Minoston Z-Wave On/Off Switch Smart Light Switch in-Wall Paddle, Support 3-Way Installation, Work with Smartthings & Wink, Signal Repeater, Required Z-Wave Hub, FCC & ETL Listed (MS10Z)

I don’t usually write reviews, but I had to for this product. I have installed and replaced so many “smart” devices over the years, and this one has blown many of them out of the water. Until my recent dip into the unknown waters of Zwave, I mainly used Wifi devices like the Wemo smart switches. These never connect properly, and they are an absolute pain to install. I never tried Zwave because it was an unknown, and Wifi was known. Now I see the benefits of Zwave, and will be replacing my Wifi devices. The connection is reliable, it works with tons of different devices, and I only need ONE APP. Previously, I had to use many different apps at once: Wemo, Kasa, Tether, IFTTT, MyQ, Alexa, Nest. Now I can get away with SmartThings and Alexa. For this product, there were a few points I wanted to make: • Install o Easy install with labeled terminals. You can use the push in holes or wrap around the screw. The instructions were a little complex for the average DIY home owner, but anyone savvy enough for a Zwave home probably understands the difference between line and load. The switch does not have the dreaded break off tabs, and the metal sides are just the right size for a gang box with multiple switches. I hate installing multiple switches together because it is so hard to get them all lined up with the faceplate. With these switches, they line up perfectly. They are also a little shallower than the Wemo switches, which saves valuable space in the box for the wires. I also like that these switches do not force you to use wires built into the back of the switch, like the Wemo dimmer switches. These wires were the cheapest quality and were very easy to break. o One HUGE pro to this product is that each switch requires that you have a neutral wire, and to make this easy, they have included a jump wire in the package. This is a small length of wire you can use to run from the switch to a group of neutral wires connected with a wire nut. No one else includes this, and I consider it a massive plus. • Setup o Since it’s Zwave, setup is pretty easy. In the SmartThings app you just add a device and choose the Minoston brand. Then you pick the appropriate switch (I bought the on/off and the smart dimmer styles). Once the app starts searching, you just click down on the switch three times. After that, you are ready for automations! • Function o The switch works great. It takes some getting used to, though. Since it looks so much like a regular switch, when you press it and feel the resistance it can throw you off for a second. Also, the dimmers look just like the on/off switches, so you have to remember that you can hold up or down to brighten or dim. The led light on each switch is very nice for finding it in the dark, too. I have not used these in a two pole setup, so I can’t say whether they work well in those situations. • Aestetics o The switch looks just like a standard decorator switch except for the LED and the reset tab at the bottom. I never liked that the Wemo switches stuck out so much from all the other switches in the house. • Quality o These are very high quality. I am impressed with how sturdy they feel and that they don’t require me to use their own built-in flimsy wires. The switch press feels good, and it doesn’t feel like I’m going to break it when I press. • Value o For the price, these are the best Zwave switches I’ve seen. I have a couple of the GE Enbrighten switches, and these seem like exact replicas (but cheaper). I won’t be buying anything else. Overall, I am extremely impressed at the quality of this product and how much better it is than my previous switches. I would recommend this to anyone trying to figure out which Zwave switch is the best. This one does what you need (turns on, turns off) and works in the SmartThings app. 10/10, will buy again.

Don’t listen to the one star reviews. Especially the one by Tery McDanel. These are easy to install because they have screw down terminals. The best kind on the market. Better than traditional switch terminals, better than push terminals, and as all options are; better than service wires that you have to wire nut to your existing wiring. They work very well, and the instructions are very clear. It was easy to wire them up to existing 3 and four ways switches for control from as many locations as you want. The manual was also clear about how to add them to your zwave network. (Quickly press three times on either top or bottom of paddle) I have somewhere around 30 of these installed, and paired to Vera. No issues at all.

I have plenty (about a dozen) of other switches but this time, after one old switch has died on me, I felt adventurous and decided to try out new model. It’s hit-or-miss when it came to performance: one hour I could control the switch, the next one the device “went offline” (as far as SmartThings hub concerned), an hour later again “never mind, device is online again”. I ended up excluding that switch from automation routine because of this unreliable behavior and for now us use it as a dumb manual switch…

I purchased these these 2 replace a couple GE/Jasco on/off switches that died in a recent power outage. I try to stay away from GE/Jasco On/Off switches because I have had about a 40% failure rate on the 30+ on/off switched I installed. These switches were the cheapest GE alternate I found. Although they work and seem relatively close to the GE ones, there are a few differences. First, pairing requires a tripple up or down click. These also support hold for 10 seconds to reset. Unlike the GE, these do not have the little rectangle at the bottom of the switch you can pull out to disconnect power from the switch. I use that feature when my GE switches die because they often make strange clicking sounds continually. Pulling the little rectangle switch out shuts it off till I can replace it. These also do not have the side flanges that can be broken off if needed to go in a multi switch box. The side flanges give a little more support in the electrical box but not a big deal. I do have one switch I replaced that goes in my outside shed. I was able to initially set that one up fine with the GE switch. With these, I had to set it up in the house first, then move it to the shed. I am guessing that is because the signal on these are not quite as strong. Overall I am happy with the switches.

The instructions it comes with were poor, at best. Despite that, I was able to verify that the switch was in inclusion mode just by the rapidly blinking LED light. Even with the SmartThings hub less than a foot from the switch, it still would not pair with the hub. I tried resetting the switch multiple times. Still would not pair. This is my 4th brand of Z-Wave switch I've tried but the first time I've ever had an issue like this.

switch was easy to install and connect easily with my system. I appreciated the inclusion of a jumper wire to connect the neutral and the short screws to attach a switch plate. The physical toggle looks odd, but it makes it clear it’s not a normal switch. Overall, I’m very pleased with the quality and function.

Instructions for single/multiple switch instructions were included and of excellent quality/easy to understand an follow. Z-Wave connection to Z-Stick hub was straight-forward and successful on 1st try. Z-Stick is the Z-Wave hub/controller on a Raspberry running Domoticz.

Works wonderfully when using apps on smartphone to control or Amazon Alexa & Google Home mini with voice control. To use it as a manual normal switch, seems to be working very intermittently. Sometimes I get so tired of pressing the toggle switch so many times to turn it on or off, with absolutely no response, I end up just telling Alexa to turn on or off. Very disappointing!!