iBlinds with HP23

As HP23 user with z-wave issues:

I’ve noticed that specially the iBlinds motion blinds are the biggest problem at this moment. They didn’t react anymore and overload the network traffic.

Recently I’ve shut down the iBlinds app to make the rest of the z-wave devices (multiple brands like Fibaro, Quibino) work. But as you can guess, the blinds are not usable :face_with_peeking_eye::pensive: since the move from Fibaro HC3 to Homey.

Maybe can the developper investigate and update the iBlinds V3 app? :pray:

Shouldn’t HP2023’s Z-Wave be fixed first to see if that solves your problems?

Maybe, I’ll believe it’s bigger than that. The blinds are very chatty, don’t know about what. There must be a part in the App programming that triggers de device continuous. Within 10 minutes up to 1000 errors per blind.

Luckily, the app code is available: https://github.com/chancehiblinds/Athom-Homey/blob/ZWaveDevice/com.myiblinds/drivers/iblindsv3/device.js

But spoiler alert: the only thing it does is tell Homey’s system software which messages to expect from the device, and what they mean.

So again, just wait for Homey’s Z-Wave to be fixed.

I also guess that it has to do with the general Z-Wave problem that some users are experiencing. Especially because no changes have been made to the app in the last 2 years.
However, I wonder why you don’t contact the developer directly? Contact options are available in the App Store:

I’ve contact the App developer already, not on the mail to iBlinds (= manufacturer). We’ll see and hopefully soon a z-wave fix from Athom :pray:

I stopped using HP23 and switched to HC3 for this issue. Please keep us updated because as soon as it is resolved, as I might consider moving back to Homey.

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Update 10.1.0 make the control of the blinds less worse, 6 of the 10 commands we’re received, but overload my network again by adding a new device or control other devices :pensive:

I’ve just installed 3 blind motors in my living room, and I’ve set up a flow to automate their opening/closing based on sunrise/set. the 3 motors are for blinds covering 1 set of patio doors so ideally I would like to treat them as though they are just one set of blinds, however at the moment when the flow sends the command to open the blinds, its as though the Homey tells them all to open one by one so rather than opening in unison they open one at a time. Is this just a limitation of z-wave, or does anybody know what I can do to change this?

I’ve used advanced flows so set it up so that the ‘when’ trigger, sends out the ‘then’ command to all 3 blinds, so they should receive the command all at the same time

To much traffic in the iBlinds app, same problem here. Already contact Athom to develop perhaps a new app. Original app owner doesnt respond.

Oh, that’s disappointing. I naively thought that the app would store all the information it needs on the Homey, and so it would just send a command straight to the blinds motor via z-wave, I didn’t realise it would need to communicate with a server anywhere outside of my house. Frustrating if true, I wish I knew how to code myself

Yes me 2. In the meantime I’ve buyed a second hand HC2 from Fibaro to make it work with some remote switches.

Lets hope they will develop a new official app :pray: For the urgency you should make a ticket at Athom :pray: to wish for a new app.

I’ve had 7 iblinds. i couldn’t get them working reliably, even not with a HC3.

You should sell them and buy a Somfy Switch and Somfy Tilt only 50’s instead.

Honestly I’ve tried my best to buy Somfy but nobody in the UK, including Somfy themselves would sell me just their motors, and I already have the blinds

Ok. To answer your question: you should open/close them one by one, ideally with 5-10s delay. That is the only way I got it almost reliable with a HC3. with Homey they had so much traffic that it disturbed my entire Zwave network.(1year ago, so maybe some Homey update fixed this already)

Otherwise they interfere with each other, possibly resulting in one blind not responding, etc.

You can find the recommended delay also in iBlinds FAQ.

I think you’ve misunderstood my query; I was hoping to get all 3 blind motors to act as one and all open at the same time.

They all work fine so far, it’s just that one opens, and then when it’s finished opening the next one opens, and then when that’s finished the last one opens. It’s almost as though the honey pro sends the signal to open to them one at a time, whereas ideally I would like them all to respond to the same signal so the honey pro sends out one signal to open and then all 3 of the blinds receive the signal and interpret it as their command and then they open at the same time.

I get what you mean. Even if you find a way to open them all at once, there is a high chance that one of them won’t open sometimes because of disturbed Zwave signal. iBlinds recommends that you open them one by one, with a few seconds delay in between. See https://support.myiblinds.com/knowledge-base/intermittent-connectivity-v3/

Having multiple Z-Wave commands happening at the same time can increase wireless interference and in turn cause wireless frames to crash into each other and produce unreliable operation. Especially in the case of Z-Wave devices that sleep and wake up occasionally to check for commands (such as iblinds). Additional Z-Wave traffic is generated when wake-up commands are sent prior to sending the Z-Wave set command to each blind. The Z-Wave protocol usually does a great job of handling all of this Z-Wave traffic but occasionally we have seen where this is not the case.

For example, instead of having all your blinds operate with a single command, separate them by adding a 10-60 second delay between each command. (Delay time will vary based on your network). The hope is by adding the delay there will be less traffic generated and this will increase the chances of the Z-Wave message successfully reaching its destination.

As I said before, I’ve had 7 of them for about a year now. I’m replacing them with Somfy 50 tilt only’s, I did everything I could to get them working properly. With delay of few seconds in between, they work 19 out of 20 times ok. That is not good enough for me… :frowning:

Just had contact with Athom about this issue and the hope for an official app…

This is the reaction today:

"Ik heb onze collega gevraagd naar de status van de samenwerking en ik ben blij je te vertellen dat de officiële iBlinds App eraan komt!

Ze zijn op dit moment bezig om de App te integreren en te testen. Op welk termijn je de App exact kan verwachten mag ik nog geen uitspraken over doen."

Be patient and we will experience.

I can indeed confirm that iBlinds is working on an integration. I haven’t heard from them in a while so I’ll reach out to see if they can confirm the current status. Keep you posted! :raised_hands: