Conbee 2 and large Zigbee network?

Hardware
1

Hi everybody,
in 1 month we will be moving into a new house and we will have a large Zigbee network there. Estimation of devices:

  • around 110 light bulbs (mainly Hue and some IKEA Tradfri in the Kitchen and in wardrobes)
  • around 25 light switches (Friends of Hue and Hue Dimmer switches)
  • 15 Aqara Temperature and Humidity Sensors
  • 13 Motion Sensors (Hue indoor and outdoor)
  • Maybe 10 power plugs with measuring and switching capabiltiy (to be selected yet)
  • In the future most probably around 20 window sensors (to be selected yet)

I am already running a test home assistant server with Zigbee2MQTT and a Conbee 2 stick (I know that I need to use an old firmware version). Currently only one lamp with 3 GU10 spots, one temperature and humidity sensor as well as one motion sensor are connected for testing and currently I am happy with it. As I need to setup the whole installation quickly I searched for possible issues to be prepared as I will have no more then 2 days to have the setup at least roughly operational or I will have severe issues with my family. I noticed that there are many people that have issues with the Conbee 2 stick. And I can find much more issues with the Conbee 2 then with other Zigbee USB stick like the Sonoff 3.0 USB dongle. Therefore I am worried if I am using the right hardware. On the other Hand for the Conbee 2 I could find statements that it supports Zigebee Networks with up to 500 devices while for several other sticks I found statements of much lower device numbers which I might exceed right from the start.
Therefore I have a view questions:

  • Does anybody have experience with such large Zigbee networks? And if yes, which Zigbee stick and which software are you using?
  • Is anybody operating a large Zigbee network using a Conbee 2?
  • Can anybody suggest a better Zigbee stick for my project which is available in Europe/Germany?
  • Does anybody have a better realization idea?

Thanks for your help.
Daniel

2

The ConBee range is mostly fine, except that:

  1. It’s very sensitive to any interference - from USB 3.0, WiFi, Bluetooth, or anything else. More than any other stick it really needs to be on an extension cable (all benefit from this, but the Conbee may refuse to start the mesh without one)
  2. Firmware versions newer than 0x26580700 will result in an unstable network

For Zigbee2MQTT I’d recommend a CC2652 based coordinator. I’m aware of people using those with networks of over 200 devices.

3

Thanks a lot. Then I will think about getting an CC2652 based coordinator. Changing the controller later on would be too much effort regarding repairing. Interference shouldn’t be an issue as I already have a USB extension cable and the mesh network will definitely be dense.