I have a Smartthings Hub V2 with a moderate number of hardware devices (30-40?) including mostly switches, outlets, locks etc.
Every time I add a new ZWave switch or outlet (various manufacturers, generally supported natively), I go through the same frustrating sequence. The hub fails to find the new device after I start the Add Device process in the Android App, scan the QR code, select the hub and room. I see the hub flashing green showing it’s in the right mode. No amount of waiting helps - 5 minutes, 2 hours. In some cases, the Android shows the process failing, sometimes not, but the device is not added.
At this point I have tried multiple fixes, one at a time. Retry the setup. Reboot the phone, move the hub within 2 feet of the device (with really long Ethernet cable), reboot the hub, reset the device. No go.
After hours of this, just as I am ready to angrily rip the device out of the wall and return it, it shows up in the app. I can never say for sure what causes it.
Is there a Best Practices for added ZWave devices. This drives me nuts every time.
When pairing new devices I keep them within inches (not feet) of the hub and then relocate them to where I need them. In the case of my GU10 downlights (Ikea Tradfri), I made a cable for this activity.
Even then, multiple attempts at pairing was often needed.
Soon after sending this message, I managed to get my current switch connected. This was one of a pair of UltraPro switches by purchased for the first time recently.
When I finally got the first one connected, it named itself “GE switch”. So I’m guessing it’s a rebranded GE switch. The second switch would not connect to my hub for love or money. So, instead I treated it like a GE switch in the add a device process. That worked instantly.
The designers of the independent third-party Z wave specifications understood that there might be times when you needed to add a device but you did not have the hub it was previously connected to. Maybe the hub itself died, maybe you bought the device used, maybe the device was paired to a test Network at the factory and the information didn’t get cleared before it shipped.
So any Z wave hub can broadcast a general zwave exclusion that will be heard by all Z wave devices nearby whether they were ever connected to that hub’s network or not. if you then put an individual device into exclusion mode, usually with a particular tap pattern, The device will then clear any old network information from its firmware, essentially doing a factory reset.
At that point it is ready to be added to the new network in the usual way.
