Verizon Jetpack to Zwave

Devices & Integrations
1

I live in the mountains and use a Verizon Mifi Jetpack which uses the cell tower and creates a wifi network in the house. It has no ethernet port.

I have some older zwave devices in the house, like a thermostat and a schlage lock.

I need to use something like a wifi repeater so I can bridge from wifi to ethernet and off to a zwave/zigbee capable device.

Anyone know if that (extender/zwave/zigbee) can all come in one device? I saw a TP-Link SR20 but that is a router, not sure if it can extend the Jetpack network.

2

Tom, Zigbee and Z-wave are completely different protocols from the TCP/UDP protocols used by the internet. You will need a hub to convert commands from your WiFi network or the internet into Zigbee and Z-wave device commands.

Since you are in the SmartThings community, the default answer is to get a SmartThings hub. But…there are other Zigbee and Z-wave hub options if you dig around this forum. Some of these offer completely local operation, which may be a plus given your semi-disconnected use case.

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3

I used to use these, worked great to make ethernet devices “wireless” https://www.netgear.com/support/product/WNCE2001.aspx but not sure how available they are today.

I have not tried this one, but same idea, and it is available. https://www.iogear.com/product/GWU637/

Then just attach it to the SmartThings hub.

4

Thanks Jeff. I thought I might have to introduce another piece of equipment like you mentioned. I have used a TPLink extender device before to bridge Wifi to Ethernet. Like this one. TP-Link N300 WiFi Extender(TL-WA855RE) which is a less expensive option for me.

I was hoping I could use the Samsung SmartThings as an extender to a wifi network without having to use it as the initial Gateway Hub device and directly using ethernet.

The way that TPLink works it acts as a bridge and creates it’s own wifi network. “mynetworkname_ext”.

Was hoping the SmartThing could do the same.

5

Jeff below got the spirit of my question which was that my Modem does not even have an ethernet port. So, I was wondering if I could have the Smarthings Hub connect to the Jetpack over wifi and not have to use the WAN “in” port on the Smarthings Hub.

Essentially to extend the Jetpack network in the same way a 2nd SmartThings hub extends the primary SmartThings Hub “gateway” device.

6

The Hub v3 connects to your existing network via Ethernet or Wifi but it does not broadcast Wifi and wouldn’t extend your network. I’m not a big fan of using hotspots for hub connectivity but it certainly isn’t unheard of. Unless I am missing something you should be able to connect a Hub v3 to the jetpack’s Wifi network and the Z-Wave devices to the hub. It’d result in a map something like:

cell tower <-> jetpack <-> ST Hub v3 <-> Z-Wave devices

7

Excellent Brad, I just came to the same conclusion and got the Hub V3 on Ebay.

The mountain house, as we call it, can only get Internet over cellular. No cable. Not even DSL. Maybe Elon Musk’s Starlink is in our future someday.

I bought these zwave thermostats about 8 years ago and am just now able to hook them up, now that we have invested in the jetpack. Hopefully this will work. I can warm up the bedrooms before we arrive :slight_smile:

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