Home Assistant SkyConnect / Home Assistant Connect ZBT-1 = The official Zigbee Coordinator or Thread Border Router USB radio dongle from Nabu Casa

Be aware that Aqara/Xiaomi devices are infamous for having badly written firmware, and among other things, they will not automatically move routes to better Zigbee Router device if you add that later, (so to workaround that specific Aqara/Xiaomi device issue you will need to re-pair/re-join the Aqara/Xiaomi devices again a while after you have added more Zigbee Router devices), and then making sure that they connect to the closest Zigbee Router devices instead of directly to the Zigbee Coordinator. See more Aqara/Xiaomi specific tip “Xiaomi & Aqara Devices - Pairing & Keeping them connected” here → https://community.hubitat.com/t/xiaomi-aqara-devices-pairing-keeping-them-connected/623

Other than knowing about the many issues specific to Aqara/Xiaomi devices, suggest that you learn and understand the general limitations and working with the Zigbee network and low-power radio devices. So while you need to jump through some specific hops for choosing to use Aqara/Xiaomi devices on an other Zigbee gateway implementation than their own, you should actually put in some effort to optimize your setup and environment when using Zigbee, regardless of which Zigbee gateway implementation you use.

Specifically, I highly recommend that read all trying to follow all the tips here → Zigbee networks: how to guide for avoiding interference and optimize for getting better range + coverage

Of those the three most important things are;

  1. First use a USB extension cable (longer is better) to get the radio dongle away from the computer and all other devices/cables/wires which may give EMF interference,
  2. Secondly to plug the USB extension cable into a USB 2.0 port (and not USB 3.x or USB 4.x port), so if your computer does not have a USB 2.0 port then buy and connect it via a powered USB 2.0 hub as then that will in practice convert a USB 3.x/4.x port into a USB 2.0 port.
  3. Third is to buy and add a few “known good” mains-powered Zigbee Router devices as Zigbee depends on mesh technology for increased range and coverage since all Zigbe radios as relatively weak signals with poor wall penetration because a Zigbee network relies on routing messages indirectly through Zigbee Router devices. Thus you can not really have Zigbee network with just battery-powered devices and no Zigbee Router devices as then not all signals/messages will always get through.

My tip is also to not just buy any Zigbee Router devices, instead buy some “known good” dedicated Zigbee Router products and place them strategically as Zigbee repeaters to act as the stable backbone of your Zigbee network.

Personally, I suggest buying and adding at least three such “known good” Zigbee Router devices.

  • For example, the “IKEA Tradfri Signal Repeater ” and “Aeotec Range Extender Zi ” are products that work very well out-of-the-box, while a more powerful alternative is to make yourself some semi-DIY variant by flashing the correct Zigbee Router firmware to Zigbee Coordinator USB dongles and then using them as stand-alone Zigbee Signal Repeater devices in USB-chargers for power, like, for example, either the Sonoff ZBDongle-E (EFR32MG21 based) or the Sonoff ZBDongle-P (CC2652P) work great as dedicated stand-alone Zigbee Signal Repeaters with recommended firmware.
    • Buy a few additional new Zigbee USB adapters to use after re-flashing them with Zigbee Router firmware.
      • Reflash/reuse modern Zigbee USB adapters to act as Zigbee Router devices by changing Zigbee firmware.
        • Search community forums for more “Zigbee signal repeater” or “Zigbee range extender” Zigbee Router tips.

Again, wait at least 24-hours after adding some “known good” Zigbee Router devices and then you can re-pair/re-join your Aqara/Xiaomi devices in their final location where they are permanently placed.

PS: By the way, while that linked guide covers more of what is great to be aware of, know that some of those things are also mentioned in the ZHA integration documentation for a good reason, see example: