Resideo ProSeries: Tech Tip 05 Z Wave Management

[Music] the residio pro series systems are equipped with a powerful z-wave plus chipset let's look at some of the z-wave management tools available on the pro a7 and pro a7 plus systems as well as some best practices first to get to the z-wave management menu tap menu devices and then z-wave management you'll need to enter a master or installer code to access this page here you will have access to the inclusion and exclusion modes used for adding or removing devices we also provide you access to learn mode learn mode allows you to include the pro series system into another existing z-wave network such as smartthings home seer vera or ge to name a few customers who already have an existing z-wave smart home network usually won't want to exclude and re-include all of their devices this option allows the pro series to join their network and operate their existing z-wave devices to use this feature bring the primary controller to the pro series system put their controller in inclusion mode and then tap enter learn mode from the z-wave management menu keep the primary controller and the pro series panel close to each other until they both indicate that the inclusion is complete next you'll need to rename each device in the pro series the alarmnet 360 app or website is the easiest way to do this update network is a powerful tool that is helpful when a customer moves a z-wave module or to simply optimize and speed up network performance [Music] when you start the update network mode the controller commands each device to go out and look for its neighbors this process is called network rediscovery the z-wave alliance suggests running rediscovery three to five times to optimize a network for best performance you may notice that some switch devices will turn on and then off again during this process update network will take a few minutes to finish the more devices you have in your network the longer it will take but the results will be worth the time invested you should notice that when using pro series that the range of z-wave devices is much greater than our older products this is a result of the 500 series chipset or z-wave plus even with better range it is still possible to experience shadows and reflections shadows can be caused by objects that block the z-wave signal sometimes the source of a shadow area may not be obvious because they could be caused by something behind the wall like a steel hvac duct when you have a device that is within reasonable range of a controller or another z-wave device that isn't working or is dropping out remember that z-wave is a line of sight technology look for objects that could be causing a shadow and reflecting the signal away from your device things that can cause shadows are mirrors refrigerators or other appliances foil wall coverings tiled walls large flat panel televisions and brick or block walls even windows can attenuate or reflect a z-wave signal especially those with tinting reflections occur on the opposite side of the shadow during an installation reflections will not be as noticeable as shadows as they do not impair your network sometimes they improve the performance when a device quits working after an installation the first thought could be a bad device but before you assume that consider what has changed in the home maybe not the introduction of something new but the removal of something that could have caused a helpful reflection when a z-wave device quits working the first thing you should try is using the update network utility if there are enough devices in your network this should allow your device to find a new pathway back to the controller remember this is accessible using the master user code and can be performed by the user without the need to roll a truck remember when a repeater is needed in the network to make it reach or work better sell more automation instead of a useless device plugged into an outlet find a nearby lamp or light and suggest adding another z-wave device for control this accomplishes two things the customer gets a smarter home and you don't lose money by giving away z-wave devices for repeaters