Z-Wave 500 Series Beta

The closed beta for the Z-Wave 500 Series was announced on Monday, July 09, 2018. The beta was limited to 100 very eager volunteers who did not mind spending some time testing the newest ISY 500 series Z-Wave dongle. As of July 14, 2018, the retail price for this dongle was be $39.94. Beta users were allowed to purchase the dongle for $19.94 + shipping. In the unlikely event that the Z-Wave 500 series beta hardware required a change, beta users would have be provided with a replacement free of charge. Otherwise, everything else was field upgradable.

Z-Wave 500 Series Closed Beta Installation Instructions

You must be running 5.0.13
If you have an existing Z-Wave network, and you care to preserve it, you will need to backup your existing Z-Wave dongle(Z-Wave | Tools | Backup) … this is going to take a LONG time
If you don't currently have a Z-Wave network, or if you don't care about preserving your current network and want to start from scratch, you do not need to backup your dongle.
Disable “query at restart”
Power down the ISY, make sure to disconnect all cables and power
Install the new Z-Wave dongle
Restore your Z-Wave dongle by doing Z-Wave | Tools | Restore … this is going to be pretty fast
Test communications, backup, and range (should be a little better)
Do not perform a Network Heal initially. please test everything and only do a Network Heal IF and ONLY IF necessary.
After everything has been confirmed as functioning normally, you can re-enable “query at restart”

Additional Notes

Z-Wave 500 Series dongle does not have external antenna support, external antennas were, more often than not, problematic.
Z-Wave 500 Series dongle does not have an onboard LED, this will make installation into the ISY much easier.
ISY will eventually support OTA Z-Wave updates, for z-wave hardware that supports these types of updates.