We popped to Ikea tonight to get some additional and brighter Tradfri lamps (and a Vindriktning air quality sensor to ESPHomeify ) and I just tested the lamp (TRADFRIbulbE27WSglobeopal1055lm). It paired and integrated very quickly and came up as it should but (along with at least one other here), it doesn’t seem to respond at all?
Their solution was to upgrade to a Sonoff Zigbee 3 USB Dongle plus that I believe uses a CC2652P (and I have one sitting here offline and I wondered if it might be sufficiently different to my existing stick, a zzh! CC2652R to cause this issue?
My zzh! sticks comes up as a ‘CC1352/CC2652, Z-Stack 3.30+ (build 20210120)
by Texas Instruments’ so I wonder if the problem could be firmware related as I really don’t fancy re-pairing 70 devices if I go to the Sonoff coordinator and especially if it isn’t any ‘better’ that what I’m currently running?
And if it is a firmware version issue, would I have to re-pair all those devices if I upgraded the firmware on my existing stick in any case and is the P better than the R please?
Sorry, I’m not particularly up on the whole HA / communications subsystems as I’m more of a dabbler / appliance type hardware tech user but can confirm I don’t have Zigbee2mqtt installed as an addon. I do know I am running the Mosquitto MQTT broker though but again, I’m not exactly sure what functions it provides, outside of adding access to things I may not be able to access otherwise (like my ESPresense nodes)?
eg, Going back to when I started I installed HA on a RPi I added a basic Zigbee dongle, could see all my Zigbee devices and so I thought that was sufficient? And is has been pretty similar when upgrading onto an Odroid N2+.
So, if I install Zigbee2mqtt, will it pick up on all my existing Zigbee stuff in a way that would allow me to swap USB coordinators or would I have to manually wean all the devices off of whatever they are using at the moment (ZHA is it, in the stick firmware)?
Is it possible I had Zigbee2mqtt in my previous dongle firmware and so why I could see all the devices without the addon?
Sorry for all the extra questions but this 65 year old has probably forgotten more than he remembers. ;-(
CC2652R versus CC2652R has the same performance with the only exception that CC2652P has integrated amplifier so can transmit stonger signal but both their reception capabilities are the same.
So should not make a huge difference as long as upgrade firmware, avoid interference, and add many Zigbee Router devices (usually mains-powered devices with neutral) which can act as repeaters.
What does have a huge real difference is your set up in regards to interference and coverage of your Zigbee network mesh made up of Zigbee Router devices, so be sure to use long USB extension cable.
If however still want to change dongle and using ZHA then do a backup of the current dongle and then restore that to the other dongle.
So would I be right in thinking that if two different manufacturers make a Zigbee USB dongle using the same basic IC (the CC2652 in this case) and given the same firmware on each, that they should function identically?
eg, I’m trying to get to the bottom of how someone running a Sonoff Zigbee dongle can use a specific Ikea Zigbee lamp but someone running the same chip via a zzh! Zigbee dongle can’t?
I’m predicting the answer IS that it’s to do with the firmware, that or a combination of other things?
As per your other feedback, Yes, my zzh! dongle is on the end of a good USB extension, I have many powered Zigbee routers (lamps / smart sockets etc) and 99% of all the other Zigbee devices (70) connect and work as expected?
I’ll have to look into dongle backups but I think when I’ve just changed them like (make / model / firmware etc), I’ve still had to re-pair all my devices.
Yes. while the firmware images are not the same due to different pinout they are built with same SDK, so as mentioned above, make sure that upgrade to the latest version and again look over your set up:
I recommend always doing a backup before each firmware upgrade.
Anyway, keep in mind that regardless of the choice of Zigbee Coordinator adapter type and Zigbee devices, Zigbee radios has poor range and penetration and is very sensitive to interference so follow all the general tips, read these and change your set up accordingly:
Summery; do your best to avoid having potentional interference sources close to any Zigbee devices, especially the Zigbee Coordinator, and when in doubt just add more mains-powered Zigbee products that act as Zigbee Router devices spread out throughout your house to strengthen the network mesh.
Please consider giving that PR on GitHub a thumbs up if you think tips should be added to ZHA docs.
Yes, I am already following all the tips re Zigbee coordinator and general system and I would have thought I’d be having issues with any / many of the 70 Zigbee devices I am currently running?
I have many Zigbee lights with Zigbee PIR activation so I know very quickly / often if anything is playing up and I’m pleased to say is rarely the case.
Eg, as I walk though the house the lights all turn on instantly and 99.99% of the time. I 3D printed a ceiling rose that takes the Sonoff Zigbee PIR and have one in the kitchen ceiling. The two 6’ LED strip lamps turned on by a Sonoff Zigbee two way switch are on before I step into the kitchen, even if I run.
My point was I’m reluctant to ‘fiddle’ with my existing system too much simply to try to integrate 4 new Ilkea lamps, certainly not without setting up a test system to just make sure say my Sonoff coordinator (Or my spare zzh! with the same / latest firmware) will not only allow me to pair and integrate the new Ikea lamp (as happens very fast with the zzh! dongle etc), but that it will allow it to function. If it doesn’t on such a system then the Sonoff dongle upgrade may not have been the direct reason another poster here had success, but the firmware version or some other factor?
Just an update, I removed the offending Lidl lamp and re-paired it and this time it took a more typical ‘a good few seconds’ to complete the process, unlike when I’d done it previously where it was detected and added nearly instantly (something new to look out for in the future).
So I don’t need to touch the coordinator / coordinator firmware for now, assuming the 4 new Lidl lamps I bought all work etc but will continue to investigate the coordinator backup as I believe it’s still very important (I first asked last November).
