FAQ: why would I need another beaming repeater if my zwave lock is already close to my hub?

Wiki FAQ
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Like others, I too could use some help. I have a Gen 2 Smartthings hub, and am trying to get my two Schlage Connect locks to work in a reliable way. I am using the RBoys device handler and LUM.

Summary

  • My original Hub position was about 15 feet from the first lock. Second lock is an additional 15 feet away. Both connect directly to Hub, despite many beaming repeaters (mostly all GE 14294s) in the area. Locks work intermittently, notifications sometimes are missing, and my programming of user codes is hit/miss.
  • I move Hub hub as far away as I can… three rooms away and about 55 feet from first lock. Several GE 14294 dimmers are within 5 feet of the lock (and more exist physically between there and the new Hub location). I delete locks and a few dimmers, re-pair them all (with lock being last), and then z-wave repair.
  • Some devices now show going thru one of the 14294 dimmers, but no matter how many times I repeat this sequence, the locks always show routing thru the hub. Now locks even less reliable (presumably because Hub connection is weaker?)

Any suggestions on what I can change, to get the locks to route via anything but the Hub? Am I doing the sequence wrong? Try different dimmer model? (these are z-wave-plus and show as beaming) Would V3 Smartthings Hub be of any help? Are these locks (despite expensive) just not that reliable?

Appreciate any ideas.

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I’m sure that’s very frustrating. :disappointed_relieved: however, there’s going to be quite a bit of discussion and trial and error that doesn’t really belong in this FAQ thread.

Could you please start a new thread for this and then we’ll see about getting some people to help you with it. I suggest titling it “trouble communicating with schlage Z wave locks“ in order to get the most helpful replies.

You can create the new topic in the following section of the forum:

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44

One of the key points to note in the 2nd post above is about Ghost devices in your mesh. These can, in some cases severely, disrupt communications, cause a slow down and negatively impact the reliability of the mesh. I would highly recommend start with removing ALL ghost devices in your mesh as described on this page. If you’re still having issues then as @JDRoberts suggested start a new topic and we can take the discussion over there:

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45

Hi everyone,
@RBoy, hope you’re still doing the great work of helping the community.

I use the Universal Enhanced Z-Wave/Plus Lock Device Handler for my Schlage Connect (probably not the newest, 4-year-old version).
I’ve updated most of my z-wave devices to Edge drivers, and now I’m facing problems with z-wave range, like half of the lock commands delayed or lost. Maybe the problem is not related to moving some devices to Edge, I’m not sure. There are 2 AC plugged devices nearby (a FortreZZ siren and an Aeotec micro dimmer), both on Edge drivers now, and when I open my lock in the Groovy interface, the Route shows to be through a device, that is far away from the lock.
Does the route in Groovy interface wrong, or does it really skip the Edge devices when creating the route?
Is there a way to see the real route of the devices?
I assume the FortreZZ siren and an Aeotec micro dimmer should play role of range extenders. Am I right, or do I need another range extender?

Thanks in advance for the help

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There’s an issue with the edge hub firmware. It doesn’t seem to work with FLiRS devices (battery operated devices which require beaming repeaters like locks and thermostats), there appears to be almost total one sided packet loss from the device initiated communication to the hub and limited loss in the reverse direction. Have reported it to SmartThings and awaiting their acknowledgement.
This isn’t happening with the groovy device handlers and only seems to be affecting edge drivers.

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@RBoy thanks for the reply. I really appreciate it.
Do you think I need to change the dimmer and/or the siren to groovy device handlers? Do you think it would help? I don’t see any real advantages of Edge rn, so rolling back isn’t a problem. Is it enough to just select the device type instead of “placeholder” in groovy, or should I exclude/include them again?

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Once a device shows “placeholder” in the IDE, you should no longer change the device type handler through the IDE or you can break communication with the device.

That’s because the IDE is part of the old groovy architecture and devices showing “placeholder” are using the new architecture.

So, yes, you have to remove the device from your account and re-add it to pick up the custom DTH.

Also note that once a device is using the new architecture, other information in the IDE, including the routing, may be incomplete or incorrect.

See the community FAQ:

FAQ: Why does the IDE list “placeholder” for my device? Can I change that?

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@rboy, did you get a reply from Smartthings about the package loss from FLiRS devices?

If I understand correctly, we’ll have to switch to the edge drivers in the coming months, so the groovy drivers are not a solution anymore.

Thank you again for your help.

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They’re looking into it but it may be an issue also with the default driver association groups for some devices. Specifically there are some changes required to the zwave lock driver for the FE599 lock that have been made but don’t know when it’ll hit production. I think there are more changes required which I’ve submitted to them for review.

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@RBoy
As we’ll have to eventually switch to Edge drivers, I decided to experiment and converted all 3 mentioned devices (Schlage Connect z-wave lock, the FortrezZ z-wave siren, and the Aeotec micro dimmer, positioned nearby) to Edge drivers. Now the lock commands seem to be working rather well. I mean, when operating the lock manually, the locked/unlocked state is always updated in the app in less than 10 seconds (previously it wasn’t updated at all in 50% of cases).
The biggest downside is that now it isn’t using your DTH, so I guess I can’t use the 2 apps I used before: “Lock User Management” and “Schlage Lock Alarm Mode and Sensitivity Change and Monitor”.

Probably this question was asked/answered million times, but I couldn’t find an up-to-date answer.

Is there a way to have the functionality of those apps using the edge drivers?

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@RBoy @maddie someone asked you a question.

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I’m also looking to get my Schlage FE599 to an edge driver, in hopes of getting it more responsive, but it keeps going back to the groovy handler after exclusion/inclusion cycle. I have no custom DTHs, and I’ve tried going through the pairing with the “Scan for nearby…” route as well as “Select from list…” by brand, selecting “Schlage Keypad Lever, Z-wave”

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Sorry for replying to this old thread but I have a zwave lock and I wanted to purchase your enhanced lock driver but I read that you recommended a zwave beaming repeater so I was planning to purchase a plug or something and put it right by the lock but then I read the post I just quoted from and you recommend having the hub at least 40 feet away and my issue is that I live in a 1 bedroom apartment and my hub is basically as central as I can get it as I’ve seen recommended but that puts my hub well under 20 feet from my lock with a direct line if site and the only way to move it further would be to put it in my bedroom that would have my hub be on the perimeter of my apartment and nowhere near centralized. Would you recommend doing this? I haven’t had any issues with lock that I’ve noticed but I do not typically check notifications for codes and stuff but I would really like to use your lock driver.

Sorry for the long message but speaking of your lock driver when I went to your website to try and purchase it, the website asked me for long in credentials but never gave me a way to create those log in credentials and maybe I missed but I also never found any instructions on what to do to purchase and install.

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You can still add a repeater in the room. Zwave is supposed form a mesh so the repeater should add a secondary route and should automatically reconfigure. It isn’t ideal in your situation but keeping the repeater closer to the lock than the hub should still help, finally do a zwave repair.

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I had other people basically tell me the same thing. But for now until I get the zwave repeater I went ahead and bought the license to the driver. Seems pretty great so far. Thanks!

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