Lonsonho Tuya Zigbee Signal Repeater USB Zigbee Mesh Transmiter Expand 20-30M Compatible ZHA Zigbee2MQTT Tasmota deCONZ
I have home assistant with sonoff zigbee dongle in one building, and I have philipps hue bridge in another building with a hue smart plug that can reach the dongle’s signal. The smart plug is paired to hue, not to home assistant. Hue devices are discovered in HASS via hue integration…
The question is, that does hue smart plug work as extender for home assistant zigbee dongle, as they are in different networks…or such? I am not familiar with zigbee network topology.
From your description, I think they are separate Zigbee networks. As a result, no extension of your network ‘managed’ by the sonoff dongle via the hue smart plug. Search these forums for folks experiences with devices that are good Zigbee network extenders. I have found that Hue bulbs seem to do a pretty good job of acting as range extenders for both my sonoff dongle based network and my hue hub based network. However, wary if the bulb in housed in some kind of metal can or enclosure, not so good then. Also, if there is a manual switch that can be accidently turned off, then no good either.
Good hunting!
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Looks like IKEA stopped selling the Tradfri Signal Repeater in the US.
Without any flashing, is the next best option the Sonoff S31 lite (zigbee version)?
The issue for me with the IKEA Tradfri Plugs is there is no physical button/switch on the plug housing to control the relay inside…
This means that if someone in the house comes along and wants to switch off the device that is plugged into the Tradfri, they will inevitably just flick the mains power switch on the socket itself. Then ofcourse the Tradfri loses power, and no longer functions as a Zigbee router - messing with the rest of the mesh network.
Did anyone else have this inconvenience, or find a cheap alternative or solution?
FYI, the tip is that I compiled a dedicated best practice guide for Zigbee interference avoidance and network range/coverage optimization here → https://community.home-assistant.io/t/guide-for-zigbee-interference-avoidance-and-network-range-coverage-optimization/515752
Use a Philips Hue plug or any other ZigBee plug with a physical button.
Maybe a SONOFF ZBDongle-E flashed as router.
https://www.zigbee2mqtt.io/devices/ZBDongle-E.html#notes
Download firmware here: https://github.com/itead/Sonoff_Zigbee_Dongle_Firmware/raw/master/Dongle-E/Router/Z3RouterUSBDonlge_EZNet6.10.3_V1.0.0.gbl
And flash it with the web tool: Silabs Firmware Flasher | Web based flasher for ZB-GW04 and ZBDongle-E. MultiPAN RCP firmware enables these devices to be used with Silabs Multiprotocol Addon in Home Assistant. Allow Zigbee and Thread to co-exist on the same dongle. Get ahead of the tech an experiment with Matter!
Use upload custom!
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I’ve made a zigbee router / extender that reaches up to my front gate, and also has some sensors to tell me if I’ve got mail, junk mail or a parcel, and also display a mailbox status light, with a reset button when I clear the mailbox…
Uses the custom firmware builder at ptvo.info
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Wow, that is impressive. I wish I had the knowledge to do that, I am trying to get my Zigbee signal to reach the basement from the 2nd floor with my wife’s requirement “DO NOT CHANGE ANY LIGHT SWITCH ON THE 1st FLOOR”.
I thought I could use an Sonoff ZigbeeMini like I did on the 3rd and 2do floors, but since I have almost just 2-way light switch between the stairs and the 1st floor. This will not be possible.
I’m not sure I understand this. Either a CC2652, or a CC2530 or a CC2531? For all three one needs to buy an additional special flash utility, is that right?
Only for a CC253x, a CC2652 is flashable through the usb-port
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For more info on an example CC2652 (CC2652P) see → ITead's "Sonoff Zigbee 3.0 USB Dongle Plus" (model "ZBDongle-P") based on Texas Instruments CC2652P +20dBm radio SoC/MCU
- Dongle hardware can also be used as Zigbee router (a.k.a. repeater) → flash router firmware* → Tip is to use ZigStar Multi Tool for flashing → ZigStar Multi Tool - ZigStar → GitHub - xyzroe/ZigStarGW-MT: GUI wrapper designed for convenient service work with TI CC1352/CC2538/CC2652 based Zigbee sticks or gateways. Packed into single executable file
You can do the same with EFR32MG21 like this example here → ITead’s “Sonoff Zigbee 3.0 USB Dongle Plus V2” (model "ZBDongle-E") based on Silicon Labs EFR32MG21 +20dBm radio SoC/MCU
- Official firmware images” for ZBDongle-E (a.k.a. “Dongle-E”/“Dongle-E”) as linked to by ITead → https://github.com/itead/Sonoff_Zigbee_Dongle_Firmware/tree/master/Dongle-E/Router → For flashing Silabs EFR32MGxx chips like EFR32MG21 recommend using Universal Silicon Labs Flasher (by Nabu Casa) → GitHub - NabuCasa/universal-silabs-flasher: Flashes Silicon Labs radios running EmberZNet or CPC multi-pan firmware
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I have my supply grid electricity provider Smart Meter in a hut about 50m from my house.
Any suggestions for a point to point range extender to allow me to access the smart meter?
I do have power sockets in the hut and can put up a pole for an external wireless antenna, or maybe involve Ethernet-over-power, if the answer includes some kind of non Zigbee element?
I think your first challenge is that the Smart Meter, if it is using Zigbee to send you the meter data, is probably proprietary zigbee to the utility. Not a zigbee device that can be added to a standard zigbee network. So all you can do, it that is true, is connect a single zigbee ‘coordinator’ that is ‘special’ to your utility to the smart meter. Probably very little in the way of options for this connection, and probably very limited in distance, as most utilities ‘ASSume’ your meter in on the outside wall of the main house. This device, depending on what vendor hardware the utility is offering, is going to be some type of zigbee usb dongles with serial interface, a ethernet hub box, or a wifi hub box. The second two ways will let you probably let you but these ‘hubs’ on your home network if you can get ethernet or wifi to them. The first type device will require some type of computer to plug the dongle into.
If what I am describing sounds like your setup, then probably doing some type of outdoor long range wifi extender may be a good path. Ubiquity UniFi is an example vendor that offers these type products. Not sure what your ‘budget’ is for this project, however, some of the long range wifi products can be spendy…
You could first get the utility hub device and test to see if its range might make it the 50 meters and I am guessing a couple walls to your main home network.
Good hunting!
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If you are still looking, I have actual experience with some long reach devices. My driveway gate controller is 210ft (65m) from the wifi router and zigbee coordinator. I have a relay board in it to trigger the gate from HA. (recently setup voice activation!)
The original nortek coordinator and zigbee device with built in antenna was marginal. This combo was connected about half the time. There is nothing between the house and the gate to setup a repeater.
Next was an ESPHome device with an antenna connector. Used a cheap 9dBi antenna from amazon. That works 100%. RSSI levels are in the mid -70 ranges. This has been in place for few years now.
Later I changed to a Sonoff Zigbee 3.0 Plus Coordinator also with a 9dBi antenna. I can reliably go to 250ft (75m) to the other side of my street, out the front of the house. In this direction, the path only has about 20ft travel through the house.
When the signal has to go through 3/4th of the house - I only get 100ft(30m) distance in the open yard. In this direction, I have an external garage 90ft away with a zigbee wall switch (for external lights) that requires a zigbee repeater to work reliably. The repeater is just a zigbee plug in the house closest to the garage. FYI - not all plugs are repeaters.
I mapped my coverage around the yard with a zigbee door/window sensor.
Just FYI for anyone wondering about actual ranges achieved.
Anyone found solid extenders for Aqara (non-Aqara branded obviously)?