I have 5 around the house, about to get 4 more. Haven’t had any issues, it’s probably because Z-Wave devices act as repeaters.
Oh, which reminds me, the 9500s don’t function as repeaters.
Correct, battery operated devices don’t normally work as repeaters. As long as as what you have is working for you, that’s what’s important. 
Anyway, I guess I should ask. I haven’t purchased anything yet, I’d prefer to stick with the Aspire product line.
Will the RF9542 (or RF9500, for the heck of it) be able to operate Sylvania Lightify smartbulbs via ST hub? And by that, I’m just looking for the switch to handle on/off/bright/dim.
Should I look at a different smartbulb that’s a little more Z-wave friendly?
Honestly, I’d prefer a system that can handle basic functions using the switch, regardless of if the ST hub is online. I really just want the ST hub to handle more advanced features, like scenes, timers, color changing, voice control etc.
Yes, see the threads linked to above.
Should I look at a different smartbulb that’s a little more Z-wave friendly?
You certainly can if you want, although I don’t believe there any zwave BR 30s that have RGBW, though. GoControl has a dimmable white zwave BR 30.
https://www.amazon.com/GoControl-LBR30Z-Z-Wave-Flood-Light/dp/B014D992WK/
They also have a retrofit can kit, but again, white only.
https://www.amazon.com/GoControl-LB65R6Z-1-Z-Wave-Recessed-Retrofit/dp/B014STZO9K/
That point, you might as well just get dumb bulbs with a Z wave wall switch unless you’re trying to create multiple zones in an area that only has one switch.
Honestly, I’d prefer a system that can handle basic functions using the switch, regardless of if the ST hub is online. I really just want the ST hub to handle more advanced features, like scenes, timers, color changing, voice control
The only thing you need smart bulbs for in that scenario is color. If you’re willing to give up color, you can just use a zwave switch. If you need color, it gets much more complicated.
Another alternative would be dumb white bulbs with a Z wave switch and then a separate set up with color changing LED strips. That’s a popular mood lighting option.
With the LED strip options, you don’t use a wall switch to control the strips, but there’s no problem with SmartThings isn’t available, you just use the wall switch with the main white lights.
I believe that would work. It would not be a z-wave scene. However, using an app (webCore for sure) you can turn whatever you want on and off with the buttons via ST. Dimming up and down would not work via ST, but to have 5 selected levels would. No need to have an off button. Pressing any button that is on would turn it off, as well as the all off button.
The Core logic would have to account for the fact that more than one button at a time can be on.
I will be adding functionality for ST to turn indicators on/off. I think that could be useful here.
You can use a Lutron Pico remote to control smart bulbs using the Enhanced button controller app. It’s not exactly true dimming yet, since I’m just calling a Lifx scene to use pre-set dimming levels - either 100/70/50/30 percent using the remote. I also have the Pico middle button doing random color so I can change the light colors via a button.
The Pico remote option involves setting up a small raspberry or similar and using the pro caseta hub, so it’s not the cheapest solution. There is a community project to expose the Pico as a smartthings device directly. I chose this so it would match all of the other switches in the house.
I’ve also heard people using the Logitech Pop buttons to control LIFX lights, so I imagine it would work for other devices. Lutron also makes a dedicated connected bulb remote (zigbee only I think) that will control GE LInk bulbs and a few others.
After sleeping on it, I’m going to stick with my plan to use the Lightify bulbs with the RF9542-Z via ST.
I prefer the versatility of the smartbulbs, especially because I want to eventually put lighting all around the house. I won’t have to hard-wire lighting zones, I can let ST and Alexa handle the zones.
Because the 9542-Z is a Z-wave dimmer, what exactly happens when I push the dim or brighten buttons?
you fry your smart bulbs
He should be OK, the 9542-Z is an accessory switch, not intended to control the load. His planned set up is the 9542 switch talks to the hub, the hub talks to the bulbs.
As far as what happens, I’m tired this morning so I’m not going to go into a lot of details, but the 9542 is a “multi level switch” Z wave devices. Which means it sends the target dim level in the Z wave command. It’s a digital dimmer.
Hopefully someone who actually has these devices installed can say more.
ah, i see (10 char)
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