Home Assistant Connect ZWA-2 & ZBT-2
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I started with Vera Edge, then Plus, and eventually moved my Z-Wave network to Z-Wave.me UZB. Recently, I wanted to experiment with Z-Wave Long Range, so I needed a new controller. I had Home Assistant Connect ZWA-2 on my radar for a while, and I pulled the trigger thanks to Black Friday offers. It was the least complicated migration ever: back up the old, unplug it, stop ZWaveJS, plug in the new controller, and restore the backup—done in a breeze.
I let the mesh adapt for a couple of days, and the result is impressive: 80% of my devices are now reporting directly to the controller. The Z-Wave network feels crazy fast. My setup includes about 70 devices, and I struggled a lot with Vera. I had missing reports on UZB as well, even if sporadic. In the first days of use, this new setup seems definitely better, and its range is phenomenal. More on that later.
Since I was at it, I moved my ZigBee network from Hue Bridge (only lights) to Home Assistant Connect ZBT-2 and ZigBee2MQTT, because I wanted to add more ZigBee devices to my network. It seems that all the little weird devices are ZigBee now—I bought a couple of temp/humidity sensors and a ThirdReality Night Light. I'm using it to turn red if the alarm is armed, and as a white night light in the hallway when not armed: very nice to automate with Reactor via Home Assistant.
The ZigBee mesh is still small at 10 devices, but it will eventually improve.
Here's a pic of the two antennas: ZWA-2 on the right, ZBT-2 in the center, and a 33cl bottle of water on the left for comparison.
The ZWA-2 is huge. No wonder it's able to span across three floors and reach the garden with no hops. Mind you, my house is concrete and glass, so not the best in terms of signal. Highly recommended if you want a very powerful Z-Wave antenna, with support for Long Range as well.




