Unable to get Z-Wave working on Almond 3S

[Tokyo]

I am unable to get my Aeotec Z-Stick Gen5 working with my Almond 3S.

Various post seems that the Z-Wave dongle is working well and while the dongle lights up correct (and which I verified with Aeotec), there is no option to add Z-Wave devices.

I am using a US version of the Z-Stick while using the Almond 3S in Japan. I am not sure whether the Almond is doing some checks and blocking the dongle. When I set up the Almond 3S, I did indicate the region is the United States.

Anyone has any suggestions on how to check what is going on?

[Ashok]

@ Tokyo,

Z-wave is region specific, what about the sensors, are they US region too?

[fillibar]

One way to make sure the dongle is recognized by the Almond, when you go into the Add Devices app on the touchscreen it should mention Z-Wave at the bottom.

As Ashok said, there are different frequencies for Z-Wave by region, so a US dongle will only work with US devices. But the Almond itself should work with pretty much any dongle.

[Tokyo]

@Ashok

All my sensors are US z-wave devices.

@fillibar

It only says z-wave is supported by USB. Not sure what the UI should look like, but I assume there should be a z-wave options on the left side of the screen.

Is there a log somewhere which indicate what could be going on?

P.S. I have a US version of the Almond+

[Tokyo]

Ok, maybe it does work and I am just confused because I expect the Almond to give some visual feedback.

On the Almond+ it shows both Zigbee and Z-wave in the Add Sensor Menu (on the router). On the Almond 3S it only shows only Zigbee even with a Z-Wave dongle inserted.

I will go ahead and try to add a Z-Wave device, but in the mean time can someone tell me whether the router is providing feedback on the precence of a Z-Wave dongle?

[fillibar]

One the Almond 3 and Almond 3S it does not show the Z-Wave as a separate option. Once you have that text at the bottom of the screen, the dongle was recognized and is working.

You should be able to use the normal Add button to add in a Z-Wave device now. If a simple device is not being recognized (not sure what you are trying to add) the device may need to be reset (did you have it previously paired with another controller)?

Let me know what type (preferably make and model) of Z-Wave device you are adding if you could. That might help.

[Tokyo]

I have confirmed that I am able to add Z-Wave devices using the Aeotec Z-Stick Gen5 Z-Wave dongle.

Can I make some suggestions to improve the UI?

1) the text at the bottom is not clear in that I thought that it indicated that I needed to insert a dongle to add Z-Wave devices

2) once a z-wave dongle has been inserted and recognized by the Almond, change the left hand side menu to show Zigbee/Z-Wave in a similar way as the Almond+ does

3) display a popup message when a dongle is inserted / removed from the Almond

4) a very unlikely case, but what if you use two z-wave dongles? they should each have their own Z-Wave Home ID. Is Almond able to properly handle such a case?

[Tokyo]

Not directly related to this topic, but very curious if someone knows the answer.

Coming from the Almond+, it was Z-Wave certified and its conformance statement listed the command classes supported and controlled by the Almond+. The Almond 3/3S are not Z-Wave certified and use a dongle instead. A dongle is mostly a Z-Wave chip connected to USB. My understanding is that the z-wave gateway logic should still be in the Almond. If that is the case, how do we know what the controlled/supported command classes of the Almond 3/3S are?

[mparadis]

https://products.z-wavealliance.org/products/1345 Is the product info the Aeotec Z stick (version 2, gen 5).

For those using the Securifi branded Z Stick (its a Vision manufactured device) https://products.z-wavealliance.org/products/1239.

I imagine the Almond software still needs to be able to support the same device types and command classes but whatever the stick supports, theoretically could be supported by the Almond 3S.

[Tokyo]

If you look at the conformance statement for both products, you can see that the devices to not list any controlled or supported command classes. It is up to the Z-Wave controller as to which command classes are supported; in this case the Almond 3 and Almond 3S. The Almond Plus has a built-in z-wave chip and been certified by the z-wave alliance and its conformance statement lists the command classes. While theoretically, the combination of Almond 3S and z-wave dongle could go through the certification process, this seems not to be the case.

Yes, the Almond does support command classes and I suspect at a minimum the command classes supported by the Almond Plus, but it is very well possible that they support more command classes and newer versions of the command classes.