Aeotec Z-Stick 7 description

[SPAeotec]

Feedback

The following information is very confusing for users from the EU and other areas.

**"700 series controllers

Aeotec Z-Stick 7 USB stick (ZWA010) (the EU version is not recommended due to RF performance issues)"**

The Z-Stick Genz 7 ZWA010 -A-/B/-C are distributed in different regions of the world, where only one version is sold.

• A is for US
• B for Australia
• C for Europe

Users from Europe will not be able to buy other devices that are not intended for their region. Even though the EU stick may not be as good as the US stick, it is not an RF problem. Covering the different frequencies with the same hardware always requires compromises.

Please remove the superfluous note.

URL

https://github.com/home-assistant/home-assistant.io/blob/current/source/_docs/z-wave/controllers.markdown

Version

No response

Additional information

No response

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[SPAeotec]

Unfortunately I have not yet received an answer here

[martinnaughton]

i am actually just looking in to buying a new Zwave stick in the UK so I was wondering what the issue is?

I was actually going to email Aeotec about this issue.

[prilly-dev]

Are there any insight to what kind of RF issue this stick has?

[Oekel]

Same here, want to buy a stick and reading this horrorfull infos. Please give more informations. Is it a hardwarebug or do firmwareUpdates solve the problems?

[prilly-dev]

Same here, want to buy a stick and reading this horrorfull infos. Please give more informations. Is it a hardwarebug or do firmwareUpdates solve the problems?

Zstick 700 is a huge no no, it has issues with firmware from silabs, it has also issues with the region and the saw filter. Currently there are some issues with the silabs fw preventing further upgrade of the stick to keep following the mainline development.

This stick is dead and aeotec is doing damage control

My experience with zwave in general is its loosing ground to zigbee and thread.

[githubkusi]

Zstick 700 is a huge no no, it has issues with firmware from silabs, it has also issues with the region and the saw filter. Currently there are some issues with the silabs fw preventing further upgrade of the stick to keep following the mainline development.

@prilly-dev do you have any source of your claims?

As for the RF issues: This applies to all z-wave radios optimized for the American frequency of 908MHz, see this post, written by HomeSeer personnel:

The only issue would be antenna performance. It's optimized for 908 so range may be reduced if using any other frequency. We've only done short range testing of 868 with the stick.

So, if this is indeed the only problem with Aeotec (optimized for 908, rather than 868 MHz), this comment has to be removed, I agree

[Hedda]

Zstick 700 is a huge no no, it has issues with firmware from silabs, it has also issues with the region and the saw filter. Currently there are some issues with the silabs fw preventing further upgrade of the stick to keep following the mainline development.

@prilly-dev do you have any source of your claims?

FYI, I understand it as there no problem with the Silicon Labs Z-Wave 700 series or 800 series controller hardware, but there is a known issue or bug that can cause both TX Power Level + Measured Power Levels and/or RF Region settings to reset themselves when flashing Z-Wave Controller firmware upgrade, meaning that you sometinmes manually have to re-configure those to correct settings after upgrade firmware, (the general recommendation there seems to be to upgrade one version at a time and not jump over a version). There are more related discussions here:

• https://github.com/zwave-js/node-zwave-js/discussions
  • https://github.com/zwave-js/node-zwave-js/discussions/2544
  • https://github.com/zwave-js/node-zwave-js/discussions/2549
  • https://github.com/zwave-js/node-zwave-js/discussions/4112
  • https://github.com/zwave-js/node-zwave-js/discussions/5615

Note that there is currently also a series bug in all 7.19.x to 7.21.2 versions of Z-Wave Controller firmware (i.e. all firmware released after 7.18.8). that causes the controller to randomly hang during transmission until it is restarted. It is currently unclear if this bug is fixed in a later firmware version." though Silabs have said they that they are aware and plan to fix it. So for now do not upgrade to anything higher than 7.18.8 firmware. See:

https://community.silabs.com/s/question/0D5Vm0000036y3PKAQ/controller-reports-being-jammed-during-usage-and-provokes-the-zwave-network-to-stall-for-several-seconds

"During the validation of the fix attempt we identified that the solution is not complete and with the refactoring efforts needed, it was not possible to integrate it into the 7.21.2 release. The team is well aware of the impact of this issue and is actively working on it with the highest priority. We will provide an update with the new ETA when confirmed by our R&D."

PS: Regardless of which Z-Wave Controller you are using, because Z-Wave radios use use low-power and UHF (Ultra High Frequency) to only send short packets which generally means relativly poor radio propagation though many types of building materials, the general best practice recommendation is to take preventive actions to avoid keeping sources of EMI/RMI/EMF-interference too close to the Z-Wave Controller adapter, and the easiest way to do so if you have a USB radio adapter/dongle is to connect it via long shielded USB extension cable to a USB 2.0 port or USB 2.0 hub to be able to get it a bit away on its own (as well as especially making sure to keep it away from USB 3.x/4.x ports/devices/peripherals/cables as such are infamous for causing EMI/RMI/EMF-interference that affect RF IoT devices. Of course, since Z-Wave network's range/coverage depends heavily on mesh networking by design you also want to make sure to add many always-on/always-connected/always-powered mains-powered Z-Wave devices at strategic locations in your home that act as Z-Wave Repeater devices (sometimes also referred to as Z-Wave Range Extenders or Z-Wave Routers).

[JohnsonDanielsHA]

Hi everyone

I have found many online guides stating whether or not to use various firmware versions. I have a new out-of-the-box Z-stick 7 for the Canada/US region running firmware v.7.17.2

Given all of the issues with the versions above v.7.17.2 should I stick with this version or is there a recommended version to stick with?

Thanks for any help in advance!

[Hedda]

@JohnsonDanielsHA Read my post above your with its included links (as it indirectly mention that v7.18.8 is recommended today)