A series of door sensors paired to a generic Zigbee hub on my wired network. Configured using the Tuya app. Accessible in HA using the Tuya integration.
A variety of water leak sensors paired to a Zegmisart Zigbee Hub on my wired network. Also configured using Tuya app. Accessible in HA using the Tuya integration.
A bunch of Aeotec Dual Nano Switches paired to a SmartThings (aka Aoetec) hub on my wired network. Configured using the SmartThings app. Accessible in HA using the SmartThings integration.
I also have a couple of Zigbee USB extenders (aka Zigbee routers).
I previously had a HA Connect ZBT-1 but had not really go it working. I have recently bought the ZBT-2.
Both Tuya and SmartThings rely on internet access which is workable but not ideal. I would prefer to access everything from HA via Zigbee. Unfortunately, the terminology used in Zigbee is a little loose, and people use different terms for the same thing. I’m trying to understand my options.
What I think I understand is:
The ZBT-2 will be the one and only Zigbee controller.
I can pair the individual Zigbee devices to the ZBT-2 (although this is a pain for the light switches that are already installed) to form one large meshed Zigbee network.
What I want to understand is can I connect the 3 hubs to the ZBT-2, thereby avoiding the need to re-pair all the end devices?
If that is not possible (ie I need to pair the end devices to the ZBT-2 directly), are the 3 hubs able to act as Zigbee routers/extenders for the mesh network? It would seem to be a shame to not be able to use those 3 hubs in some way.
most likely all 3 of those hubs are separate meshes.
In likely a pretty big undertaking, you will need to get the zbt2 installed and updated, creating a new zigbee network, then re-pair each of your devices one at a time to the zbt2 network.
zigbee has one controller, but can have multiple routers (typically the mains powered devices).
Once each hub has all its devices migrated, you can unplug it. Or just unplug them all if you don’t need to keep things up during the migration.
while it may be possible to convert your old hubs to router mode, you will probably be better off just sticking with the zbt2 and let your powered devices handle the mesh routing.
consolidating everything to one zigbee network will likely improve your performance and reliability simply by reducing the signal interference/competition, and providing more powered routers within a single network.
Thanks Saoshen. That’s what I feared. All the door and water sensors are battery powered. Not certain the Nano’s operate as routers but will check.
Just to close out this thread, I got the ZBT-2 and repaired the end devices. All works. Of course, I now have a bunch of spare “hubs” of various kinds!
Also, turned out the pucks for my light switches where Z-Wave, not Zigbee - I hadn’t realised because I’d been uysing a SmartThings hub which does both. So bought a ZWA-2 Z-Wave controller which just handles the lights. So far so good.