Aqara Motion Sensor - RTCGQ11LM with Zigbee2MQTT

Configuration Zigbee
1

Hi All - My first post here… I’ve recently purchased the first generation of Aqara motion sensor. Set it up with Home Assistant via Zigbee2MQTT and ZBDongle E Gateway . All seems to work fine in detecting motion, but noticed will only work when I’m approximately 2m away from the sensor or nearer. Nowhere near the advertised 7 meters. Anyone else have similar experiences or know a way to adjust this settings.

Many thanks

Jag

2

Hi, welcome to the forum!

In the z2m webUI you can change a lot of parameters from your devices for every single device.
Maybe the default setting for your motion sensor is not suited for your case.

3

How high did you mount the sensor?

The manual indicates it needs to be mounted at a height of 2.1m to get the 7m range. See page 5 of the Quick Start Guide.

4

A lack of range usually means:

  1. Interference
    a. Did you leave Z2M at the default channel (11) or did you check it was clear of WiFi (the channels are numbered differently - see here)
    b. Did you put the dongle on a USB extension cable, to move t away from the RF noise generated by the computer?
  2. Obstructions - you’ll get about 6 to 8 meters when there’s a single plasterboard/drywall wall in the way, brick and stone reduce the range
5

Pretty sure they mean PIR range not zigbee range.

6

Ah… well… in that case yes device settings matter - as does angle of approach and more.

I doubt very much you can get 7 meters out of them except in very exact settings. Five meters maybe… but I find that that generation is really only reliable from 4 meters and below.

7

I checked all the settings within the WebUI and didn’t see anything that allows for range adjustments.

I’ve temporarily mounted it just above a door so around the 2m mark… I dont believe there is any issue on the dongle side. I even bought he sensor into the same room but still only getting minimal range

8

Tinkerer & Tom already touched the subject so I advise you to read this: Guide for Zigbee interference avoidance and network range/coverage optimization

9

Thanks Nick - A few things to try and I’ll see if it makes a difference!