Zen51 Paired as LR but won't communicate

[dcmeglio]

I paired the device by keeping it relatively close to the hub but then I moved it to it's final location (about 150ft away from the hub outdoors so obviously the exterior wall of my house is in between) and it just shows as Dead. When I try to reinterview (that's really the only debugging tool for LR? No rebuild routes obviously) I get this, https://pastebin.com/qv0QHjjx. If I'm reading this right it sounds like I must be getting a response? I mean the ProtocolInfo is coming back within a few milliseconds? But then the ping fails and it's marked dead within 100ms. Is there anything I can even try here? Or am I just out of luck and the device is too far away? Appreciate any suggestions on what to try the device is a Zooz ZEN51. I don't know if there are any configs to tweak, this is my first time playing with LR. I've confirmed the distance is the issue because if I plug it into an outlet in my house it works fine. What's confusing is I have a Zwave 500 device that's just a few inches away from this ZEN51. It's paired to my hub and working fine. If a 500 device that supports a range a fraction of the distance works, I'm perplexed that a LR device won't when it purports (I understand it's perfect lab conditions) a 1mi or more range. I'm using a Nabucase ZWA-2 as my controller.

[robertsLando]

The log shows the ZEN51 never answered at all:

• "received response for protocol info" doesn't come from the device. The controller answers it from what it stored at inclusion. That's why it comes back in 11 ms. It doesn't show the node is reachable.
• The ping is the first real radio contact, and it got no ACK (ZW0204). So the controller sends and the ZEN51 doesn't hear it, or its ACK doesn't get back.

Why the 500-series device next to it still works: classic Z-Wave is a mesh. That device very likely reaches the hub through your powered devices acting as repeaters. Long Range doesn't route or repeat. Every LR frame goes straight between the controller and the device, so the ZEN51 has to cover the full 150 ft plus the exterior wall on its own. The "1 mile" figure assumes open line of sight with good antennas on both ends. A ZEN51 has a tiny internal antenna, and a metal or outdoor box around it cuts its range a lot.

Things to try:

1. Check the LR TX power. Go to Settings → Z-Wave → Radio configuration. If "Auto powerlevels" is off, set Maximum LR Power Level to +20 dBm (allowed in the US). To see the value the stick is actually using, expand the controller node (node 1) and look under Controller Options. The "auto" setting only applies the legal limit when the region actually changes, so it may have kept the firmware default.
2. Move the ZWA-2. Use its cable to place it as high and as close as possible to the wall facing the device. Keep it away from USB 3 ports/drives, Wi-Fi APs and metal. On a link this close to the edge, a few feet can make a difference.
3. Check the ZEN51's mounting. If it's in a metal box, try a plastic one or keep the relay outside the metal.
4. Test where the range runs out. Move the ZEN51 toward its final spot in steps and ping it at each step, to see how much margin you're missing.

If none of that works, include the ZEN51 as a classic mesh node instead of LR so it can route through your repeaters. You can also add a mains-powered repeater near that wall.

To dig further, please share:

• Versions of Z-Wave JS UI, zwave-js and the ZWA-2 firmware (shown in Settings → General / the controller's node info).
• Your Radio configuration settings: RF region, Auto powerlevels on/off, Maximum LR Power Level, and the LR channel if shown.
• A full driver log at Debug level, not an excerpt. It should cover a restart (so we see the radio settings being applied) and then a ping to node 257. Here's how to get it: https://zwave-js.github.io/zwave-js-ui/#/troubleshooting/generating-logs
• The node's statistics (RSSI, TX/RX counts) from the node's details, taken after the ping attempts.
• The ZEN51's mounting: in a box (metal or plastic)? Indoors or out? Which wall material is between it and the controller?

[dcmeglio]

It doesn't apply when you switch from USA to USA (Long Range), so you could still be at +14 dBm. -- I don't see USA (Long Range) in the list of options? It's set to USA.

[robertsLando]

My mistake, that's expected. The Settings list hides the Long Range regions on purpose. You select USA, and Z-Wave JS switches the controller to USA (Long Range) by itself when it supports LR. So there's nothing to change there.

To see what the stick is actually using, open the controller node (node 1) in the Nodes table and expand it. Under Controller Options you'll see:

• RF Region: should show USA (Long Range).
• Maximum LR Power Level: should be +20 dBm, the US legal limit.

If the power level is greyed out ("Automatic mode enabled in settings"), turn off Auto powerlevels in Settings → Z-Wave → Radio configuration, set Maximum LR Power Level to +20 dBm and save. Then check that the controller options show +20 dBm.

Please also send the other info from my previous comment. The debug driver log taken across a restart matters most: it prints the region, the max LR power level and the LR channel the controller reports at startup.

[dcmeglio]

Let me do a bit more monitoring. Things have gotten better since I changed the setting to +20 dBm (it was on automatic) and I moved the ZWA-2 a bit closer to the exterior wall and further away from metal though I'm not sure the metal would be an issue since the metal was below the ZWA (I had it sitting on the top of a 2-post server rack.
Either way at this moment it's working so I'll monitor for a few days. If it keeps working, I'll mark this as solved. If not I'll share all the log details.

[dcmeglio]

The one device is working fine, the other one reported dead about an hour after I posted that and won't come back. It is in a metal box (I don't have a choice for this one). An interesting fact before I pull logs. I had an Enerwave Relay in this exact spot (not LR, mesh). It was working fine until about 2 weeks ago, I don't know if it's just coincidence but it went dead right around the time I upgraded to this:

zwave-js-ui: 11.24.2
zwave-js: 15.31.0

I'm going to see if I can move the ZWA-2 (firmware 1.2) closer. But other than that I have no other options.

[robertsLando]

@AlCalzone