it claims to extend the range by 462FT, well that would never happen, but apparently it doesn’t even extend past 50FT…
I have an outbuilding about 100 FT away from the hub and I’m unable to get a signal out there, I tried external switches from GE, they were crap, so then I tried this little thing, when it pairs up to the hub it shows up as a RGBW light.
I am at wits end and getting tired of buying junk.
The extenders were useful with the first couple of generations of Z wave when some of the devices being made were not using the full power that the spec allowed.
Starting around the fourth generation of Zwave, the single use devices are no longer needed. (We’re now at the 5th generation, zwave plus.) pretty much any mains- powered device will also act as a repeater now, and almost all the devices run at full power for the spec, so the extender just doesn’t really do anything anymore that a plain pocket socket or Lightswitch wouldn’t do. And any zwave plus device will give you much longer range then the Z wave classic extender.
So there are some community members who bought the extender a couple of years ago when they had older equipment, but nowadays most people wouldn’t use it. The maximum value that it gives is just the maximum value for any Z wave classic repeating device, and that’s based on line of sight through clear dry air, you hardly ever reach that max.
As far as reaching the outbuilding, there’s a how to article in the community – created wiki that should be of interest: