Advice about Zigbee-configuration (possible move from ZHA to Z2M)

Configuration Zigbee
1

Okay, so the last days I have read a lot about the differences between ZHA and Z2M, but I have a couple of questions that I cannot find an answer to.

Basically, I’m looking into moving from the default ZHA to Z2M. The backgound-situation is as follows: my Zigbee-network is running on the Skyconnect-stick (ZBT-1), and I run HAOS in a Proxmox VM on an Intel NUC. I have 16 Zigbee-devices in my network, 5 powerplugs which can also route and 11 contact sensors for windows/doors. So the size of the network is not the problem if I need to re-pair everything one by one.

Now, I have 3 questions:
The first one is about the mesh-networking. With ZHA I can add a sensor to a specific router/powerplug. This has helped me with a couple of contact sensors which were shaky. Is this also possible with Z2M?

The second one is about MQTT. I already have MQTT running as an add-on in HAOS because I have a device that uses it (reading the data from my powermeter for electricity and gas-usage). Would I need to move that part to be able to use Z2M? Since I am on Proxmox, the general advise is to run Z2M as a seperate LXC-container.

The third question is about the stick. I bought this one specifically because it supports Zigbee and Matter simultaniously, allowing me to run Zigbee for now, and start adding Matter-devices once they become more and more available in the future. I imagine that I will need to pass-through the stick to the Z2M-container, and not to the HAOS-VM as it is now. Would this prevent using the Matter-capability of the stick?

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Even Nabu Casa does not recommend this any more, as it is highly unstable, and all development on multi-protocol has stopped.

No, Zigbee2MQTT can use any mqtt broker it can reach.

Yes

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3

Thanks for the answers! Very helpfull!

I was not aware that Nabu Casa stopped recommending the 2 protocols on 1 stick. I must have missed that. Do you know if the stick is still okay to use for just Matter? In that case it would be as simple as buying a new Zigbee-stick.

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For only matter (thread) or only Zigbee it is OK, just not for both at the same time.

1 Like
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Your other questions were already fully answered by @francisp , so I won’t get into those.

Regarding pairing via other devices - you can do this in Z2M, but it’s slightly different from what you’re used to in ZHA.

You need to click the arrow next to permit join:
image

Then select the device you would like to use as the router:

image
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And just to repeat - do not use multiprotocol (zigbee + matter on a single device). You will not have a good time.

6

Thanks!

One question now that I see this: at what point in time do I select the router? Do I do that before I pair the sensor I want to connect to the router, or do I just pair everything, and can I point the paired device to a router after that?

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Just pair device. it will select best router automatically.

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You should do it as the first step of the pairing process.

Put your device in its final location, select the router you think is closest to it in the dropdown, then go back to your device and do whatever is needed to start the pairing process.

Safer to do it this way than to pair via the coordinator and hope it finds a better route eventually. Some older ZigBee devices have been known to keep trying to maintain a direct coordinator connection despite struggling to maintain a solid connection.

1 Like
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Great, thank you for this!

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