Zwave switch status not up to date

I am using pollster to get updates on my devices since ST is not good. Even with this, my status on my zwave switches are completely wrong. Any suggestions on how to improve this issue?

ST team, any news on updates in the hub and mobile app to address this issue. Still seems like this is an issue.

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You may not be able to improve this if the switch does not support instant status updates. That is a licensed feature that a lot of companies seem to not pay for or add to their switch.

I have GE 45603. I can’t see from the specs if this support instant status. Any other products that support it?

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I’m using TCP bulbs and their status is often wrong and different between the things connected group and lights and switches. The first often shows them all off and the second all on. I can’t yet tell if they are turning off automatically based on my leaving (I live alone) although I think they do but I know they turn back on when I return. But again, the statuses are questionable especially if I switch apps on my phone to make a call or whatever and then go back and the status often changes. The lights don’t change just the status. Anyone else use these bulbs yet?

I’ve seen similar issues where the status is wrong as well as when my schedule tells the t-stat to adjust it’s temperature, it says it sends the new temperature settings, but the t-stat doesn’t update. It seems like there’s no error handling with SmartThings to make sure that a device actually does what it asks. This really needs to be addressed.

I believe that the GE 45603 (which is a plug in module) is NOT something covered by the Lutron Patent and therefore should report when it’s physically pressed, but I’m not 100% sure on that.

Long boring paragraphs on Lutron Patent… feel free to skip if you want
Lutron somehow was able to get a patent (thank you very much stupid patent office!) on Z-wave connected light switches. The patent covers the switch reporting to the controller when it’s physically pressed. Now, doesn’t this just sound like common sense rather than anything innovative or inspirational? Why would something like be granted a patent?!? Dumb… but it was granted.

So in order for a light switch to report to the Hub that it’s been pressed, the company needs to pay a fee to Lutron. Some companies generally do (Levitron, Cooper Aspire), some generally don’t (GE/Jasco, Evolve, Intermatic). Not surprisingly the companies that generally do pay the fee generally charge more for their switches.

So how does SmartThings know when I press a non-patent switch? Magic! Or, rather, sneaky technology. When a switch is pressed it sends a basic “node update” sort of command to every node it is connected to. This isn’t a signal that it’s been pressed on or off, just a general “Hey, I exist… look at me! Aren’t I cool?” sort of this. ST intelligently designed their system to look for these. When it sees one, it sends a poll request to that switch and asks for it’s current state (On/Off) and then updates itself accordingly.

There are three problems with this method though: First, dimmer switches, as we’ve all seen, don’t turn on/off instantly. They fade off. So when you turn off a dimmer, the light starts to fade. The signal is sent by the switch, ST sees this, and polls the switch. But the switch is still on, technically. It’s fading out, but it is still on when it is polled. So ST doesn’t update a dimmer “off” command properly. Second, AUX switches NEVER send out that node update command so turn on/off via an Aux will not update. Third, these “I exist” commands are NOT repeated through the mesh network, so this only works if the switch is in direct communication with the Hub.
Okay, boring patent stuff done… start paying attention again!

ST should be updating relatively regularly, but it isn’t a perfect setup. As others have stated the update does seem to fail or crash every now and then. Another thing I discovered is that if you are using a secondary controller, ST does NOT see when a device is turned on/off via these remotes. This is a direct remote->device communication.

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So … can we “ask” (or program…) SmartThings to poll specific switches more frequently?

i.e., If I have a SmartApp triggered by a particular non-Lutron Patent switch, then it might be acceptable if there is a, ummm, 5-10 seconds delay for the state change to be detected.

I currently use a secondary Z-Wave controller (GE Remote) and thus, SmartThings almost continuously shows the wrong state for the lights controlled by it.

There is a SmartApp written called Pollster that does this. Check the IDE.

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What chevyman said… search for Pollster.

I run that for a number of devices that I use remotes (Intermatic in my case) as well and yeah, they’ll go a long time before updating, so the pollster SmartApp helps.

One thing I would say… in an effort to be a kind user to others, don’t run pollster on a very low refresh rate. If many people did this it could cause an issue with overloading the server I suspect.

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Perfect. Thanks!

As an aside: Is there a way to do a keyword search directly in the IDE shared App list? For now, I searched the Community and it confirmed the reference, but there are 123 (so far…) shared “Convenience” SmartApps, and that list will soon be unwieldy to search.