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Rako Wireless: Taking Over an Existing System (Cloud Hub & RASoft Rebuild)

What this covers

You are adding a new Rako wireless hub (RK-HUB) to an existing Rako wireless installation so the customer gets the Rako app, cloud and voice control, and you do not have the original RASoft project file.

The key point, which is easy to get wrong when quoting: you do not pair devices to the hub. Every keypad and module already has a House, Room and Channel address stored in it. The hub simply joins the same House number and listens. The job is to rebuild the project file (names of rooms, circuits and scenes) so the app has something to show, then upload it to the hub.

You do not need to physically reach every module. Most are in-line modules behind fittings or in ceiling voids, and they are never touched.

Check before you start

CheckWhy it matters
Wireless or wired system?RK-HUB is the wireless hub. WK-HUB is the wired one (needs a RAK-LINK). Wrong hub, wrong job.
Is there already a hub or bridge on site with a project file?If yes, use Room Import (Option A below), which saves hours.
Keypad typeRCM keypads can be read by DIP switch and cannot be imported. NFC keypads (RNC, RK-EOS, RK-MOD, RCI-4L, RCI-7M) need a RAMPI or a hub to read their addresses.
Is the house on House 1?Rako advise against House 1 (interference from neighbouring systems). Changing it means re-addressing everything, so raise it with the customer first.
Any existing WRA-232 (RS232/Ethernet bridge)?It is an AV integration bridge, not a RASoft/app hub. Leave it dedicated to Control4. It does not replace an RK-HUB.
Surveyed countsRooms, keypads per room, circuits per room, blind controllers and their make.

Option A: the project file already exists somewhere

Fastest route. Try these first, they cost minutes:

  1. Ask the original installer or integrator for the .rasoft project file.
  2. If a hub or bridge with an up-to-date project uploaded is on the network, use Room Import: create a blank project, connect to the hub, add it as a device (File, New Device, HUB/Bridge), open the Room Import tab, Download Data, then Import Data (Rooms, Channels and Scenes) and Import Scene and Colour Levels.
  3. If the Control4 system drives the Rako, the Composer project may hold Room and Channel numbers for the circuits it controls. This usually covers only the rooms Control4 uses, not the whole house.

If none of these exist, use Option B.

Option B: rebuild the project file from the live system

1. Hub install and House number

  1. Connect the RK-HUB to the network.
  2. Open RASoft Pro on a laptop on the same network. The hub appears in the Communication window (red stop sign). Press Refresh if not.
  3. Right-click it, Open in Browser, run the web wizard: set a password (this is also the app password). When it asks for the House number, use the one you read from the keypad in step 2 (read it first if you have not yet). Never leave it on 1.

2. Read the House number from one keypad

  1. Take one RCM keypad off the wall.
  2. Add up the DIP switches in the up position: switch 1 = 1, 2 = 2, 3 = 4, 4 = 8, 5 = 16, 6 = 32, 7 = 64, 8 = 128. That gives the number for each bank (House and Room).
  3. Put the keypad back. This is the only keypad you have to remove.

3. Create the project and connect

  1. New Project Wizard, enter the House number you just read.
  2. Set the hub to the same House number, connect to it (double-click the stop sign to get the tick). If a House number warning pops up, cancel and fix the mismatch before going further.

4. Find every Room number

  1. With the hub connected, press any button on one keypad in each room. Solid blue light means it transmitted.
  2. RASoft shows the Room number (and scene) in the Communication Devices panel, for example "Room 13, Scene 1".
  3. Create each Room (File, New Room) using the discovered number. You only need one keypad per room, not every keypad.
  4. Right-click a room, Dip Switches, to confirm the House and Room number match what you saw.

5. Find every circuit (this is the load discovery)

  1. Stand in the room.
  2. In the Room Editor, open Discovery. All 15 channels show in red (undiscovered).
  3. Move each channel slider 0 to 100% one at a time. When a light responds, name that channel (for example "Pendant", "Spots", "Shelf lights"). The numbered Ident button also flashes the circuit.
  4. Channels that do nothing have no load, leave them.
  5. Repeat for every room.

Notes:

  • You never need to know which module is behind which light. The slider does the identifying.
  • Where several circuits are always meant to dim together they can be one channel. Keep it simple and match how the customer uses them.
  • Blinds: expect them to behave differently. Confirm the controller make and type on site before quoting a fixed number of hours. Do not assume they are standard dimmer channels.

6. Assign device types (optional)

Only needed if you want to edit a module's settings from RASoft later. In-line modules (for example RMT-500) are one-way and cannot report back, so RASoft cannot see them automatically.

  1. Select the channel, choose the module type, Finish. The light blinks.
  2. The module does not need to be in setup mode, it is already addressed.

Skipping this does not stop the app or the scenes working.

7. Scenes

  • Existing scene levels live in the modules, so the wall keypads keep working as they do now after the hub goes in.
  • The rebuilt project file starts without scene data, so name the scenes you want shown in the app. Re-capture levels only where the customer wants a change. (This follows Rako's note that scenes "will need to be manually reset if desired". Prove it on one room before doing the whole house.)

8. Upload to the hub and commission the app

  1. Add the RK-HUB as a device in the project (File, New Device, HUB/Bridge).
  2. Upload the project file (rooms, channels, scenes) to the hub.
  3. Link the hub for cloud services (Alexa, Google Home, HomeKit, Sonos etc. as required) and set up the app login.
  4. Test from the app: every room, every channel, every named scene.
  5. Test every wall keypad button still does what it did before you started.
  6. Save the final .rasoft file somewhere safe (client folder) and give the customer a copy. This is the file nobody had last time.

Time guide (whole house, about 16 rooms, about 21 keypads, about 28 circuits plus blinds)

TaskHours
Hub install, network, House number0.75
Read House number off one keypad0.25
Room and channel discovery, about 15 minutes per room3.75
Optional: assign device types1.0
Blinds (unknown kit)1.5
Scene naming and capture for the app1.25
App, cloud and voice commissioning, third-party integration check1.0
Final test and handover1.5
Totalabout 11 (about 10 without device-type assignment)

Treat these as planning numbers, not measured results. Update this table after the first real job.

Common mistakes

  • Quoting it as "locate and pair every module". Nothing is paired to the hub.
  • Setting the hub to House 1, or to a different House from the keypads. The app then shows nothing and nothing responds.
  • Importing an NFC keypad without choosing "Import existing" at the prompts, which overwrites the keypad's data.
  • Assuming a bridge on site (such as a WRA-232) holds the project file or can run the app. Check what it actually is.
  • Fixing the labour before the blind controllers have been seen.

Rako source documents

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