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Zwave range in homes


pooya.zamani1@yahoo.com

Question

Hello

I have problem. Actually I dont know how to choose the real place of HC2 in my network.

I have attached the simple plan of on 400m2 appartment.

Where should I place the HC2 ?

How is its range ?

Consider that building structure is from Concrete.

thanks

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@Pooya,

 

The layout has no estimated dimensions hence it is difficult to gauge distances between walls.

 

400m2 apartment is pretty big and based on my experience on z-wave in apartments (internal concrete or brick walls, some even reinforced concrete wall), a single HC2 will not be able to cover every corner of a 400m2 apartment with direct connectivity. With any luck, it can cover only 1/4 of it through direct connectivity, the rest will be through the meshing and relaying approach through wired modules. You will have better coverage and lesser z-wave layer problems if all or most of your modules (wired and battery-powered) are Z-Wave Plus (as Z-Wave Plus does have improved range in real world deployment, provided the manufacturer implemented it correctly).

 

As with any RF-based technology, it is always good to avoid placement very close to concrete wall (leave some gap from concrete wall) or metal and as close to center of the intended coverage circle (in your case, it seems to be somewhere around kitchen-private hall area. That thick black wall I presume to be a reinforced concrete foundation wall, avoid placement there cause it is a dead-zone to block of part of coverage sector.

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400m2 apartment is pretty big and based on my experience on z-wave in apartments (internal concrete or brick walls, some even reinforced concrete wall), a single HC2 will not be able to cover every corner of a 400m2 apartment with direct connectivity.

 

this is only 25m x 17m, where 25m distance is the external extreme, inside from room to room (even with metal covered wall) the distance is not an issue, one HC2 in living room (top of screen, to cover directly that room, diagonally room3/room4 and over non-battery zwave device the other rooms. No issue at all. 

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  • Inquirer
  • hey guys,TINMAN and CHAICKA ,I've attached the real plan. please see.

    Would you accept the final result ?

     

    Thanks

     

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    this is only 25m x 17m, where 25m distance is the external extreme, inside from room to room (even with metal covered wall) the distance is not an issue, one HC2 in living room (top of screen, to cover directly that room, diagonally room3/room4 and over non-battery zwave device the other rooms. No issue at all. 

     

    Not sure about the difference in concrete walls across the countries. Over here, all concrete walls consist of BRC mesh inside it. Not a civil engineer here, guesstimate concrete wall thickness is usually 20-22cm thick over here.

     

    Where I am, FGMS001 (non-zwave plus) gets a yellow on range test when it spans across 1 concrete wall and 1 cabinet door (which is where HC2 is sitting in) for just a distance of 5-7m. Swap to a zwave plus, it always able to get a green but back to zwave, it is never able to stay on a green.

     

    Just an example.

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    My recommendation to deploy as center to the overall circle of coverage still stands using the guiding principles below:

     

    • With any RF-based technology, it is good practice to avoid potential RF interferences;
    • With technology that uses RF with omni-directional coverage, it is good practice to place as center to the circle of coverage as possible;
    • With any RF-based meshing technology, it is good practice to have as little "hop" as possible (direct connectivity to core device or 1 hop/node relay from core device), the lower the number of 'hops', the lower the latency and potential risk of delays/interference/failure.

    Just my 2 cents worth. I know I do not like to keep visiting a customer's place and face an upset customer for a poor design and planned deployment simply because of taking the easy way instead of the right way.

     

    May be someone more expert than I am have better ways to have the least risk solution.

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    Not sure about the difference in concrete walls across the countries. Over here, all concrete walls consist of BRC mesh inside it. Not a civil engineer here, guesstimate concrete wall thickness is usually 20-22cm thick over here.

     

    Where I am, FGMS001 (non-zwave plus) gets a yellow on range test when it spans across 1 concrete wall and 1 cabinet door (which is where HC2 is sitting in) for just a distance of 5-7m. Swap to a zwave plus, it always able to get a green but back to zwave, it is never able to stay on a green.

     

    Just an example.

    it is often enough to place on both sides of thick concrete walls (or steel reinforced/BRM mesh covered thin concrete walls) repeater (e.g. light switch relais). And of course think 3D, sometimes the way to next floor and back is better than through wall direct.

    Sure, finally when issues there and simple range measurement was not exact enough, spectrum analyzer or zniffer are necessary.

    Please login or register to see this attachment.

     

    this are worst case values on the picture, e.g. 8inch thick concrete attenuate from 30% to 90%

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    Very useful information indeed... Wish able to afford those kind of gears. Maybe when business grows sufficiently to invest in them.

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    simple SA (RF Explorer, with ISM Module) costs only ~100EUR, it is not prof. equipment, but good enough for lot of things

     

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    Thanks for sharing. Good to know more about affordable tools.

     

    Envy... Where I am, the cost simply multiples to get it ship here, not to mention tax (govt just changed policy wef 1st July).

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