home-assistant.io/source/_docs/z-wave/controllers.markdown

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Z-Wave Controllers	Extended instructions how to setup Z-Wave.

Supported Z-Wave USB Sticks & Hardware Modules

You need to have a compatible Z-Wave stick or module installed. The following devices have been confirmed to work with Z-Wave JS:

• 700 series controllers

  • Aeotec Z-Stick 7
  • Zooz ZST10 700
  • Silicon Labs SLUSB7000A

• 500 series controllers

  • Aeotec Z-Stick Gen5 (see note below)
  • Everspring USB stick - Gen 5
  • GoControl HUSBZB-1 stick
  • Sigma Designs UZB stick
  • Vision USB stick - Gen5
  • ZWave.me UZB1 stick

• Rasberry Pi Modules

  • Aeotec Z-Pi 7 (700 series)
  • ZWave.me Razberry Board (500 series)

If you are just starting out, we recommend that you purchase a 700 series controller to take advantage of the latest improvements. At the very least, you should purchase a Z-Wave Plus controller.

Not all of the above devices are supported by the deprecated Z-Wave integration.

If you're using Home Assistant OS, Supervised, or Container, it's recommended to use a USB stick, not a module. Passing a module through Docker is more complicated than passing a USB stick through.

Stick Alternatives

The alternative to a stick is a hub that supports Z-Wave. Home Assistant supports the following hubs with Z-Wave support:

• Vera
• Fibaro
• SmartThings

Controller Notes

Aeotec Z-Stick

There are known compatibility issues with older hardware versions of the Aeotec stick not working on the Raspberry Pi 4. Aeotec has released a 2020 hardware revision ZW090-A/B/C Gen5+ with Pi 4 compatibility. Both hardware revisions are still being sold, make informed purchasing decisions if using paired with a Pi 4.

It's totally normal for your Z-Wave stick to cycle through its LEDs (Yellow, Blue and Red) while plugged into your system.

Razberry Board

You need to disable the on-board Bluetooth since the board requires the use of the hardware UART (and there's only one on the Pi3). You do this by adding the following to the end of /boot/config.txt:

For both processes below you will need to insert your SD card into your PC and open the /boot/config.txt file with your favorite text editor.

Raspberry Pi 4 procedure

Add the following parameters to the bottom of the /boot/config.txt file.

dtoverlay=disable-bt
enable_uart=1

Reboot your Pi 4 without the Razberry Z-Wave hat first. Then shutdown, add the hat back, and boot again.

Raspberry Pi 3 procedure

Add the following parameters to the bottom of the /boot/config.txt file.

dtoverlay=disable-bt

Reboot your Pi 3.

For Home Assistant OS this should be everything you need to do. You should now be able to use Razberry Z-Wave from /dev/ttyAMA0.

For other operating systems such as Raspberry Pi OS you will also have to run the following command:

sudo systemctl disable hciuart

You should also check the README for details on the overlays. You might find it in /boot/overlays/README on your SD-card. If it is not there you can find the official version here.

It is possible to keep a limited Bluetooth functionality while using Razberry Z-Wave. Check boot/overlays/README on miniuart-bt.

disable-bt was previously known as pi3-disable-bt. If your OS is old, you might need to use this instead.

If you've installed the Z-Way software, you'll need to ensure you disable it before you install Home Assistant or you won't be able to access the board. Do this with sudo /etc/init.d/z-way-server stop; sudo update-rc.d z-way-server disable.