FAQ: Is there a way to see the Zwave mesh network map?

[JDRoberts]

@TekniskSupport

I wrote a little script that extracts the route from the smartthings IDE and visualizes the pathways

Nice!

One note that will be important for some people with larger networks:

What you have is a ‘network map” for zigbee, where every device has a single parent.

For zwave, it’s a “route record” of one possible path, but does not show all potential routes. This distinction will only affect people with multiple repeaters available.

This is why zwave utilities usually present a “network table,” not a fixed route like zigbee provides. Here’s a typical one. The blue squares indicate hops where communication is possible between two devices.

See, for example, the reports from the Zwave Toolbox:

ZWAVE TOOLBOX: third party diagnostic tool

However, I don’t believe smartthings provides us with enough information to build this table for our own accounts without using a third party device like the toolbox.

So your project is very interesting, and will be particularly helpful for Zigbee. People using it for Z wave should be aware that it’s only part of the picture.