I was looking to get a buffering device to use with RBoy Apps and also get my kitchen lights on a smart switch. For some reason rather than use the recommended one of the recommended links (Enbrighten 46201 Repeater/Range Extender switch I went with this one Enbrighten 47336 Repeater/Range Extender switch. I think the fact that the FAQ post being from 2018 made me look for a newer device.
Will the 47336 work correctly as a buffering device? Right now my Hub is still connected directly to my Yale lock even though I’ve moved it further away into garage and did a Zwave repair.
I’m wondering if there isn’t enough square footage in my house to force the connection through the buffering switch. Right now the Yale Lock and the Enbrighten switch are almost line of sight, about 18’ apart. The hub (in the garage) is only another 18’ feet past the Enbrighten switch, albeit through a brick wall. The hub is about the full 36’ from the Yale Lock. I can probably move the hub another 15’ further, to the far, back corner of the garage I’d just have to run a network cable there.
How often will the network repair itself? On restarts? Can I move the hub far away temporarily, Zwave repair the network so it links through the buffering switch and then move it back closer in the garage? Will that link last? (Obviously if it’s going to rescan/repair the network on restarts/power failures, it’s not a convenient long term solution)
When you say “buffering device“ do you just mean a zwave repeater so that you can reach Devices farther away from the hub? “Buffering“ isn’t really a term that is used in the Z wave specifications, but there are some blog writers who will describe a “beaming“ Z wave device as a “buffering“ device because it will hold the messages for a nearby Z wave lock. It’s not really buffering, though, it’s more like an answering service.
Anyway, I guess the question is are you specifically looking for devices that will help with nearby door locks? Or are you just looking for ways to expand the coverage of your Z wave network?
And in future, just to avoid confusion, it might be better to just say “repeating“ or “beaming“ rather than “buffering.“ Otherwise you’re going to get network engineers like me come in and give you the same three paragraphs over again. LOL!
Anyway, back to your question.
Both of those support beaming, so you’re fine from a repeating standpoint. The one that says “quick fit“ is a slightly newer model with some easier wiring options.
However, both of those are older technology, and if I were buying a new Enbrighten switch today, I would buy the 43072, which is the newest model and includes “S2 security.“ S2 is a big deal and the current standard, and it will help going forward if any new devices that you buy include that feature.
Do you have any existing Z wave switches? If so, that might make a difference in what you select.
The main thing to know about zwave repeating is that in general, most battery operated devices don’t repeat and most mains powered devices do. And while you used to have to search around to find ones that could do beaming, at this point pretty much all of the Mains powered Z wave devices released since 2019 do support beaming, so they will help with the locks.
There are two answers on this, and it’s going to be confusing. One is “all the time“ and the other is “never, unless you ask it to.” Because a new zwave feature was added a couple of years ago called “Explorer frames“ and devices which have those will slowly update their network tables over time. Devices which don’t have those, that is the older devices, won’t update the network tables at all unless you run a specific utility, a “ z wave repair.“
But in any case, it doesn’t happen just because of a power outage or a restart.
But it’s also not something you have to worry about unless things aren’t working well, and then you will run the Z wave repair utility to figure out what’s going on.
As far as your lock… You really need to have a beaming repeater within about 15 feet of the lock. That’s because of that “answering service” feature I mentioned, “beaming.”
Everybody wants the batteries in locks to last as long as possible. At the same time, everybody wants a lock to be instantly responsive when somebody arrives so they aren’t standing outside waiting for the lock to function.
The Z wave solution to this was “beaming.“ A nearby mains-powered repeater that supports beaming can hold messages for the lock while the lock sleeps, in order to conserve battery life. Then when the lock wakes up, it just checks with the “answering service“ to see if it has any messages waiting. If it does, it acts on them. If not, the lock just goes back to sleep.
But nearby really does mean nearby. More than about 15 feet and the repeater will no longer act as an answering service for the lock. It’s just the way the protocol is structured.
One more thing… The route you see in the IDE is just one particular route that was reported to the cloud. It’s not necessarily the most recent route and certainly not necessarily the most frequently used route.
On top of that, the whole answering service thing is separate from routing, so you wouldn’t necessarily see the beaming device in the route anyway.
Basically as long as you installed a beaming repeater pretty close to the lock and you ran a zwave repair after you installed it to force the lock to recognize that it’s there, you shouldn’t have to worry about the beaming process anymore. It will just happen automatically.
Since you already have the 47336, and you did run a zwave repair, as long as it’s in within about 15 feet of the lock (sorry, I wasn’t quite clear from your description), everything should be fine. Just if you’re going to buy more switches in the future, I would look for S2 security as well.
And you’re quite right that if the device can reach the hub directly, it will, which is actually a good thing. But that doesn’t change the beaming aspect, which is a second helpful feature.
And thank you for the tip on the new switch! That’s what I was worried about reading a post from 2018…It’d be nice to edit that more current recommendation in there. I didn’t like the click function on the switch anyway (I know it’s not going to feel like a dumb switch, but this GE switch feel like it sticks rather than bouncing back like my other smart switches.).
The only Zwave devices I have are the Yale Lock (Zwave plus) and this new switch.
Damn, that’s super close. The switch is a full 18’ from the lock. I guess I should find another device to use as a beaming repeater… I thought the kitchen switch was a good workaround but I really wanted Hue bulbs in there eventually anyway :/… Looks like I had to run a neutral for nothing lol
Ok, very good to know.
That’s pretty dope.
Thank you for the very informative write up! I’m sure I’ll be going back to it for more information the future.
The lock works, but I’m having trouble getting LUM automations to function as I would have hoped. After some fiddling I got the lights turn on when the Keypad Unlocks…but it only worked after I keypad locked the lock, when I manually locked the lock and then unlocked via the keypad the lights didn’t turn on. Additionally, when I lock via the keypad the lights don’t turn off.
I’m thinking this could all be issues related to the beaming device (or lack there of)?
Maybe. But on a closer reading I’m not sure. Beaming only affects messages coming into the lock, it doesn’t have anything to do with messages going out from it.
I’d add a nearby beaming repeater just to be sure, but after that I would get in touch with Rboy support and they should be able to help you with further troubleshooting.
One is “all the time“ and the other is “never, unless you ask it to.” Because a new zwave feature was added a couple of years ago called “Explorer frames“ and devices which have those will slowly update their network tables over time. Devices which don’t have those, that is the older devices, won’t update the network tables at all unless you run a specific utility, a “ z wave repair.“