After giving up on SmartThings a few years ago due to my Xiaomi Aqara sensors constantly dropping out - I decided to give Home Assistant a try and have come to the conclusion that I should have tried this years ago!
I’ve got ZHA installed and using a Conbee II stick - and have all my Aqara sensors connected. They have been connected for ~ 10 days or so but have had 1 drop out on me randomly last night.
Is there a way of checking which Zigbee sensor is connected to which repeater? A visual representation would be nice too - if possible? I’m sure many moons ago I saw a post which had a graphic of all zigbee devices which showed which repeater they would connect to.
thanks - I was aware of this one but from what I can see - this is just a visual representation of my Zigbee devices? I can’t see anywhere a “mesh map” if that’s the best way to describe it? A map or even a list showing which devices are connected to which repeater?
I’ve tried to get the ZHA-Network-Card running but can’t seem to get it displaying in Lovelace even after following the instruction. I basically get this issue:
Note that this is likely not a SmartThings problem but rather a Xiaomi/Aqara problem; they do not use the standard Zigbee HA 1.2 profile. Similar issues have been reported on Hubitat, and you’re likely to have the same problems on Home Assistant no matter what coordinator you use unless you either keep them on their own network with only “Xiaomi friendly” repeaters (this thread on the Hubitat forum has ones people know to work, as well as a better explanation of what is known about the underlying issue: Xiaomi & Aqara Devices - Pairing & Keeping them connected - Devices - Hubitat) or are careful how you build your “regular” network to use only those repeaters.
I see that you’re trying to view a network map, perhaps for the above reason. This may be useful to know for that reason if not. But, as you might also know, you can’t force a Zigbee device to use a specific repeater, and Zigbee devices can change routes at will, so it might just be informational or fun but not ultimately helpful in terms of solving the dropoffs. (That being said, my Xiaomi devices seem to prefer to just drop off the network instead of finding a new router, so if you can make it pair with a “good” route in the first place, you might be lucky like me—though I eventually plan to get rid of all of mine or keep them on their own network, as well as opt for Sonoff, with standard Zigbee products as far as I can tell, if I really want something cheap.)
@RMoRobert In my case all the sensors are Xiaomi devices and they work perfectly with my repeaters (Conbee and Philips bulbs) never add any problem. But be aware that the devices can be sleeping for some times and if you move them it takes time for them to find out they have lost their parent and find a new one
@bapesta786 I did the installation long ago and did not had any problem installing
Just one thing: neighborhood information takes time (up to several hours) to get updated so be patient when you add a new component. You will see it in the map but you will only see the links after long time.
If you’re asking abuot sensors and repeaters, there is not a general issue with Zigbee sensors and repeaters. The issue is specific to Xiaomi/Aqara devices, who do not follow the Zigbee HA 1.2 standard (but are very close, and many people have been able to make them work well if they are careful about their network).
If you’re just looking for cheap sensors and want to stick to Zigbee, the Sonoff Zigbee ones are probably the only ones that rival Xiaomi/Aqara in price. Note that Sonoff makes a lot of devices, most of which are not Zigbee. These are their new-ish sensors/devices with model names that start with “SNZB,” like the SNZB-03 motion sensor. You might be able to find other brands/models at acceptable price points for you. It’s also possible the new “T1”-model Aqara models are standard Zigbee 3.0 (I think they’re supposed to be) and not subject to this problem, but where I live they are still hard to find; your luck may vary.
Some people also “DIY” this kind of thing (ESPHome and whatnot), but I generally prefer off-the-shelf Zigbee or Z-Wave options. But you may be able to make it cheaper in the log run if that’s a concern.
