Adding z-wave devices out of range?

Devices & Integrations
1

I’m making the transition over to SmartThings from a Vera lite. With the vera I was able add devices that would normally be out of range of the hub by utilizing the built in batteries. Does the SmartThings hub have a similar feature? If not, how would I go about adding the z-wave switches that would normally be out of range for the hub?

2

Yeah, I’ve been there :frowning: That’s one of my biggest gripes with ST. The batteries would not help in this case because the hub needs to be connected to Internet, but WiFi would certainly make it easier. I had to use a 100-feet long ethernet cable to drag the hub around the house. It wan’t fun at all. :frowning:

3

Unless you are adding a really old z-wave device, it shouldn’t matter if it is range of the hub as long as it is in range of z-wave mesh network.

SmartThings does the equivalent of Vera’s “full power inclusion” (what you are describing is Vera’s “low power inclusion”). I never disconnected my Vera to add in items. Here is the documentation from Vera:

http://docs5.mios.com/doc.php?page=full_power_inclusion&language=1&manual=1&platform=3Lite&go=GO

4

I should also add another exception: locks. These are normally battery powered and should be paired close to the hub for the security/encryption settings to take hold.

5

In theory… maybe. In practice, I had to bring the hub within a couple of feet to include most door/window sensors. And those were fairly new.

6

I managed to add them all without moving the hub around. I put it a little more centrally located than my vera was and it seemed to reach all the switches just fine.

7

I recommend pairing where the device is to be located. If it can’t pair from there, then there is an issue with your mesh. You either need to repair it or add a repeater.

The couple of times when I moved the device closer to pair only caused me frustration later with slow or intermittent response.

Of course there are cases where a device is already paired and must be excluded first, etc.

8

I’ve had a few instances where I needed to move my hub closer to pair a few devices that were relatively far and obstructed from the hub. They’ve always worked beautifully after I’ve returned the hub to “default” position later.

I know initially SmartThings recommended pairing the device within 15 feet of the hub. Not sure if that’s still standard procedure as this was over a year ago when they recommended this to me.

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