Zwave and groups -> how does it work?

[tlpeter]

How do these groups work within zwave?

All my zwave devices seem to have group 1 but what does it do?
What if i have a switch in group 2 and i add another device in group 2? will i be able to toggle the switch to activate the other device in group 2?
I cannot find a good explaination on the web.

[gizmocuz]

It should be explained in the manual of your sensors.
Each sensor can have a different behavior of what it will send to a group.
Most times 'Group 1' is the controller, all devices should have node 1 (the controller) in group 1

There is a nice book on amazon about ZWave

[tlpeter]

Thanks. Then i thought right i guess
One switch keeps having group 3 enabled and i think this is for the second switch on the module.
I do not have enough modules yet to play around with this.

[tonygair]

I've only just noticed this "grouping" thing and I am wondering if it is causing my transient connection problems. How do you actually add a device to a group? I cannot see it in my version of domoticz which is 2255, the latest stable pi image. I am also wondering if adding relays can make a system less stable.

[tlpeter]

Go to hardware and click on the setup button on zwave.
Go to node management and select groups and network.

[tonygair]

I just get a screen showing the connection relationships between the controller and nodes. There does not seem to be any way to alter anything. From what I understand above, nodes should be able to be added to a group?

[Doume]

I'm in the same situation than 'tonygair' : I don't see any way to add a node to a group, on 'node management' screen

[tonygair]

my groups and network screen has nothing about groups on it. All my devices report straight to the controller. I have not set any groups and am not sure how to do it, but it does look like they are fairly essential to the stability of the system. ** so so confused **

[Domosapiens]

What I see in my situation:
Push Setup of the Z-stick.
Click Node management and select Groups & Network

Node management.JPG (51.22 KiB) Viewed 17832 times

In Group1 all nodes report to the controller with id 1

Group 1 reporting to controller 1.JPG (90.44 KiB) Viewed 17832 times

If not available, push the plus sign and add number 1

Group 2 and 3 can be used for secondary control with Key Fob or Remote Control (afaik)

Remove others.JPG (95.23 KiB) Viewed 17832 times

The blue marked Group 2 and 3 assignments are in my case currently useless, and can be removed by clicking the number 1.
After F5, they are updated.

Hope this helps,
Domoticz

[Doume]

In my case, I have :
1 controller node 1
1 node 26 (philio multi sensor)
1 node 28 (siren)

Only node 26 appears like on your screenshot ( in column 'group1', the value '1' and a '+' sign
But for controller and node 28, nothing in line ( no '1', nor '+' sign : blank line !)

groups.jpg (66.12 KiB) Viewed 17830 times

How to add something to node 28, if '+' sign is'nt displayed ?

[sidepipe]

Not everything has association groups, they're only used for a device to have direct control over ( or direct reporting to ) another device. A siren can not control anything, and I'm assuming yours doesn't support auto-reporting of it's status either. In my network I have a load of radiator valves... they don't have association groups because they can't control something else, and only report their status to the controller. My thermostats, however, DO have association groups, because they can automatically switch something on or off when they need heat.

[Doume]

Ah Ok, that becomes clear for me, now...
so, if I wish the node 26 send a command to node 28, I've to add '28' to line relative to node 26, that's right ?

[leby]

Correct, add node 28 to group one on node 26, then you will need earplugs

[Doume]

Thanks for answers....

[tonygair]

This is so so interesting. I don't actually have any groups listed. It only has node and name heading on the text table!

[dijkdj]

Have you clicked on groups and network?

[tonygair]

I have clicked on hardware, then the setup button for the ZWave device. Then I clicked on the Network management button and then the 'Groups and Network' button in the menu that appears.

I then get the same inter node diagram that you have, with a table beside it. The Table though only has the node number and the name in the headings with no group information. I am using the raspberry pi version of domoticz vers 2.382 . There is clearly something I am missing here!

[sidepipe]

I think that it only shows the groups that your devices have.... i.e. if you have one device that has 3 association groups, then three groups will show in the table. It follows that if you have no nodes that have association groups, then the table won't show any group info.

[tonygair]

Nows thats interesting and probably the reason my devices are dropping out! My devices have no groups! I need to associate them.

Does any one know how I do this? can I do it through domoticz?

[sidepipe]

Sorry - I probably wasn't clear.... there is a difference between a node "having" association groups and having associations in those groups. What I'm saying is that if none of the devices in your network HAVE association groups ( i.e. none of those devices can directly control other devices, which is down to the design of the devices rather than anything you do ) then the groups won't show up in Domoticz. IF one of your devices has association groups then the groups WOULD show in Domoticz and you would be able to associate other nodes using it.