For folks using the new-ish Aqara E1 USB stick hub…
It looks like I am not able to use Homekit-only mode in the Aqara app (the E1 doesn’t show up as an gateway option). Setting it up the other way forces you to add it to Homekit and then bind it to Aqara’s servers. Once the hub is in Home.app, you are unable to add it to Home Assistant as far as I can tell.
If I remove the hub from Home.app, I see the hub briefly appear as a Homekit Controller, but entering the pairing code results in a timeout every single time.
Has anyone managed to get this thing paired to HA?
Hey been battling this tonight. Added it to Apple home as per mfr instructions. Then remove the E1 hub from home app, jump into HA and it should auto discover on the HomeKit Controller integration page. Click configure and it asks for the HomeKit pairing code then appears fully working. Hope that helps
I tried that exact process about 10 times. Turned off the 5GHz channel on my router a few times, even. It would always time out after either tapping configure when the HomeKit Controller popped up, or right after entering the Homekit code. No idea why.
Just checking, did you make any more progress on this ? I was thinking about picking up an E1 hub after seeing the warning about having to modify the “V2” hub (meaning the M1S I assume) to work with HA at Xiaomi Gateway (Aqara) - Home Assistant
Thanks
It’s printed on a sticker on the Aqara E1 USB stick hub. Just scan it with your iPhone, or enter the pairing code in the HomeKit Controller integration (which I’ve never managed to get working with this stick).
Hiya sorry for the radio silence. No I set everything up in the aquara app then my previous post to link to hass. Been working solid since. Moved house too and did the same process and worked first time. Signal isn’t great from the devices I’ve found may have to get another hub for the front of the house.
I’ve purchased the E1 USB Stick Hub, Vibration Sensor and mini Button. I used the Aqara app (Android phone) to configure the WiFi settings for the E1 and it immediately appeared in Home Assistant as a HomeKit Controller device. Once I configured the hub in HomeKit Controller (by entering the code 8-digit code from the stick) and added the sensor and button, they all appeared under the Hub Device and Entities in Home Assistant.
Here is where I get lost, under Entities I see three entities related to the E1 Hub. First the hub itself (main hub, ‘identity’ and ‘pairing mode’); Button (battery and identity); Vibration Sensor (main, ‘battery’ and ‘identity’).
Prior to using the E1 hub, I had the two devices tied in with a Conbee II stick. In this configuration I could see the vibration level and determine the type of button press. The vibration sensor also appeared to capture temperature which was nice, but no longer available. However, under the Conbee stick, the sensor stopped responding so I thought I’d give the E1 a shot.
So I’ve just managed to get the hub into home assistant following your previous instructions so thanks for that. I’ve just got one question though, were you able to add the hub to HomeKit afterwards through the home app? I know I can have it running through home assistants HomeKit integration but I’d prefer to add it separately if possible. I can’t seem to add it into HomeKit now though, it tells me the hub is already added.
I did manage to get mine into home assistant by the way. I have had mine linked with HomeKit for months. All I did to get it in home assistant yesterday was delete the hub from HomeKit. It then got discovered by home assistant, I put in the pairing code and that was it. I managed to expose both my hubs alarm entity and my blinds motor into homekit through the home assistant HomeKit integration and its back to full functionality.
Thanks! I tried again today and also got it working (paired via HomeKit Controller, and then exposed using HomeKit integration). Now to figure out how to expose my Buttons/Switches… I’m only seeing batteries for those entities.
Edit: Looks like they work just fine in Automations. All is good!
I bought an Aqara E1, connected it to the HomeKit on the phone app. It then showed up automatically in the HomeKit Controller.
To clarify, I specifically did NOT first remove it from the HomeKit app. It turns out it actually had to be in the HomeKit app for it to show up in the HA HomeKit Controller.
What I found that worked was shutting off my 5 GHz channel, clearing my browser history and emptying caches, closing out of my browser, then re-opening it. Once I signed back into HA, I rebooted it.
I then removed the E1 hub from the USB port, stuck it back in, and tried to configure it right away. This was the only thing that worked for me after multiple failed attempts.
My question is how do I add more devices to my Aqara hub now that it’s paired?
Thanks so much! This worked for me too after struggling with the configuration of the E1 for days now.
Only thing I did different is I didn’t shut off the 5GHz channel. I’m running HA from Docker on a Synology NAS so I restarted the Docker HA image, after rebooting I directly removed the E1 from the NAS and put it back in, I did a CTRL+F5 on the browser window with HA and pressed Configure directly when the stick was detected.
After a minute or so the message asking for pairing code showed up and now it actually works, so thanks for sharing this!!
I get the feeling that the speed with which you follow the steps is quite important in this specific situation.
I don’t understand the situation with two Home Assistant installations.
There are two working Home Assistant servers with the latest updates. Both work fine.
One on Raspberry Pi 3B (2GB) with 32-bit operating system Debian 11 (bullseye) from April 2022.
The second on Raspberry Pi 4B (4GB) with 64-bit operating system Debian 11 (bullseye) from April 2022.
So that’s the problem:
On a Raspberry Pi 3B (2GB) with a 32-bit operating system, the Aqara USB HE1-G01 is normally detected in the Home Assistant through Integration, and allows its further integration and configuration. Also on this microcomputer in HA, the Aqara HUB M1S is located and defined in the integrations.
But on a Raspberry Pi 4B (4GB) with a 64-bit operating system – these two devices are not detected in Integrations and are not even found by search.
Two HA servers work without errors. The network is configured the same for both (only the IP addresses are different). Keenetic GIGA router.
Or Aqara USB HE1-G01 and Aqara HUB M1S do not work in a 64-bit Home Assistant installation?
Figured out the problem.
At the time of connecting these devices to the mobile application, the server with Home Assistant running on Raspberry Pi 4B (4GB) with 64-bit OS was turned off. When connecting to the mobile application, I disconnected the 5 gigahertz network and therefore on the Home Assistant server Raspberry Pi 3B (2GB) with 32-bit – these devices were detected in the Integration. After that, I turned on the 5 gigahertz network again and turned on the Home Assistant server on Raspberry Pi 4B (4GB) with 64-bit OS. Naturally, the devices were not detected.
I had to re-perform the steps of disconnecting the 5 gigahertz network for Raspberry Pi 4B (4GB) with 64-bit OS and clearing the cache in the browser.
All Aqara devices were then detected in Integration and on the Raspberry Pi 4B (4GB) Home Assistant server with 64-bit OS.
Everything worked!
The E1’s seem to be region locked. I ordered mine from Aliexpress and set the Aqara app up as region Europe. I was not able to detect the E1. Then I switched the app to region China, and it paired instantly. There are tho two different working mode on them, not sure which one I am using. After setting the E1 wifi HA discovered it as three devices, altho only one was able to pair