Hi All,
I have a HomeAssistant Server in the garage - which is detached from my house by a few meters and a couple of walls. I would like to get Zigbee connectivity from the house to the HA in the garage.
Hardware: Odroid N2+ with Sonoff Universal Zigbee 3.0 USB Dongle
I am currently using this with a couple of Sonoff SNZB-02 temp sensors and a Sonoff Zigbee Bridge Pro Hub (https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09ZQQZSQZ?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details)
These work for sensors in the garage - but (and I have tested) doesn’t pair with sensors in the house. I have a spare SNZB-02 that I am using for testing. All the hardware is in the garage at the moment
So my questions:
I can’t help but think there may be something I can do with the Pro Hub to extend into the house. I have a common Wifi available in both the house and the garage and the network is connected between them by fibre and copper.
If I am wrong about the Pro Hub then I guess something like a couple (few) of these (TRÅDFRI, Signal repeater - IKEA) might do the trick. One in the garage and one as close to the garage as I can get in the house with possibly a 3rd elsewhere in the house.
Do I have the right idea? I am trying to give myself the opportunity to add Zigbee devices in the house as required by my somewhat scattergun approach.
I do exactly as @koying suggests for 2). My shed is probably 6-8 meters from the house. One mains-powered smart plug in a back room of the house, and one in the shed, allow good connectivity. From there another smart plug in another outbuilding 5-6 meters away from the shed connects everything in that building, too.
The smart plugs cost about the same as dedicated repeaters. You don’t need to plug anything into them to work as a repeater, but for about the same money you might as well have that capability.
Short answer is that you should add many Zigbee Router devices, and “known good” ones work better.
To get the best of both worlds it is best to add both a few dedicated Zigbee Router devices as well as loads of non-dedicated Zigbee products (mains-powered and act as Zigbee Routers). Zigbee uses mesh networking and a Zigbee network will work better and better with the more Zigbee Router devices that you add to it.
FYI, dedicated Zigbee Router devices are known to have much better reception and transmission + can often route more devices than non-dedicated Zigbee products such as smart outlet power-plug,
For example, it is well known that IKEA Tradfri Signal Repeater works much better as a Zigbee Router device (better reception/transmission and can handle roiting for more devices) than their IKEA Tradfri Wireless Control Outlet power-plug.
Good to know, in case I ever need that extra range or number of devices. For me just building a robust mesh with smart plugs scattered around has been working well. Even all the way out to the far end of my barn, maybe 25 meters from the house. As with all things, YMMV.