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ThinkEssentials 2.1 (builds 2+) include a new "network diagnostics" feature.  This features allows you to view network topology details, signal strength, and overall success probability of messages on your Z-Wave network.

Feature 1: View overall network map and quality
To use this feature, press F8.  All devices on your network in direct range will be marked as "one hop" with a small "1" in a circle.  Devices a hop away will receive a "2," etc.  Hop count goes to 5, and anything beyond 5 or not reachable is marked with a red "X".  Once all devices are marked with their hop counts, the software sends ten packets to each device on the network.  The success rate (quality) is marked by the color and level of the gauge "ring" surrounding the device.  Green is good, red indicates failure.  The gauge will be completely full for a working connection, and red for failures.  Battery-powered devices are not tested with this feature, since they are generally asleep.

Why use this feature?  This feature shows any devices which are "isolated" (no neighbors) as well as devices which are likely to fail during normal operation.  If a device has a red gauge, use this information to analyze the links surrounding the device to determine if there are devices with bad antennas, etc.

Feature 2: View device signal strength
To use this feature, right-click on a device and select "view signal strength."  All devices in direct range of the target will be marked as "one hop" with a small "1" in a circle.  If the device supports "link testing" (many of the nicer devices), the signal reliability for each neighboring device will be tested.  The quality of the link is marked by the color and level of the gauge "ring" surrounding the devices.  Green is a good link, yellow is a suboptimal link, and red indicates a weak link.  If a link quality cannot be calculated, the ring will remain a translucent white color; in this case, try moving in direct range of the main device being tested.

To test signal strength of another device, click on another device; to exit this mode press "Done."

Why use this feature?  This feature helps identify weak links in the system.  If a device does not have good links, it may have a weak or broken antenna inside of it or it may be too far from other devices on the network (i.e. on the fringe).  Replace the device or add additional devices in the area, respectively.

Feature 3: View device signal strength _and hop count from device_
This feature is identical to feature #2, but also shows the hop count from any device to all other devices on the network.  Hop counts to all devices are identified and devices which cannot be reached from the selected device are marked with the small red "out of range" (X) in a circle.  Signal strength is only tested to direct neighbors of the device; all other devices at two or more hops are not tested since this is a signal quality test, not packet success test.

To use this feature, press Shift+F8 and then select the device to test.

Why use this feature?  This feature can be used to better understand the topology of the network from the perspective of any network device.  It is also useful to detect when isolated devices cannot be reached from a sensor, etc.

Chris
ControlThink

Thanks Santa!

 

My "kingpin" device at the top of the basement stairs, which should be line-of-sight to most devices on the main floor, appears to be struggling.  It shows translucent with respect to almost everyone else in the house.  No wonder I'm having sensor routing issues!  It looked like the antenna was attached when I changed the faceplate.  Time to have another look...

 Quick Experience:

  The "F8" for signal strength is too hard to discover.  If I hadn't read this post, I wouldn't know about it.

  When using the f8-analysis, the "Press done when finished" banner obscures 5 of my devices, and I can't seem to move the banner.

  The "Signal Strength" bit I can't seem to get to work.  The cursor changes to have a circle below and to the right.  But clicking on devices doesn't seem to do anything.  Clicking "done" dismisses the whole subsystem.  And, of course, 5 devices are obscured by the banner :(.

   The "shift-f8" is definitely too hard to discover.  And just like signal strength, I can't seem to select a device.

 

garylm:

Please note that a fully-transparent circle means that we could not get a reading.  That may be because the "selected device" doesn't support link quality checks (which is an optional feature in Z-Wave).  Only a red or yellow gauge indicates a problem.

But then again, if you get no neighbors to your "kingpin" device that could indicate a problem for sure...

Chris

JeffS,

Thank you very much for your feedback.  We actually "hid" the Shift+F8 feature so that only powerusers who wanted it would even know it was there.  It is often useful to see the hop count + direct signal strength, but it's confusing to many users (since only direct devices are measured and since it's measuring signal strength instead of successful packet counts).

On the F8 feature, I agree that we should make that more visible.  It's probably going to stay as F8 in 2.1, but we'll see what we can do to make it a very visible feature in a future release.

Now, onto the bigger issues...

Dropdown: we have a "scrollmap" UI element which we will be adding to move the map around so you can see under the dropdown and also view a larger map.  It's currently official scheduled as a 2.2 feature, but we're trying to slip it into 2.1.  For now, I can only apologize that a few devices may be hidden by it during the signal strength operation.

When you say that you can't select a device to measure "signal strength," are you activating the "advanced" mode via shift+f8 or the "standard" mode by right-clicking on a device and selecting the "view signal strength" menu option?  You should be able to select any device after going into either mode, and in the latter case it should select the target device automatically.  Please provide more information, screenshots, etc. so we can address this issue; thank you.

Chris
ControlThink

Chris,

Would it be possible to set the transmit power level, at least in F8 mode when gauging hops with respect to the ThinkEssentials dongle?  I would like the ThinkEssentials dongle to mimick a sensor by transmitting at low power.  I would then hang the dongle next to the sensor - maybe even orienting the dongle's antenna in the same plane as the sensor's antenna.  Then I could see who that sensor's best neighbor would be if the sensor itself was doing the transmitting.

It appears that the dongle, in this case the ThinkStick, is currently set to transmit at high power during F8 mode.  I see mostly one-hop-greens, even on my devices down in the basement.

That's a great idea; what else would you guys like to see?

Chris

How about a export/import floorplan feature?

I pulled the faceplace on my "kingpin" Vizia RF switch, and noticed that the antenna looked a bit short.  There's a plastic piece behind the faceplate that holds the antenna in place and runs the length of the antenna.  In this case, the antenna holder appeared to be much longer than the antenna.  I pulled the faceplates on two other switches, and sure enough, their antennas ran almost to the end of the plastic piece.  The antenna on the troubled device was nearly 1/4-inch shorter than the other antennas.  A quarter inch at that frequency is huge.

I unsoldered the short antenna, soldered in a new wire, trimmed it to length, and ran the F8 utility again.  My kingpin switch is now bright green instead of translucent.  And my sensors are all communicating happily with the controller.

The F8 utility has left me with a deeply satisfied grin painted on my face.

Best new Z-Wave product of the year! 

Gary,

Wow, what an interesting find.  I'm glad you like the new features!

Chris

That is some good detective work. I'm glad you posted about this since I've had several device that seem to be on the edge even though they were well within the reach of other devices.

The Z-Wave devices that I've opened up all appear to be using 1/4 wavelength antennas.  At 908.42 MHz that would be about 3.25 inches.  Wall switches such as the Vizia RF may be using the mounting plate as a ground plane, in which case you would need a formula to calculate the length of the antenna (3.091 inches in this case).  Some of the fancy formulas also take into account the diameter of the wire and even the thickness of the insulation.  But a 1/4-inch ground plane antenna is a fairly forgiving, broad-band design, and you probably don't need to get too fancy.