The best would probably be to do the stretch with network cables, and then use two coordinators (one in your house, one in your garage) and do two instances of zigbee software (ZHA+Z2M or two instances of Z2M).
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Same scenario and I stop trying to solve it while I was still using zigbee gear. After switching to esphome wifi devices the problem was no more as wifi reaches every corner from the garage easily!
Might wanna think to use other (stronger) technolgy than zigbee for your task!
Beaming wifi longer distances between antennae A and B is also an off the shelf product, so I assumed something similar would exist for Zigbee.
I have only heard of Zigbee Pro, which is not new at all, but from 2007.
It has not gained much attention since it release, until now where a few manufacturers dapple with it.
Zigbee Pro runs on the 800/900Mhz band and is therefore incompatible with the normal Zigbee.
The lower frequency increase the penetration of the signals, which can be interpreted by some as longer ranges.
It does not use tree addressing, but random addressing. This does not mean that it is a hub-and-spoke protocol. It is still a mesh protocol and actually a better one than the normal Zigbee.
Once possible solution would be to use something like a Philips Hue Bridge in the garage to create a small Zigbee mesh network to control the light bulbs. Then, bridge the gap between the two buildings using WiFi technology, to allow the Philips Hue bridge to be integrated with Home Assistant.
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Something missed in this conversation (or perhaps I didn’t see it and it was stated) is that the benefit of using a PoE Zigbee device or even a reflashed dongle (i.e., Sonoff) is that it has a large external antenna. Mains powered devices have a much smaller antenna.
I loved the idea of Zigbee bulbs to extend the reach of Zigbee outdoors, that’s pretty brilliant - but if that doesn’t have the signal strength for your need, then the external unit with a big antenna is far more likely to reach the house than the little one inside a device.
Best case, you plug in any router capable mains device and it works. Second best, you flash something with an external antenna and it works. Worst case, you set up a second HA for that building and install strong WiFi antennas so you can use the API’s to synchronize the two.
It would be better to just setup a separate Zigbee2MQTT instance really, it can run on a pi or similar.
My statement was more around getting the traffic there in the first place and whether a mains device would be as good as an external antenna device.
@erllor I would try a couple of normal devices out there and move them around to see what you get. You might find a sweet spot near the roof or a window that lets it all work - maybe it needs an extension cord to get to the sweet spot.
A large antenna is not always a good thing.
Sometimes that means that the device with the large antenna can reach devices further away, but the devices further away can not reach back with their small antennas.
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If the distance is not km but only meters (like in my case) the router on A (house) was enough. My esphome nodes in the garage can connect directly to the wif in the house
The answer to the original question is no. This is not how Zigbee works.
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I have 2 coördinators, using ZHA and Z2M.
What I did was, use the mains for ethernet (powerline adapters) to get ethernet to my garage. Then used an SLZB-06M for Zigbee connection over ethernet.
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That’s nice! My garage has its own fuse box, so I doubt that would work for me (?).
Do you know if one of these PoE units will work as a router for zha (skyconnect)?
Sorry if stupid question.
There are no Zigbee Router devices that communicate over Ethernet. Zigbee Routers always communicate with each other, Zigbee end devices, and the Zigbee controller via the 2.4GHz Zigbee protocol.
You could use PoE to simply power a Zigbee Router, but that doesn’t really solve anything.
You could use a PoE Zigbee Controller (e.g. like The Tube’s devices) which would create its own new Zigbee mesh network for an outbuilding. HA would communicate via Ethernet to the Zigbee controller, and would need to run either ZHA or Zigbee2MQTT (Z2M). If you already have a ZHA based Zigbee controller, then I would recommend using Z2M on the new controller.
This is really the same idea as what I originally suggested regarding simply using a Philips Hue bridge in the remote location. You could easily pair Zigbee lights with the Hue Bridge, and then have the Hue bridge integrated with HA via Ethernet. This is a very easy and quick way to add another Zigbee mesh network to your HA system.
If your goal is only to get the devices in your garage usable in HA, not to fill in gaps in the existing ZHA mesh, my suggestion would be to use one of the ethernet based adapters with Z2M alongside your already existing ZHA. If you have no signal out to the garage at all I don’t see that interference would be a big issue.
Right, there’s no way i would “meshing” around, with additional “router-capable” devices for this purpose ( it’s just another point of failure ! )
Draw an ethernet-cable, put op a Ethernet-Switch in the garage ( or a Router with WIFI and Ethernet ports, as a WIRED AP ( To your main Router ) , this way you have LAN/WIFI in the garage( For all purposes you find usefull )
To this Switch/Router, you connect a i.e IKEA Coordinater ( Or optional choice )
Ikea runs Default on Zigbee Channeo 10, where as most others uses Channel 15
Depending upon how much/often you use the Garage, this would be a stable choice ( For both WIFI/Ethernet and Zighbee )
And if you uses a IP-Router as AP, you on the same WIFI/and ethernet Network ( You just add another Zigbee Network on another Channel, and another Integration )
IKEA is not the one you’ll have problems with ( Drawback, limited device assortment ( but eventually they “catch up” , on the other hand, with same WIFI-Network, you can use optional wifi devices to communicate with )
One drawback of using IKEA or Hue coordinators is the limited support for devices. If you have them laying around unused sure, but if there is a need for a purchase there are better options (like the network based ones).
Yes, i did mentioned that, and btw IKEA is a Wired Coordinator( Network based )
It’s All simple, but an easy plug and play solution (depended upon which devices you have/need there, in a Garage ) …, not depended upon all the constant issues, people tends to get with ZHA and Zigbee-to-MQTT, beside all the configurations needed for these
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