I’ve installed about 15 of the new switches and have seen some interesting behavior. I also noticed that there were four different security levels installed when I included the switches. S2 failed, s0 downgrade, z wave legacy nonsecure and Zwave s0 legacy. Anyone have an idea which one if should be and how the same switch could do this? The inovelli team feels this is why association isn’t working for me but am wondering if this could be why switches freeze. Anyone else experience this?
Is there a way to change the security settings or do I have to reinclude and pray it works? Thanks
This can be a deep rabbit hole I’m afraid. For most zwave platforms, the ability to force specific security levels is usually not exposed. I’ve worked with vera, openHAB, and a few other platforms and typically, the security is automatically selected based on the reception of the switch you’re trying to add. The highest level is first priority, but inclusion will often fall back to lower levels of security if the zwave signal is not strong enough to send the necessary encryption.
It can get complicated because for some hubs, secure inclusion requires a strong zwave signal direct to the hub (must be in close proximity) at time of pairing. In newer setups, the secure inclusion pairing can sometimes be passed through repeater devices on your zwave network.
You are correct in that the association can be dependent on the security level. I believe the zwave protocol specification requires all devices to be on the same security level for association to work.
I have not experienced the switch freezing behavior you mention, but I’m not using any association at the moment
So the question is which security should it actually be since I have had the same switch include with 4 different security levels. I was thinking of reincluding the ones that it shouldn’t be
Good question. Unfortunately, association is a fairly hazy area of the zwave protocol and I don’t think everyone implements it the same way. From what I’ve observed, the way it works may be hub dependent. It’d be a good idea to check with the community for your hub (smarthings, vera) to see if anyone has had any similar experience.
It’s easy to assume the least secure inclusion would offer the most compatibility, but I know with the zwave standard, that’s not always the case (for example, some locks don’t work unless they’re securely included). That said, light switches usually don’t need security.