IQ2+ z-wave flakiness

#1

Hi,

Most of our IQ2+ z-wave network is working fine. The house came with the Qolsys panel, but since it was locked, I ordered a new one from Surety – it works fine. I added the existing house devices (Kwikset 888 and Eaton RF9601) and ordered an additional one of each… The devices all added fine and work fine when sending status to the panel – the panel can interrogate their status immediately and reports all manually induced changes.

However, when I try and control the devices with the panel (to lock/unlock the door or turn the lights on/off), about half the time the panel hangs for a minute or two – sometimes it works, sometimes it does not. It is as if there is a network issue resulting in retries and retransmissions, or some such thing. The whole house is maybe 50 feet long, and the panel is right in the middle – even the closest device (10 feet away) behaves the same. In addition there is a Honeywell T6 Pro z-wave thermostat on the network.

Any suggestions what I can try to get this to be more reliable? I repositioned the antenna and turned off bluetooth on the Qolsys since we are not using it, but that had no effect.

Thanks!

#2

I may have a clue here… I’m still digging… After a reboot the panel works flawlessly for a number of hours… I thought it was related to interference with an Arlo hub, but now the issue is back with the hub turned off…

#3

In my experience with Z-wave (which some flakiness is expected) but I’d recommend making sure your software is up to date such as panel firmware and SDK (both are different updates). Then do a network Z-wave re-discovery. Looking at the z-wave map, check the signal of the z-wave devices (dBm). Anything less than -80 (i.e. bigger negative number) might require a repeater nearby.

This is assuming the Z-wave devices were properly learned in (i.e. within 6ft of panel, especially battery powered Z-wave devices such as door locks). However, if you find you have to upgrade the SDK software, you’ll have to do this anyways (clearing and re-learning).

#4

thanks – I managed to update to 2.5.3 by typing in a patch tag of iqpanel2.5.3 – but the problem persists… how would i update the sdk software? thanks again!

ps looks like patch tag zwave681 might have been the sdk you are talking about? upgrading now. thanks!

#5

also, try updating to 2.5.4 that was just released last week.

#6

Thank you so much @xeon – everything has been totally reliable all day since updating to Software Version 2.5.3 (patch tag iqpanel2.5.3) and Z-Wave Firmware Version 6.81.03 (patch tag zwave681) and API Version 6.04. Yay!!! My worst dbm is -74. Might there be an official list of patch tags somewhere? Thanks, again!

#7

Firmware version update thread with change logs and instructions:

#8

Thank you, I am now on 2.5.4 and all is well!

I am still on Z-Wave Firmware Version 6.81.03 – is that current?

#9

Yes. The Z-wave version does not update with normal firmware updates. Z-wave updates for the panel aren’t common.

1 Like