Update on Home Assistant’s ZHA integration support; the upcoming (not yet released) Home Assistant core 2023.12 looks to get bumped to zigpy-deconz radio library version 0.22.0 which puddly committed initial Conbee III support to:
PS: There is also a ZHA draft pull release for CB3 USB product description for automatic USB discovery under Home Assistant OS (e.i. ZHA whitelisting for automatic USB discovery of ConBee 3 adapter):
Summery; Migration from one ConBee/RaspBee adapter to another is currently not possible inside Zigbee2MQTT. For that to be possible Zigbee2MQTT would first need to add support for deconz adapter backup and restore features, as the deconz adapter code in the zigbee-herdsman library which Zigbee2MQTT depends on does not yet support Zigbee network backup and restore from ConBee/RaspBee Zigbee Coordinator adapters, as such you can not simply backup your old ConBee II adapter to a file from inside Zigbee2MQTT and then just restore such backups from file to your new ConBee III adapter (as you can with Texas Instruments based z-stack adapter in Z2M because that already supports the backup and restore feature inside the zigbee-herdsman library) → FAQ | Zigbee2MQTT
See related feature requerst and discussion:
PS: Note that before creating a backup for migration you will always first need to upgrade the firmware on your old ConBee/RaspBee adapter before doing a backup! (That is however not needed if backing up an old Silicon Labs or Texas Instruments based Zigbee Coordinator). It is generally also recommended to upgrade the firmware on the new ConBee/RaspBee adapter before migrating to it.
Hello, wondering if there is a more recent update to Conbee III support? I’m on HA 2023.12.4 (latest as of this post) on HAOS 11.2 running on a HA Yellow hardware platform.
Using the “Zigbee Home Automation” integration I am able to see and select the Conbee III stick and the integration entry shows up as expected. Shows a PAN ID, extended ID, channel, coordinator IEEE, etc.
I tried pairing an Aqara Mini Switch as the first device just to see if it worked and wasn’t able to get them connected. I have not yet gone into the logging details to find out why, I thought I’d start here and ask before I troubleshoot something that might not be fully working yet.
Also I am not migrating anything, this is a brand new hardware install and that was the first device I’m trying to pair.
I did notice a firmware upgrade for the Conbee III and proceeded with that before setting up any devices. See this link for more.
I also had to pair a few plug-in repeaters before I was able to successfully pair the Aqara buttons with ease (per a number of other threads). So if anyone happens upon this thread, at least in my case Conbee III is working just fine with the “Zigbee Home Automation” integration.
Just to clearify, all Zigbee radios and are very susceptible to interference from strong or close sources of EMF (electromagnetic fields) + have relatively poor range and building material penetration (i.e. bad non-line-of-sight propagation), so you should follow the advice in that guide and take some basic actions to avoid EMF interference by connecting the Zigbee Coordinator USB adapter via a long USB extension cable (preferably one with good shielding) as well as connecting it to a USB 2.0 port or a USB 2.0 hub (and not a USB 3.0 port/hub) + make sure that you have added a few good mains-powered Zigbee Router devices (to extend range and coverage) before trying to connect any Zigbee End Devices (i.e. non-routers like for example battery-operated Zigbee devices). Again, do read and follow this → Zigbee networks: how to guide for avoiding interference and optimize for getting better range + coverage
Quick question : since this Conbee III features a custom solution which supports ZGP (ZigBee Green Power), does it mean that such devices (MOES kinetic switches for example) can now work with HA, through the Conbee stick ?
Comparing the Conbee 3 to Skyconnect; does the Conbee 3 have a better radio? I’m still struggling to keep all battery devices connecting. I’m still trying out some things… (yes yes, I have a 2meter USB 2.0 extension cable and tried various channels). With my Conbee 2 I never had any problems with losing devices.
That is, it is not enough to make sure that the Zigbee Coordinator is avoiding electromagnetic field (EMF/EMI/RMI). You also need to add many mains-powered devices that act as Zigbee Routers (which are most but not all mains-powered devices), or for best possible experience add a few dedicated Zigbee Router devices.
Not sure if the use the same chip part number (model) but they both use radio chips from the same radio chip series (Silabs EFR32MG21) so the difference is the application firmware. Home Assistant SkyConnect uses the standard Silicon Labs EmberZNet application firmware with EZSP (EmberZNet Serial Protocol) interface. ConBee III uses its own deconz application firmware (which has its own deconz serial protocol interface).
What might be different otherwise is the circuit board design and components uses (including the antenna design and whether or not to have additional electromagnetic shielding cover protecting the extra sensitive components for the antenna). Note that the Home Assistant SkyConnect board does not have any electromagnetic shielding cover and uses a PCB antenna design so it is extremely sensitive, (on top of the fact that all Zigbee radios are very sensitive to EMF because they are low-power and low-bandwidth radios).
Yes I got more hardwired devices then battery powered devices. Most things are hue GU10’s and hue E27’s (got a few more different hue models). Even got two hue smart plugs .
Worth checking your Zigbee network map visualization as your Philips Hue devices are maybe not acting as Zigbee Router devices for all other non-Hue Zigbee devices
Since I went directly to ConBee III from a ConBee II, my knowledge of SkyConnect is limited. My choice was somewhat directed by the fact that I have +70 ZigBee devices and didn’t want to rebuild everything related these (in automations, Lovelace etc.).
The reason for me to consider replacing my ConBee II was an experience lately that the USB would ‘zone out’; it reported perfectly in the logs, however, no communication between the ZigBee devices. Upgrading to ConBee III was simple; backup config, insert new ConBee and restore config. Only hiccup was that it failed to communucate with the network after upgrading. A quick restore of the config and everything was back.
The thing I have noted is that the device seems snappier when starting up and my battery powered (FoH) devices now seem to have a better reach than before. Whether that is to be attributed to the hardware or a new ZigBee stack (maybe allowing routing of Foh) I do not know. So far ConBee III has met my expecations.
I actually went ahead and bought a Conbee 3 and I can say yes, it solved my Skyconnect problems. it’s been rock solid for 3 weeks so far and no device has been dropped. I only have some ZHA pairing problems when pairing using a device instead of directly through the stick. But hopefully the ZHA guys or Conbee 3 with new firmware will solve these problems.
anyone using zha with conbee 3 ?
on my side it is still not working. (setup process failing)
and due to this old bugreport I understand this that zha will not support conbee 3
What is your exact enviroment setup and configuration details? Anyway, that old issue does no longer apply, it should work in later Home Assistent releases. It is supported via the deconz-zigpy library for zigpy that the ZHA integration depends on, see: