Based on the positive experience with my first z-wave project ( a ZOOZ Z-Wave Plus 4-in-1 Sensor ZSE40 VER. 2.0 (Motion/Light/Temperature/Humidity) from Amazon and a Silicon Labs / ACC-UZB3-U-STA Z-wave controller from Digi-Key), I thought I would add some smart plugs to control Christmas lights bot…

All of it sounds like possible range issues. BK’s idea above is a good suggestion for starters. How many zwave nodes are in the network? Zwave is a ‘mesh’ network technology and all mains powered nodes act as repeaters. The more nodes, the stronger the mesh. You’ve obviously figured this out by ad…

Thanks for the suggestions. I have tried using a USB extension to move the stick away from the Pi. I will try that for a few days and see if it helps. I have about 15 devices in the mesh network, which I hoped would improve things. It did a little, but I’m still not very happy (and my wife makes…

[image] BigGeorgeTx: I have about 15 devices in the mesh network How many are mains powered devices? That is not a big network nor is it small. Depending on the physical distances and the structure itself… I’m not advocating buying more nodes, you have already expressed that the devices are n…

[image] BigGeorgeTx: and my wife makes fun of me when a Christmas light doesn’t come on or go off as it should You get used to that eventually.

[image] BigGeorgeTx: I’m running openHAB 3.1M5 (recently upgraded to 3.2 Release) on a Pi4B running openhabian. Same situation with am z-wave (only!) mesh of 40 devices (based on razberryHat with and without external antenna). My house is full of ferroconcrete but no troubles in daily rule/wo…

… and then there is the possibility that one of your (outdoor) devices has gone nuts and is interfering with the Z-Wave mesh - yes, low probability, but worth to pursue by removing the devices one by one.

I appreciate all of the suggestions and feedback. I ended up returning the devices that I could. I’m sure with more effort I could have worked through the problems, but I would rather spend my time implementing the smarthome control openHAB makes possible than troubleshooting devices.

openHAB Community

Z-wave Smart Plugs Outdoors Have Not Met Expectations

Hardware Home Automation

anon71759204 (anon71759204) January 4, 2022, 8:38pm 2

Try using an USB 2.0 extension cable to move the Z-Wave stick away from the Raspberry.