ST Hub/devices all work, then drop off one by one

Good morning!

Have tried migrating to ST from Iris. Pretty basic list of devices - three Kwikset 910 locks, two RC thermostats (the Iris ones now ST supported), a leak sensor, couple door sensors and a few GE outlets.

I have set the system up twice and get everything running perfectly for several hours.

Then, starting with two of the locks, one by one things drop off the network. Now the only devices left are the hub itself, the one ST door sensor I purchased and paired and my Ring doorbell (not really a device).

Support suggested a bad hub and I have a replacement I’m going to install but really don’t think that’s the issue.

I have noticed that two of the locks are suffering battery drain since connecting to the ST hub and I get a feeling the Zwave radio is being run constantly vs. waking on activity.

Any thoughts from the community?

Thank you!

When you say drop off - do you mean the devices disappear from the ST app or they are still in the app but stop responding?

Still in the app, showing as “disconnected” - i.e. not responding.

Unfortunately this is normal behavior until ST resolves it. It’s happening a lot and to almost everyone who uses the new Connect app (at least my assumption). There are many discussions about that in the community.

I’m assuming you’re using the new Connect app? If so, try using the SmartThings Classic app and check to see if your devices look ok in that version of the app.

Happens in both Classic and the new app.

I set up my v3 hub with the new app and then paired all my devices in classic.

Still the “common” problem?

If so I’m chucking this thing back to Amazon.

Anyone have another solution? lol

Ok, thanks for the quick reply. In the Classic app, do you have Device Health enabled? If so, disable it in Classic. It won;t help you much in the new app, but yes, the new app has sync issues with devices right now. ST knows about it, and is working on it. For the time being, I’m staying on Classic (for that reason, and many others :wink: ).

So turning off device health actually made them all appear as “active” again in Classic but doesn’t seem like anything is actually working.

It will toggle but then resets and I am checking on my cameras to see the lights haven’t actually gone on.

Rebooted hub from IDE and rebuilt Zwave (still had errors of route fails or unable to update mesh) and they all appear disconnected in the new app.

Guess I’m SOL like everyone else, apparently?

Nope, something else is going on though. What DTH are those outlets using? Try using the DTH called Z-Wave Switch Generic if it isn’t already.

What other devices are you trying to control that aren’t working?

IT could be something really simple that ST support can help with, but we can at least triage some stuff.

This can be indicative of a bad device, chatty device, or a device not properly configured when it joined, but that’s fixable too.

Support was no help. They recommended I replace the hub (I am going to try this on Saturday).

Here’s everything on the system. Again, pretty basic.

The outlets I believe are GE branded and htis is how they paired. The Termostats are technically CT101’s, not 100’s, regardless they are natively supported (confirmed when it was working including current state of unit, etc.)

Thank you VERY much for your help; this system is at a vacation home and not having a working automation system is distressing to me!

After this occurred with the original install, I performed a factory re-set and repaired each device. Had a minor issue with one lock, repaired that and things were well for ~1 day. Then everything disconnected again.

FWIW there are no new devices (other than a range extender) on this network from when it was run by Iris. Never had a zwave connectivity issue, ever.

No worries!

So looking at your devices, I see just 1 Zigbee device (the SmartSense Sensor). Is that reporting ok, like temperature?

The Ring is a cloud-to-cloud integrated solution, so let’s hold off on that for a bit. You should be able to get a live feed, and/or or motion/ring events if you’ve turned that on.

You may not need the range extender because your other mains powered zwave devices should be doing that for you. Now depending upon the home’s layout and where those other mains powered zwave devices are located, you still may want it.

I’ve got a few questions for you.

Is this a single story home?
Is the ST hub in the same general location to where you had your Iris hub?
What was the purpose of the extender for ST if things were OK with Iris?

I’d almost would like to see the extended removed, and then run several zwave repairs until routes clean up.

Zigbee is reporting correctly and yes, that is the only Zigbee device. I intended to replace all my door sensors with them but the size and my moldings didn’t allow me to install 2. The old Iris ones refuse to pair.

Agree on Ring - not part of this discussion

Is this a single story home?

2 stories.

Is the ST hub in the same general location to where you had your Iris hub?

Exact same location.

What was the purpose of the extender for ST if things were OK with Iris?

I was concerned about the initial pairing with devices devices that are upstairs. One thermostat and one switch is upstairs (though there are more I can attempt to connect to help repeating). Bought it to cover myself, so to speak.

Everything upstairs paired fine and was fully functional for a while.

I am not at the house now but can I remove the extender via the classic app, without excluding, and still be able to properly rebuild the network?

Technically yes via a force delete, but you’ll have a ghost device more than likely; and the extender will still keep trying to send messages to the hub.

In my opinion, I’d properly exclude it so that there’s no unwanted “noise” while trying to figure this out. I know that means getting to the house, which can be a pita when it’s far away.

You could give it a shot like you mentioned, but it could cause you more work in the end.

As much as I’d like to resolve this remotely, I think you are 100% correct. I’ll head down this weekend and fiddle. My Ring PoE adapter is being delivered so I’ll install the stick-up cam to replace my indoor Iris.

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Keep us posted!

i have had the same issue. Things seem much better with the new app though. But it is annoying. I called customer service and no one has yet to call me back after they said they would escalate.

How did you reconnect your devices? Re-pairing? Did they simply reconnect on their own?

jshapnyc,

I initially struggled with the same “symptoms” you describe. Unfortunately this was at a second home 2000 miles away. I realized after I got home that I did not understand mesh networks, and smarthings methods to repair/heal these networks.

Anyway, second trip to the home I added more than another half dozen or more “repeaters” - mainly iris 3210-L’s (with both zwave and zigbee repeaters). I also thoroughly replotted the placement of all the repeaters, and performed MANY zwave network repairs until it passed without errors. Similarly I “healed” the zigbee mesh multiple times.

I now have zero drop outs.

I would invest some time and learn how to layout, and implement an stronger mesh network. A quick glance at your devices and it seems you may be lacking repeaters for your size residence.

Wifi can also interfere with the mesh. there is a ton of info around to help troubleshoot your problems. Are you using wifi with your v3 hub? If yes, check the wifi channel in your IDE for your hub and make sure your router channel is not overlapping. Also, check if your neighbors wifi might be an issue.

Start with tguac’s wiki - it is extremely helpful.

Madisonriver, thank you so much for your response.

I am using a hardwired Ethernet connection into my router.

I will look further into stregthening the mesh of the network but will point out I never had any issues whatsoever running the same devices on Iris. Perhaps the Iris hub had a stronger radio?

I added the one Aeotec range extender out of pure caution, it seems hard to believe a fully working Zwave network would then have issues of this magnitude.

Edit to add - I believe that “always on” devices like the hardwired outlet receptacles constantly act as repeaters - if this is the case, I would have the house extremely well covered on both floors, front to back.

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Yes, the GE outlets will act as repeaters. I don’t believe anything else on your list in your OP will repeat.