Are Ikea Zigbee devices still ok?

Hardware
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1

Hello,
In the past I got some Tradfri lights and Styrbar remote and they worked very well with ZHA (and previously Hue),
But recently I got some extra devices and for the god of love I cannot manage to make them pair.
I found some comments saying that newer devices are giving issues.

How ‘well known’ is this? Should I avoid Ikea Zigbee devices from now or did I just get some lemons?

2

It’s complicated! :man_facepalming: :face_with_symbols_over_mouth: :man_mage:

  • The battery life issue with the older Tradfri 5-button remotes was fixed with new firmware on ZHA some time ago.

  • RODRET 2-button remotes are indeed a beast to pair :face_with_symbols_over_mouth:, but work very well on ZHA with the blueprint IKEA Rodret Dimmer Controls (ZHA/Z2M).
    The ability to easily configure tap, long press, and double tab actions is very nice, as is the magnetic base.

    • My first RODRET took a couple of days to persuade to pair. Yes, DAYS.
    • A second batch bought today are similar - one paired after about 30minutes of using a watch to count Press 8 for >10S as the manual says. The LED should flash, but it never does.
    • Placing the remote in the destination location doesn’t work. Next to the coordinator (Yellow) has worked once today only in about 20 tries with two devices.
    • The old Tradfri devices sometimes worked from a lab PSU set to 1.5V suggesting pairing drained the AAA cell, but standard (1.5V) and NiCd (1.2V) cells don’t seem to make a big difference.
    • Even a factory reset (quick-press the pairing button 4 times (within 5 seconds)) seems difficult to trigger - the LED should pulse for a few seconds.

  • I also bought a 4-button STRYBAR remote which seemed to pair after “only” 15minutes, but I’ve not looked for the triggers: it produces, nor a blueprint yet.

My experiments today have been trying to vary conditions to see if there is a method which is more likely to pair.

The best I can come up with is:

  • Battery OUT, wait 5 minutes (ideally, go away and try several hours later)
  • Locate the IKEA remote next to the coordinator.
  • Set HA ZHA / Z2M to (+ Add Device)
  • Insert fresh cells, alkaline probably better than NiCd / NiMh (as higher voltage).
  • Use a watch to count (say) 12S pressing the pair 8 button
  • See if the LED flashes - it should, but seldom does!
  • (don’t pair near Zigbee bulbs - IKEA firmware has a habit of direct to device pairing, ignoring the coordinator, meaning you need to reset the bulb AND the remote.)

It appears trying again and again decreases success - try again another day, and a RODRET might pair immediately! No, no firm idea why. Battery discharge?

Thankfully, battery changing seems less likely than a TRADFRI to disappear from the network.

Any one got any more insights into IKEA RODRET / STRYBAR pairing?

If this helps, :heart: this post!

2 Likes
3

Just got a RODRET to pair to a Yellow + ZHA after an overnight pause:

  • Battery OUT, wait 5 minutes (ideally, go away and try several hours later)
  • Locate the IKEA remote next to the coordinator.
  • Set HA ZHA / Z2M to (+ Add Device)
  • Insert fresh cells, alkaline probably better than NiCd / NiMh (as higher voltage).
  • Factory reset (quick-press the pairing button 4 times (within 5 seconds)) - LED should pulse slowly
  • Use a watch to count (say) 12S pressing the pair 8 button
  • Paired

Just pairing didn’t work.

If this helps, :heart: this post!

4

Never experiences Pairing problems that are traced to bad handling from my side

I oftenly read the device docs of zigbee2mqtt Zigbee2MQTT on how to pair a specific device becasue imo the IKEA-docs/manuals are total garbage.

but back to topic: bought 2 new IKEA PARASOLL last month, pressed the pairing button 4 times and could pair each one to ZHA and Z2M flawlessly.
also bought a Vindriktning, paired it without problems (iirc) and hacked it with an esp32

5

ONCE paired Ikea devices work perfectly…

I too had many issues with pairing but I think in my instance it was all down to interference from hardware and switching the 2.4ghz wifi off completely and changing the channel helped immensely

6

@FloatingBoater how to you keep the pairing process for days? AFAIK after some time HASS will stop looking for and will show a “look again” button.

The behaviour I see is that the interview is marked as completed but then it get stuck on “configuring”. sometimes it gets add to the device list (but it does not work) sometimes it is not added to the list.

7

Start again from the beginning - (+ Add Device)

8

ah, ok. I assumed you left it on pairing mode for days without stopping and was wondering how it was possible.