Received Conbee II stick and I’m very disappointed.
From recommendations I thought Conbee II will be best ZigBee solution but from experience it’s worse than Xiaomi hub and worse than CC2531 zigbee2mqtt
Conbee GitHub has tons of closed issues, many issues for connectivity and most of the closed issues closed without solution but for no responses
When it does work it’s very slow to update, not responsive at all like zigbee2mqtt or Xiaomi hub
Tried several firmwares, running it from hassio no connection, clean raspbian no connection, deconz iso image no connection, ZHA component in hassio no connection, it worked only in windows but was very slow to update
I’ve tried many solutions posted online but could not make it even close to zigbee2mqtt or Xiaomi hub stability
My point is Conbee/Deconz full of issues even more issues than others so don’t hurry to buy one
For several days I’ve tried every solution posted online, reinstalled OS’s even used Deconz ISO fresh install but same result, tried changing channels, changing firmware’s nothing helped,
Device seen by Linux in /dev/ but no connection to firmware, tried all possibilities in /root/config.txt
Only in windows it is working but it takes long time to pair and update ZigBee map while in zigbee2mqtt it is instant
After few days I’m beyond trying to solve it, just ranting of frustration and telling that Conbee is not the holy grail of ZigBee as people say
For most other people it’s pretty great. For me, it’s much most stable and reliable than zigbee2mqtt, with considerably less maintenance to keep working.
Your experience is not typical.
Obviously no product will ever be the “the holy grail of ZigBee” or the holy grail of anything else for that matter; going in with those expectations will always lead to disappointment. However your experience is not in line with most other users, so perhaps it’s something on your end causing issues and not the product itself (unless faulty). The problem being isolated to your end is further suggested by the problems you’ve encountered, which are not issues most people have.
Have you reached out to the manufacturer? There’s always the possibility of a faulty stick, I assume they would be willing to work with you on troubleshooting and replacing if needed.
I can echo this. I have no other ZigBee experience but find switching a light often takes as long as 5 seconds; sometimes it’s near instant but most of the time it’s 2-5 secs.
It’s like it goes to sleep or something and has to wake up. The first action in a while is delayed but subsequent ones seem quick (ish).
I’m only using the one device at the minute (Aqara two gang ZigBee switch) but am considering trying to get a hold of the Xiaomi hub and dumping the ConBee as I’m 99% sure that’s to blame.
For instance:
The Deconz version I installed first (can’t recall version number) didn’t see the switch but the VNC interface and HA did, so fine. Automations seemed solid (didn’t fail once), manual switching laggy.
Subsequent updates to Deconz broke status reporting in HA but made the switch visible as lights on Deconz interface. This then enabled me to turn a light on but not back off again in HA as HA didn’t know the light was on (toggle). It also killed off the left switch altogether, so I could only use the physical rocker, meaning automations were also broken for the left rocker.
Read on GitHub that the problem was fixed and to remove/repair the switch which I did, then all hell broke loose. Had to completely remove Deconz from Hass.io (and the HA integration), reset the stick and re-do. Thank goodness I don’t have hundreds of devices.
Upon re-pairing with the (two gang, remember) switch I found that the switch presented itself in Deconz as four lights. Two didn’t do anything, two worked as they should. In HA the four lights showed up as two lights and two switches, the lights doing nothing and the switches working as they should.
Lag problem still there, so I’m basically back where I started. Tried all manner of channels and USB extensions etc etc.
I am running Hass.io in a VM via my ESXi host and passing the USB stick though to the VM. Other devices work flawlessly so I don’t believe this has anything to do with it. I also had a problem early on where the stick continuously disconnected/reconnected itself (this was a common issue on GitHub across all configs) but it didn’t seem to affect my automations so I wasn’t overly bothered. It does seem to be fixed now, perhaps due to the latest firmware update (which I didn’t do, Deconz seems to do itself).
Before you dump your conbee stick, you could try the ZHA component in HA. Is is compatible with the conbee. And there is always zigbee2mqtt (but than you need another stick)
He wrote that he already tried the ZHA component and it didn’t work. From his post I also assume that he doesn’t want any help and doesn’t want to try to fix it, he just wanted to point out his frustration, which I think is totally pointless.
Bit harsh also. The guy’s invested in the Conbee 2 based on perceived ease of config after coming from another option and found it not to be the case; we all get frustrated from time to time and I for one feel the pain, when hobby time (that’s what this is, no?) is limited due to life commitments.
My experience so far is that when it works it’s solid, but it’s incredibly fragile to config changes and updates, plus it’s slow as hell. Whilst I’m pretty new to ZigBee, I’m wishing I’d gone down the z-wave route despite the extra cost. I’m just using TP-Link HS100’s for sockets right now due to fear of going too deep with the Conbee.
Of course we all get frustrated, but a post like this doesn’t help anyone except for the OP. It also makes the ConBee II look like a really bad product, which in my opinion is not true. In addition you can rant as much as you want about a product, as long as you are open to solve the issue with the help from other forum members, however he clearly says that he doesn’t want to try anymore, then why post on the forum if you don’t want any help?
I also think it is not fair to tell other people in the forum to not buy this product just because you had a bad experience. A newcomer might read this post and then decide against the ConBee stick, because it was not working for 1 person, however for 1000s of others it works.
What do you mean it is slow as hell? Did you try to change the channel to avoid possible interference with the WiFi network? For me everything ZigBee related responds instantly, e.g. I press a button on a Hue Dimmer Switch and the light turns on immediately, no lag that would be noticeable for a human.
I just checked this guy’s previous posts and I can’t find a single post where he asks for help to configure the ConBee stick. I mean the issue could be a simple config error or whatever, but we can’t know because we don’t know how his configuration looks like.
I also think it is not fair to tell other people in the forum to not buy this product just because you had a bad experience. A newcomer might read this post and then decide against the ConBee stick, because it was not working for 1 person, however for 1000s of others it works.
Agreed.
What do you mean it is slow as hell?
When I click to turn a light on in HA, I’m waiting on average 2-5s for the light to come on/go off. The HS100s I have are much, much faster. Frankly I don’t mind the sluggish response as my automations are simple timers, so haven’t asked for help. But, say I wanted to use motion detection from another sensor to turn it on in a traditional PIR scenario, it wouldn’t be anywhere near quick enough.
Did you try to change the channel to avoid possible interference with the WiFi network?
Yup.
For me everything ZigBee related responds instantly, e.g. I press a button on a Hue Dimmer Switch and the light turns on immediately, no lag that would be noticeable for a human.
I wish mine would!
How did you update the firmware? Via GCFFlasher command line?
Apologies to the OP, it looks like I may have hijacked. I’m not sure if this question was aimed at me or not so will answer for me anyway, as it’s been pointed out that the OP apparently doesn’t really need the thread anyway. I didn’t update it; I’m guessing the Deconz plugin for Hass.io forced a firmware update when I updated the plugin. The release date on the firmware I have is after I got the stick (0x264a0700) and I certainly didn’t update it.
Then I just installed the Hass.io deconz addon, put the correct USB address in and it works.
Mine too, though I had the known issue of my switch not showing up in Deconz. This didn’t matter as HA saw it anyway. It was rock solid (never failed once) but has always been sluggish. My problems started when I updated the Deconz plugin; first I lost status updates so I couldn’t toggle manually (the status would fail after a couple of days or so) then I got total failure after another update and had to reset everything. The latest version now presents two lights and two switches for some reason but it all works, it just has the lag problem.
Hmm strange. Did you also check the map of your ZigBee mesh if everything looks ok there? Do you have a lot of mains powered ZigBee devices or only this two switches you mentioned? If you turn on/off a light in Phoscon, does it react immediately or you also have lag there? I saw a thread in this forum recently that was discussing lag with ZigBee, unfortunately I can’t remember
Don’t know on Deconz, will try later, good idea. It’s hard to test though as the first switch is delayed and subsequent ones are quicker, so will need to test over a period of several hours.
Network map is fine, can’t go wrong, I have one device and one device only; the Aqara two gang switch.
Yup, extension being used. It’s about 5m away, one internal door, no other obstructions.
Just tried the Phoscon/Deconz interface via the plugin and it doesn’t work at all! HA works fine (albeit with the lag that was always there) but the Phoscon interface won’t control them at all. Strangely I see four lights in Phoscon, none of which work. HA sees two switches and two lights, the switches work.
I didn’t to be honest… As it’s working for what I need (sunset on and off at 2230) I’m not overly concerned (unless it breaks again).
For now I’m putting emphasis on trying out other things, hence the hs100s. I do want to integrate more lights though and in the UK there’s not many switch options so not sure where to go from here.
Thanks for your help though, very much appreciated.
and telling that Conbee is not the holy grail of ZigBee as people say
