Can a piston help with signal drop issue?

#1

I have a few zwave buttons and smart bulbs that used very rarely (maybe once a month)
I’ve noticed that If they are not used frequently they tend to loose their connection from ST HUB.
Once you get the battery out and put back in, or remove and add in the ST App, they start working properly.

I was wondering if I create a piston and check their status daily or refresh them daily that would help those to stay connected to ST HUB???

I need to test it but just wanted to ask you guys if anyone has an opinion on this one…

Thank you so much…

#2

This definitely sounds logical to me, but would require testing to confirm.

#3

One more tidbit that may help your bulbs stay connected…

I have a smart bulb in my attic, that can go months without being used. I made a piston where every day at 3am the light comes on for 10 seconds, and then turns back off. So far, it has never dropped its connection.

Maybe once a week would suffice, but I went with the daily event, and am happy with the results so far.

(I realize this won’t help with your zwave buttons)

#4

Hey my friend
Bulb solution makes perfect sense… thank you so much…
What would you recommend for the zwave buttons?
Refresh?
Check status?
or ??
Etc…

#5

Most buttons can send a command to the hub, but not many buttons can receive commands from the hub. I think the key will be finding which commands the buttons actually react to. “Refresh” is probably a good place to start. (but I think any command that gets fresh data returned should do the trick)

PS. If you use my bulb trick mentioned above, I would program two off commands, separated by a few seconds. Such as:

Every day at 3am
    Turn on
    Wait 7 seconds
    Turn off
    Wait 7 seconds
    Turn off
END EVERY

Your house has a lot of activity, and I would hate for the rare bulbs to accidentally get stuck on for 24 hours due to congestion.

#6

Also, just food for thought.

Often times, the devices that drop from the hub may be devices that are on the outskirts of the Mesh-network. (too many hops)

It might be worth keeping this possibility in mind as you observe.

#7

You mean distance?
If so that’s the weird part, the 2 buttons get disconnected the most are in the same room with ST HUB:)

#8

Great observation. You can ignore my last post then, LOL

#9

I found ‘‘custom PING’’
do you think that would help with the Zwave button???

#10

Different device handlers will handle that differently. (same as refresh)

It might help, but unfortunately, testing is the only way to know for sure… Keep in mind that your findings can only be applied to other devices using the same device handler.

Side note:
To keep the buttons “alive”, I think it is more important for the hub to hear from the button, than for the button to hear from the hub… (in other words, it shouldn’t matter what commands go to the button, as long as the button responds back to the hub afterwards)