You ever install a smart lock, only to find it randomly goes offline… even though your hub is right there? Yeah. We’ve been there too.
Turns out, most older Z-Wave locks (and many Wi-Fi ones) weren’t really built to handle signal loss through brick walls, steel doors, or long-distance garages.
But with Z-Wave LR (Long Range), the game’s finally changing.
Old Z-Wave range: ~30–100 meters, and often chokes on interference.
Z-Wave LR: Up to 1 mile range, and way stronger signal penetration through walls.
Our new Bolt Z-Wave Lock is built on the ZG28 platform with full LR capability. It’s already making a huge difference in reliability - especially for folks with detached garages, big properties, or signal dead zones.
So yeah, if your lock’s been ghosting you, it’s probably not your hub’s fault. It might just be time for a smarter radio.
yeah, if your lock’s been ghosting you, it’s probably not your hub’s fault.
Probably is your hub’s fault if it’s a SmartThings’ compatible hub.
Because while SmartThings originally started out with equal support for Z wave and Zigbee, over the last three years Samsung’s future public roadmap is only committed to Matter and Zigbee. The most recent SmartThings-branded hub, the station, didn’t even have a Z wave radio. And the smartthings-compatible hubs which do have a Z wave radio, like the V3 and the Aeotec, are fifth generation zwave. Z wave long range is not available until at least seventh generation.
So I’m not going to mark your post as offtopic, but it really belongs in forums for platforms which do support zwave long range, like Hubitat or Homey.
So please keep this in mind for future posts in this forum. We are always glad to have company representatives here and their information and calling out New features can be really helpful.
But there’s no point in calling out new features that can’t be supported in a SmartThings set up at this time.
Is absolutely untrue. Classic Z wave was one of the network protocols least subject to interference, mostly because it uses a frequency band which is not used by very much else. Indeed, z wave became so popular for fixed point devices like door locks and light switches precisely because it was unlikely to have interference issues. So during installation you didn’t have to go through the whole “try it 5 inches to the left“ stuff that you did with other protocols. (Former field tech here.)
So absolutely, let’s talk about what’s great about Zwave Long range, because there is a lot great about it, but the old generations are still very good for what they were.
Note that the official comparison page at the Z wave alliance does not mention anything about lessened interference. The big advantages are improved range and scalability.
Also, I would be remiss not to link to the community FAQ on the “dropout“ issue in older generation Z wave, which often isn’t a signal dropout issue at all. The FAQ explains what the issue is and how to address it.
