FAQ: Installing new device. Include near hub or in final location?

Wiki FAQ
#1

I’ve been seeing conflicting information. I’ve read several places that you should install the device where it is going to end up and do the network inclusion there.
http://www.vesternet.com/resources/technology-indepth/understanding-z-wave-networks
Here is an example, scroll down towards bottom where it says “Challenges in Typical Network Configurations”
“During inclusion the dimmers and switches should be installed at their final location, to ensure that a correct list of neighbours will be recognised and reported. In case a device was included and moved afterwards to a new position, this particular device can only be controlled by the remote control if it is in direct range. Otherwise the communication will fail, because the routing table entry for this particular device is wrong and the remote control is not able to do a network scan at the moment of operation.”

Other sites say to include the device about 3’ from the hub, then move it to it’s final location.

So which is it, include in final location, or include close to hub then move?

#2

You can do it either way. :sunglasses:

If you do bench pairing (where you pair of the device very close to the hub and then move it to its final location) then after you get everything in their final locations you need to heal the network so all the address tables are up-to-date.

Some retailers will tell you to always pair with the device in its final location because they know the different customers will have different hubs and different software and they just don’t want to get into the customer support business of teaching people how to do a network heal when they just bought a $30 sensor.

controller manufacturers will often tell you to always do bench pairing because that’s the easiest in terms of secure devices and they can tell you exactly how to do the heal afterwards.

And, to be honest, a lot of general statements assume that you have Vera as the controller and Vera does an automatic heal every night anyway so they just figure everything will sort itself out.

But both methods work fine. Eventually. :wink:

#3

So if you bench install, you must do a Z-WAVE Network Repair after device is installed in final location?

#4

Its a bit complicated, but if you have any concerns, I generally recommend:

  1. Pair near the Hub
  2. Test to confirm it works
  3. Move to final location, run a network repair
  4. Test again to confirm still works
  5. Physically mount the device

I’ve definitely mounted sensors on the wall, only to find they were out of range.

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#5

Yes if it’s more than one hop away from the hub or if the device itself is a repeater .

If it’s A battery powered device within one hop of the hub, you don’t need a repair since it’s going to talk to the hub directly anyway.

But if the device itself is a repeater, you should definitely run the network repair even if it’s within one hop of the hub or other devices will not route it appropriately to pass messages.

#6

So does the ST hub do a repair/heal each night?

#7

No, you have to initiate it yourself each time. Separately for the Z wave network and the zigbee network.

To update the address tables for Z wave, use the Z wave repair utility:

https://support.smartthings.com/hc/en-us/articles/200981864-How-do-I-make-sure-my-Z-Wave-devices-are-routing-optimally-

To Update the address tables for zigbee, take the hub off of power, including removing any batteries, and leave it off for at least 20 minutes while leaving all of your other zigbee devices on power. This will cause the other devices to go into “panic mode” when they can’t find the hub. Then when the hub comes back online, the other devices will rebuild their neighbor tables.

You should always do this after adding a new device or physically relocating an existing device. Other than that, it’s up to you. I run it once a week, many people run it once a month, some people never run it unless they have a problem.

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