Z-Wave-Network: What happens when node numbers increase > 232/255?

I ask myself what happens if you inlcude and exclude a lot of devices several times to/from the Network. From what I have seen so far (using an Aoenlabs Gen5 USB-Stick) the same device gets a new (higher) number in the moment of reinclusion so that the original node number remains an unused “orphan”. What happens now if the node number counter increases so far that I reach a number above 255 (or 232). What I have read you can have a maximum of 232 nodes in a Z-Wave-Network and a maximum node ID number of 255.
So will I be unable to add any more devices when reaching this number limit?
The question is not only theoretical but may have a practical impact for my network because I have a lot of Qubino Devices. These devices require for some parameter changes to take effect that the device needs to be excluded and reincluded to the network (which in turn will increase the node number counter everytime).
Does anybody have experiences with this siutation? Will the stick start to reuse free numbers when reaching the limit at 255?
Thanks for any hints!

I believe that when the stick reaches the limit (232, not 255) it will start using unused node numbers starting at 1.

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Sounds reasonable, but you are not really sure? I wonder if I should try to push the number to 232 and test it. If it does not work I will play back the backup on the stick. However this will be quite time consuming…just need to check which device is the fastest to exclude/include…:wink:

I’ve not tested it myself, but I’ve seen this written somewhere in some document, so I didn’t make it up at least :wink:

Is there a way to have more than 232 devices with OpenHab? For example connecting multiple OpenHab instances together? Or is there a better way?

Yes, there is an alternative way. The OpenHab Z-Wave-Binding supports the use of multiple Z-Wave controllers. So you still need more than one Z-Wave-Network - each with its own primary controller - but you can use them within one OH instance. As the binding also supports RFC2217 remote access to Z-Wave controllers across the LAN you can place your different controllers strategically across the building to ensure good RF communication.

Of course the Remote openHAB Binding is also a powerful alternative within OH3. I am using the latter since OH3.

Oh okay :slight_smile: very cool thanks :slight_smile: do you have a good manual for the RFC2217 communication over OpenHab? What would you recommend as the stablest and fastest solution?

You need to install a small Server with a RFC2217 software to provide access to your Z-Wave stick via LAN. I used a Raspi for this with ser2net as software.
Within OpenHab you just need to specify the COM port correctly for RFC2217 communication.
In my .things file it looked like this:

Bridge zwave:serial_zstick:ZWAB "ZWAB 2217 " [ port="rfc2217://192.168.176.77:7000", controller_softreset="false", controller_master="true", heal_enable="true"]

Of course you need to adapt the bridge name, the IP address and the port to your setup.
Hope that helps!

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Great thanks dir the Tutorial :slight_smile: I’m gonna try this some time :slight_smile: