I’m having some issues with my new ConBee III stick and ZigBee.
My HA runs on a raspy 5 with newest OS installed.
I don’t use the DeConz plugin, I just plugged the stick in and clicked on add device, and add a new Zigbee device, so I think I am using ZHA.
Before, I used a ConBee II stick. But at some point i could not connect new devices to it. I’ve read that the ConBee II has a maximum limit of 24 devices without any routers or repeaters. And this seems to be true for my case as well because I could not connect more devices (at first). But eventually I managed to connect a 25th device. But then one stopped working properly (so limit of 24 working devices was still the device cap).
Since then, everything has been acting up. My stick didn’t find new devices at all, and every device that loses contact once won’t reconnect.
When things started to malfunction, I migrated to the ConBee III (for a higher device limit without repeaters) and bought a Hue plug that also functions as a repeater (just to test). I did this with the Backup Function in HA.
Now, with the new setup, the Hue plug connects fine to the ConBee Stick. (The Hue plug was a completely new device I had to pair). Some Devices did now connect via the Hue Plug to the ConBee III Stick, but the ConBee stick itself won’t connect to any devices directly (except the Hue Plug). But at least the ConBee Stick will detect new devices, that dint work with the ConBee II after hitting the limit. But always fails with the interview. It’s always stuck on interviewing the Device. I am not sure if new devices try to connect to the ConBee stick itself or via the Hue Plug.
I mainly try to connect Aqara Door sensors as well as Aqara Air Sensors. But I have some other devices too, and they also react in the same way.
Any insights or suggestions on what might be going wrong and how I can fix this? I really have no plan on how to go on. I googled everything, asked already 2-3 questions in the forum to specific problems, but nothing seems to help. Maybe with the bigger picture, someone is able to find the issue here. Seems like just no device (except the Hue Plug) is willing to connect with my ConBee Stick.
One thing you could try, get an extension cable for your dongle/stick. At least 10cm, better more than 20cm. Zigbee uses the same frequencies as Wifi, so some noise is always expected. But especially the Pis are prone to make things worse, as all the network and USB things on a Pi are stuck together on a very small part of the Pi.
I personally have the experience, that the interview (aka the first connection) is more picky than the use later on. It might make sense to connect the devices while they’re near or next to the Conbee. Works wonders sometimes.
But in all honesty, it is very hard to debug a Zigbee network. There are so many possibilties, like bindings, that can co wrong or better are wrongly configured…
I already ordered an extension cable. I will test it out as soon as it arrives.
Sadly, I know that it’s hard to debug. Especially since the error logs are kind a shit when connecting a device, or non-existent for already connected devices that lost connectivity.
I was wondering if there is any possibility, that when I added the 25th device, it broke some protocol or whatever and since then it did not recover? But I think that should not be the case, but It’s just strange that it doesn’t work properly any more even after changing all the Components and adding new ones (repeaters).
But thanks a lot, ill try it with the cable and hope for the best!
Noel
What do you mean by this? If you replaced devices that were routers, some devices won’t try to find a new route without pairing them again. For instance Aqara is notorious for that. So if you moved or took zigbee devices offline that were routers, you may need to pair devices again if their connection is broken.
Also, when you run into problems like these, new routers is better than a new coordinator.
And last but not least, pair devices in their intended place, after you paired all routers.
I replaced the coordinator, the ConBee stick. But I did it with a backup from ZHA. And all devices are restored (but just not connecting).
I didn’t have any repeaters at first. I just bought one to see if I can connect the repeater to the Coordinator or if this also won’t work. But somehow I could connect the repeater (The Hue Plug in this case) and even more surprising, some Aqara devices connected with the repeater (the power plug) and came back online in HA.
But I cannot connect any new Aqara devices to the coordinator. I was very surprised to see, that the Power Plug connected. I didn’t expect that. And then I was even more surprised, that some Aqara devices connected via the power plug to the coordinator. Because these Aqara devices were initially connected to the coordinator before there were any repeaters (the plug in this case) in the system.
And by replacing the components, I didn’t mean changing the end devices / sensors. I was changing the coordinator and adding a Repeater.
Zigbee devices that won’t connect sometimes need to be reset to factory defaults. Some do this when pairing, some do not. So check the device manual if there is such a procedure.
If that does not work, also check how crowded wifi channels are, and check that with the channel used for Zigbee. Maybe a neighbor bought a new router, maybe yours switched channels, … Carefull, the channel numbers cannot be compared directly, both protocols use different numbering.
I didn’t find a lot regarding the behaviour of the Aqara devices, but the fact that they reconnected even over a new Repeater makes me think that they would pair to a new ConBee Stick. Also, the connected devices change Chanel with the coordinator when I change the Chanel in ZHA settings. This also makes me believe, that the aqara devices are quite advanced in regard to connection loss, new channels and so on.
Probably there are just not more Devices coming back online via the repeater, because the repeaters limit is hit.
I bought a new Mesh Wi-Fi a few months ago when I started this entire smart home thing, and I am very positive, that no neighbours have interfering Wi-Fi. I live in a standalone house and the neighbours are not that young so probably no custom settings, and they have the same network operator as we do, and their routers run on pre-set, other channels.
I really appreciate your help! Thanks a lot
Sadly, I really don’t know what to do more because I tried it all already… Or at least I think so.
Mesh wifi means more channels in use, more transmitters to drown out zigbee. Neighbors on other channels: even more channels in use. Zigbee is like a cricket, wifi more like a bullhorn. It will drown zigbee out easily. If you checked the zigbee channel and compared to a wifi analyser app using the diagram in the post I linked to, then great.
Switching zigbee channels may also be the reason some zigbee devices won’t reconnect. Some devices do not accept the newer zigbee channels, some require the factory reset before they look on other channels.
Hey, yes, I checked it. The Wi-Fi channels do not interfere.
And I changed the Chanel back to 20 after switching to 15 for a test. I just wanted to see if the other devices also change the Chanel.
At least 10cm, better more than 20cm. Zigbee uses the same frequencies as Wifi, so some noise is always expected. But especially the Pis are prone to make things worse, as all the network and USB things on a Pi are stuck together on a very small part of the Pi.