Hub won't reach garage - options?

[mardak]

Hello. I have installed a few caseta dimmers for a client, but can't get the signal to reach the caseta switches in the detached garage (about 30' from the house). I have tried a lamp dimmer installed in the back corner of the house as a repeater, but it doesn't communicate with the garage switches. Is the (backordered) repeater better at extending the signal than the lamp dimmer? Any other options that don't require splitting the setup in two? I don't understand why they didn't include an ethernet port on the repeater to extend the system without relying on wireless bridging.

Thanks,

Mark.

[Kyle L.]

Hello Mark. The Caseta repeater (PD-REP-WH) can go up to 60' away from the bridge and will provide it's own 30' in each direction coverage sphere. This would be the best option for getting all of the devices on the same system.

[mardak]

Thanks for the quick reply Kyle. Does the repeater have a better range than the lamp dimmer (as a repeater)? I don't think the repeater installed in the garage will reach the hub installed (centrally) in the basement of the house. I have attempted to use the lamp dimmer installed as close to the garage as possible in the house as a repeater, but it doesn't reach the dimmers in the garage. Will a repeater in the garage have better range than a dimmer in the garage trying to reach the lamp dimmer (as a repeater) in the house?

Thanks!

Mark

Hello Mark. The Caseta repeater (PD-REP-WH) can go up to 60' away from the bridge and will provide it's own 30' in each direction coverage sphere. This would be the best option for getting all of the devices on the same system.

[Kyle L.]

Yes, the Caseta repeater does have a better range than the lamp dimmer. The repeater can go up to 60' from the main bridge, while the lamp dimmer must fall within 30' of either the bridge or repeater. The lamp dimmer also only broadcasts a 15' in each direction signal while the repeater broadcasts 30' in each direction. Here is a snippet from our support page which illustrates the coverage ranges for each of these devices.

[Stevemo]

I'd be curious to know if a PICO paired to the switches in question will work from the house completely independant of the app or repeater. If not, I would start walking away from the garage with the PICO to figure out where the link breaks down. I was outside last night and was able to get 150 feet of range from a PICO to an outdoor mounted switch...I would have gone further but I would have needed a canoe.
The repeater doesn't have Ethernet because it is just like any of the other devices. You just put it where you want it and pair it with the app. From there you can keep relocating it until you get the results you desire.

[randyc]

The repeater is a better option. Keep in mind, the repeater will only get you to the garage. You may need to add the lamp dimmer in the garage as a repeater.

Moving the lamp dimmer/repeater around may help. Higher is generally better. Moving it to the 2nd floor may help. The room next door may not be the closest but it might work. RF is weird. No canoe required!