Review on Ultimate SmartThings MP22Z: Unbeatable Weatherproof Protection Plus Connectivity by Jacob Seymour

I have used Insteon based products in various conditions for a long time. While they can be finicky, I've generally had fairly reliable performance once I got them up and running. While I don't have much experience with Z-Wave, I've always read about the claimed benefits, one of which is having sensors and thermostats over Insteon. Long story short, I recently installed a Z-Wave thermostat after replacing my oven and found that my Insteon thermostat does not support it. Unfortunately I got Z-Wave transmission errors even though my thermostat was only a few meters away from the Z-Wave gateway. Some transmission errors and based on everything I've read about Z-Wave mesh technology I figured adding an extra device or two (which I don't really need but could use) might improve transmission reliability. This plug seemed to fit the bill. Unfortunately, this unit appears to be just as location sensitive as my existing thermostat. I could get it working if I keep it in the right place, but when I tried to install it (about 15ft from the airlock, out of sight) - no bones. I ended up just sending it back because it seemed like more hassle than it was worth. I will say that in the short time I've had it it seemed like a great device (build quality etc) and I really don't have enough experience with Z-Wave to determine if this is common or just that poor performance of this device is . While I understand that manufacturers of such products have an incentive to exaggerate the performance of their products, if those characteristics are typical, as stated in the spec, they simply aren't the case (or at least not for me).