Z-wave scores huge UL win for security!

Thanks @geko… we think alike. When I returned the non functioning Aeon Labs Aeotec Z-Wave Smart Switch 6, Gen5 to Amazon, I purchased this exact Z-Wave repeater and installed it in our kitchen which is attached to our garage.

After a z-wave repair, which optimized the Z-Wave mesh network, the outside garage door with the Z-Wave lock was working only about 50% of the time but only when the kitchen garage door was open. In our home, we have a door leading to the garage, and our garage has both a garage door and car doors. The Z-Wave lock is located on the garage door which is about 15’ outside the kitchen door.

So it appears that I {might} need {yet} another Z-Wave repeater either closer to the kitchen garage door or on the other side of the kitchen door, in order to get a hop into the garage where the Z-Wave lock is installed.

My problem is “How many Z-Wave repeaters does one need to get a decent signal into the garage to operate a $150 Z-Wave enabled lock?” Each repeater of the above type ONLY functions as a Z-Wave repeater and has no other function.

Update: I recently purchased an IRIS L-3250 power outlet from Lowes that also operates as both zigbee and Z-Wave repeater for $35. I plugged that device into the outside garage A/C socket, paired it to have operate as a power outlet, Z-Wave repeater and zigbee repeater. But still no response from the Z-Wave lock. I take the Z-Wave lock inside the house and it functions as expected! Reinstall it outside in the garage, no response.

Now I see why my white hair is disappearing!

Does the Iris repeater support beaming? If not, it can’t talk to the lock.

Is the beaming device within 15 feet of the lock? If not, the lock will ignore it. (When placing a beaming repeater near a lock, don’t think of “half way” from the hub. Get the beaming device close to the lock, then get the signal to the beaming device. )

Is the lock within 4 hops of the hub? If not, the messages won’t get through.

Like I said, there’s a chance your Z-Wave radio is impaired. Have you tried any other Z-Wave controllers? SmartThings V2 hub uses a Z-Wave module with a helical antenna located in horizontal plane. This is very unfortunate antenna placement, imo. You can try rotating the hub 90 degrees to the left or to the right or even standing it on its side to see if you can get a better distance.

The Iris power outlet does not mention the beaming capability, and I’m thinking it does not for the cost compared to those devices that have beaming.

I only tested the Aeon Gen 5 power outlet which would not operate as an power outlet when located in in the kitchen which is 30’ from the Hub on the same floor. So this device was never a suitable option since I could not get it to basically power on/power off from SmartThings in the kitchen as an outlet. It might have been defective, but I returned it and purchased the Z-Wave repeater listed above. It did not help either, but I have it in the kitchen as hopefully I will get something to work as the next hop. My understanding is only the ‘last’ node between a repeater and the lock needs to support beaming. I have only one Z-Wave repeater (non beaming) in the kitchen and yet to purchase a suitable beaming repeater for the hop to the lock in the outside garage.

I always try to located the repeater as close to the lock as possible, but with the ST Z-Wave dedicated repeater, there is not way to determine if it is working other than the glowing red dot after pairing. The Aeon Labs Aeotec Z-Wave Smart Switch 6, Gen5 was located closer to the hub to insure it could function as a power outlet, but never bounced a decent signal into the garage where the Z-Wave lock is.

@geko: We are on the same page here. I did try rotating the V2 hub 90 degrees, as I read a SmartThings document that stated the antenna has an optimal direction. Only problem with that is that I have a zigbee motion sensor on my curb mailbox (other 180 side of the house), which operates optimal in the current position of the hub, and rotating did not activate any response from the Z-Wave lock as I had hoped. If that would have worked, I would be on cloud nine! Thanks for the tip, keep em coming, I’m willing to try anything {except purchasing more Z-Wave power outlets or 4 way light switches}.

@JDRoberts: Thanks for all these tips, I’m going to try a few over the next few months and I hope I can get this issue solved.

Correct.

As always, you’ll need to run the zwave repair utility after adding the repeater and then be patient as it can take awhile for the address tables to rebuild after the utility completes. I usually wait until the next day to test just to be sure.

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Ok @JDRoberts, here I go! The Leviton power Z-Wave outlet has secure beaming and the LED light will be used for testing!

Good luck! The fact that you can reach the lock when the kitchen door is open is a good sign, it means the only issue is getting the signal through when the door is closed.

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Does this device support Z-wave beaming?
Posted by Anonymous
2 weeks ago

Number One Contributor
Yes, this will work with Z wave beaming.
Posted by CommunityAnswer
1 week, 6 days ago

Does Z-Wave beaming imply “secure” beaming? I posted the question on Lowe’s Q&A as well.

Yes, because the official term is just “Z wave beaming.” It was originally called “security compatible” (meaning it could talk to locks) but then they realized that term was confusing as additional security features were built into Z wave that had nothing to do with beaming. So now the conformance statements just say “beaming.”

But “beaming” doesn’t necessarily imply a secure pairing, that’s a different feature.

@kurtsanders
Ok @JDRoberts, here I go! The Leviton power Z-Wave outlet has secure beaming and the LED light will be used for testing!

so… any luck with this?