neighbor list update failed (not critical, so ignoring)
Z-Wave Syncing - requesting neighbor list update of "005 - Fan - David's Office"
Z-Wave Syncing - nearby neighbor list update failed (not critical, so ignoring)
Z-Wave Syncing - requesting neighbor list update of "006 - Light - David's Office Fan"
Z-Wave Syncing - nearby neighbor list update failed (not critical, so ignoring)
Z-Wave Syncing - requesting neighbor list update of "007 - Fan - Theater"
Z-Wave Syncing - nearby neighbor list update failed (not critical, so ignoring)
Z-Wave Syncing - requesting neighbor list update of "008 - Light - Theater Fan"
Z-Wave Syncing - nearby neighbor list update failed (not critical, so ignoring)
Z-Wave Syncing - requesting neighbor list update of "009 - Light - Theater"
Z-Wave Syncing - nearby neighbor list update failed (not critical, so ignoring)
Z-Wave Syncing - requesting neighbor list update of "010 - Light - Theater Screen"
Z-Wave Syncing - nearby neighbor list update failed (not critical, so ignoring)
Z-Wave Syncing - requesting neighbor list update of "011 - Light - Foyer"
Z-Wave Syncing - nearby neighbor list update failed (not critical, so ignoring)
Z-Wave Syncing - requesting neighbor list update of "012 - Light - Front Porch"
Z-Wave Syncing - nearby neighbor list update failed (not critical, so ignoring)
Z-Wave Syncing - requesting neighbor list update of "013 - Light - Stairs"
Z-Wave Syncing - nearby neighbor list update failed (not critical, so ignoring)
Z-Wave Syncing - requesting neighbor list update of "014 - Light - D/S Hall"
Z-Wave Syncing - nearby neighbor list update failed (not critical, so ignoring)
Z-Wave Syncing - requesting neighbor list update of "015 - Garbage Disposal"
Z-Wave Syncing - nearby neighbor list update failed (not critical, so ignoring)
Z-Wave Syncing - requesting neighbor list update of "038 - Light - Laundry"
Z-Wave Syncing - nearby neighbor list update failed (not critical, so ignoring)
Z-Wave Syncing - requesting neighbor list update of "046 - Light - D/S Closet"
Z-Wave Syncing - nearby neighbor list update failed (not critical, so ignoring)
Z-Wave Syncing - requesting neighbor list update of "061 - Light - Dinine room Chandlier"
Z-Wave Syncing - nearby neighbor list update failed (not critical, so ignoring)
Z-Wave Syncing - requesting neighbor list update of "062 - Light - Dining room"
Z-Wave Syncing - nearby neighbor list update failed (not critical, so ignoring)
Z-Wave Syncing - requesting neighbor list update of "063 - Lamp - Theater"
Z-Wave Syncing - nearby neighbor list update failed (not critical, so ignoring)
Z-Wave Syncing - requesting neighbor list update of "068 - Light - U/S Hall"
Z-Wave Syncing - nearby neighbor list update failed (not critical, so ignoring)
Z-Wave Syncing - requesting neighbor list update of "069 - Light - Master Bedroom"
Z-Wave Syncing - nearby neighbor list update failed (not critical, so ignoring)
Z-Wave Syncing - requesting neighbor list update of "076 - Light - Fan Master Bedroom"
Z-Wave Syncing - nearby neighbor list update failed (not critical, so ignoring)
Z-Wave Syncing - requesting neighbor list update of "077 - Fan - Master Bedroom"
Z-Wave Syncing - nearby neighbor list update failed (not critical, so ignoring)
Z-Wave Syncing - requesting neighbor list update of "079 - Light - Paul's Office Closet"
Z-Wave Syncing - nearby neighbor list update failed (not critical, so ignoring)
Z-Wave Syncing - requesting neighbor list update of "080 - Spare - Paul's Office"
Z-Wave Syncing - nearby neighbor list update failed (not critical, so ignoring)
Z-Wave Syncing - requesting neighbor list update of "081 - Light - Paul's Office"
Z-Wave Syncing - nearby neighbor list update failed (not critical, so ignoring)
Z-Wave Syncing - requesting neighbor list update of "082 - Light - Guest Bathroom"
Z-Wave Syncing - nearby neighbor list update failed (not critical, so ignoring)
Z-Wave Syncing - requesting neighbor list update of "083 - Vent Fan - Guest Bathroom"
Z-Wave Syncing - nearby neighbor list update failed (not critical, so ignoring)
Z-Wave Syncing - requesting neighbor list update of "084 - Light - Guest Room"
Z-Wave Syncing - nearby neighbor list update failed (not critical, so ignoring)
Z-Wave Syncing - requesting neighbor list update of "085 - Spare - Guest Room"
Z-Wave Syncing - nearby neighbor list update failed (not critical, so ignoring)
Z-Wave Syncing - requesting neighbor list update of "087 - Light - Guest Room Vanity"
Z-Wave Syncing - nearby neighbor list update failed (not critical, so ignoring)
Z-Wave Syncing - requesting neighbor list update of "088 - Light - Guest Room Desk"
Z-Wave Syncing - nearby neighbor list update failed (not critical, so ignoring)
Z-Wave Syncing - requesting neighbor list update of "089 - Lamp - Kevin's Room"
Z-Wave Syncing - nearby neighbor list update failed (not critical, so ignoring)
Z-Wave Syncing - requesting neighbor list update of "090 - Light - Kevin's Room"
Z-Wave Syncing - nearby neighbor list update failed (not critical, so ignoring)
Z-Wave Syncing - requesting neighbor list update of "091 - Spare - Kevin's Room"
Z-Wave Syncing - nearby neighbor list update failed (not critical, so ignoring)
Z-Wave Syncing - requesting neighbor list update of "102 - MultiSensor, Net Cabinet - (Motion)"
Z-Wave Syncing - nearby neighbor list update failed (not critical, so ignoring)
Z-Wave Syncing - requesting neighbor list update of "104 - MultiSensor, Laundry - (Motion)"
Z-Wave Syncing - nearby neighbor list update failed (not critical, so ignoring)
Z-Wave Syncing - requesting neighbor list update of "086 - Light - Guest Room Cabinets"
Z-Wave Error Syncing - neighbor list update failed
Z-Wave Syncing - assigning return route to "086 - Light - Guest Room Cabinets"
Z-Wave Syncing - assigned return route

May 20, 2015, 7:53:16 PM
Z-Wave Error Timeout waiting for "086 - Light - Guest Room Cabinets". Module might be asleep, or is unreachable.

[matt (support)]

Looks like the Z-Stick may have gotten into a bad state. Strange that Z-Wave communication to modules appears to be working, but the "update your neighbor list" commands are consistently failing.

Try unplugging it from the Mac for a few seconds. Does that help? Also try restarting the Indigo Server.

Looks like the Z-Stick may have gotten into a bad state. Strange that Z-Wave communication to modules appears to be working, but the "update your neighbor list" commands are consistently failing.

Try unplugging it from the Mac for a few seconds. Does that help? Also try restarting the Indigo Server.

Indeed you were correct. The server had rebooted and all was well. I will post a suggestion here if that is ok.

Suggest that Indigo auto-sync devices when errors occur. Syncing outwards from the server is a good idea as that seems to have significantly inproved response time, although the re-sync took hours to do.

Radjin~

I have three Aeotec repeaters. The Def and Sync completed normally for all three. Two show no light on the front and one shows a red light. All three say they have no neighbors when I look at settings. Any suggestion for how to get these working. They all have plenty of neighbors.

Trying this again. I was able to include the Aeotec 6 Extender, but it will not sync. I moved it to within a couple of feet of z-stick. Still won't sync. Error says Syncing - failed to assign return route. Any suggestions?

[matt (support)]

I don't believe it needs to be sync'd in Indigo, just getting it included in the Z-Stick should be sufficient. That said, it is odd it is failing there. Can you exclude it, re-include (without encryption), and re-sync it, then copy/paste the Event Log showing all 3 of those steps into a reply for me?

The neighbors list being empty may not be a problem – I believe this came up before and some repeaters never show neighbors.