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Signal strength


julianfelipepat

Question

Hi people!

 


I need your help as soon as possible because we are installing FIBARO system at Marriot Hotel in Colombia. We have a situation here, as you can see in the attached picture (plane.jpg) we are installing an HCL 868.4 mhz 4.044 version to control 7 heaters with 7 Aeonlabs 2nd edition relays, the thing is the nearest the relay, the best it works so if you check the plane i attached, you will se that the more distant heaters aren't communicating with the controller so i need your help in order to join them up to the controller, down below you will find all the test i did perform:

 

-Including all the relays close to the controller and afterwards try to control the heaters from the controller and i got no answer.

-I have tried to associate the relays with each other in order to increase possibility of communication but it seems this HCL version can't allow me to do association so i don't know what's wrong.

-We have installed the relays in a progresive way, i mean, following an specific order, that with the purpose of creating an stable mesh network and nothing.

 

 

So that's it, please help me, does this version of HCL support any zwave repeater? if so please tell me which would i buy, if not, please tell me what else may i do, thanks in advance!!


 

PS: Please check attached pictures to make an idea how the controllers and relays were installed.

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  • Hello Julianfelipepat,

    How did you solve the range problem with the HCL, because I have similar issues. Did you use the extra antenna proposed here?

     

     

    What up dude. Actually i didn´t solve it, i just had to move the modules close the controller and finally i made them work, obviously there was a fact, they were installed in a open atmosphere so the signal losses are a fact that you should consider if you are going to install your system outside. I think that i made a mistake buying aeonlabs modules because it seems you can not link them (at least in the parameter cofiguration panel of HCL) in order to improve the Mesh network so i would recomend you to get Fibaro modules and link them would help the signal reach the controller.  There seems to be another solution that would help but i can tell you i haven´t try it yet, there is a ZWAVE antena, check the link down below, maybe you can get it:

     

    Please login or register to see this link.

     

    Hope it helps, let us know what will you do, regards.

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    (...) I think that i made a mistake buying aeonlabs modules because it seems you can not link them (at least in the parameter cofiguration panel of HCL) in order to improve the Mesh network so i would recomend you to get Fibaro modules and link them would help the signal reach the controller. (...)

    I wonder if I'm understanding correctly. You say you need the "link" modules to "improve the mesh". I'm curious where you got that and what it means.

    If you want some background, I highly recommend the book: "Z-Wave Basics" by Dr. Christian Paetz.

    Every mains powered device (a rule with very few exceptions) automatically participates in the mesh. It's vendor independent. And battery powered devices use the mesh, but can't route messages from other devices. It works a bit like this. When you include a device, it scans the network for neighbors. So it builds a list of devices that it can talk to. If a device has a message for the controller, but can't reach it directly, it'll try a neighbor from that list. That process can be repeated a few times.

    If you move around modules, you might benefit from manually triggering a "neighbor scan" on one or more devices. See "Configuration", "Z-Wave network configuration", "Mesh network reconfiguration".

    Does this help? If not, can you please explain what you mean by "link modules to improve the network"?

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    Can you pls advise how to initiate neighbor scan ?

    See "Configuration", "Z-Wave network configuration", "Mesh network reconfiguration". That's "update neighbor". Just a different name.

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    Clear, thanks

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    /emoticons/default_smile.png" alt=":)" srcset="https://forum.fibaro.com/uploads/emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

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    What up dude. Actually i didn´t solve it, i just had to move the modules close the controller and finally i made them work, obviously there was a fact, they were installed in a open atmosphere so the signal losses are a fact that you should consider if you are going to install your system outside. I think that i made a mistake buying aeonlabs modules because it seems you can not link them (at least in the parameter cofiguration panel of HCL) in order to improve the Mesh network so i would recomend you to get Fibaro modules and link them would help the signal reach the controller.  There seems to be another solution that would help but i can tell you i haven´t try it yet, there is a ZWAVE antena, check the link down below, maybe you can get it:

     

    Please login or register to see this link.

     

    Hope it helps, let us know what will you do, regards.

     

    Well what I did with a HCL that I had problem ,I used an antenna from a GSM module that I had in the office with SMA connector ,with 3m cable which I placed away from the HCL and thus I "gained" one wall and I got closer to the modules. This greately improved communications and no more dead nodes! 

    The antenna looked prete much like this one:

     

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    Dear

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    you really extend the zwave range ?

    It is the fact that length of antenna is related to the frequency properties of wave. So, form this, the zwave antenna must not be changed ?!

    In zwave, modules shouldnt repeat the commands ?

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    Dear

    Please login or register to see this link.

    you really extend the zwave range ?

    It is the fact that length of antenna is related to the frequency properties of wave. So, form this, the zwave antenna must not be changed ?!

    In zwave, modules shouldnt repeat the commands ?

     

    Better gain can be due to beter materials for example.

     

    All permanently powered modules (sans Swipe)  act as repeaters of signal, i could have sworn that max ammount of repeats is something like 4. so commands sent by HC will be furthered along the line for those modules who would otherwise be out of reach,

     

    i have a feeling i do not quite understand what you intended to post but if you elaborate on those thoughts i might be able to grasp your intended message bit better.

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    Better gain can be due to beter materials for example.

    All permanently powered modules (sans Swipe) act as repeaters of signal, i could have sworn that max ammount of repeats is something like 4. so commands sent by HC will be furthered along the line for those modules who would otherwise be out of reach,

    i have a feeling i do not quite understand what you intended to post but if you elaborate on those thoughts i might be able to grasp your intended message bit better.

    I thought 4 hops as well...

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