V3 hub orientation

Which direction out of a V3 hub is the signal the strongest? Some of my hubs are less reliable than others and the overall setup is nearly identify so… I suspect this could be a portion of the variability i’m seeing.

These are Omni directional antennas, so once you’re about 3 to 4 m away, it shouldn’t matter. It’s a 360° signal. It’s only an issue for devices which are quite close to the hub. And remember there are multiple radios in the hub any way. So are you having issues with zigbee, Z wave, Wi-Fi?

Most of the time if you have similar set ups but different results it’s an issue of local architecture, which can be anything from a mirror on the wall to different types of wall construction.

I’ve previously mentioned one exam I had in a network engineering class where you were supposed to mark all the things in a room that might interfere with signal. The one that pretty much everybody missed was a kitchen cabinet that had cast iron cookware in it. Depending on where the cookware was placed each time it was put away you could get signal blockage or not. :scream:

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My issues are with z-wave locks. What is the minimum distance you recommend having devices away from the hub for maximum connectivity? Also, this is being used in an outdoor setting, so I may need To change the enclosure the hub is in. Any enclosure or material recommendations that are waterproof and will degrade the signal the least?

Zwave locks are a whole different situation, and usually involve a beaming repeater. See the following FAQ. ( The topic title is a clickable link)

On your other question, outdoors could be San Francisco, it could be Phoenix, it could be Minneapolis, it could be Miami. What’s your temperature and humidity range over the year?

They are in a variety of environments. From coastal (high humidity) to high desert (low humidity). So I know I can’t change that variable, just trying to optimize the other things I can control. I’d rather not use a repeater Bc my setups are powered by solar so a repeater increases power draw and they require 110v whereas everything else uses 12v or 5v. And adding an inverted to take 12v to 110v can be a big power drain.

I would hazard a GUESS that the power draw of a repeating pocket socket would be minimal. I can attest that our vacation home in Montana currently uses about 4 Kwh/day with the refrigerator running and about 5 led bulbs (hue) @ 5% a cpl hrs per day. There’s at least 8 to 10 repeaters running 24/7.

If you want your locks to stay online, your going to want some repeaters as JD suggested.

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