How many Routers are recommended for a Small House

Configuration Zigbee
1

Hello all

I Hope you are Well.

Since my Light Switches do not have a Neutral Wire I am using the Sonoff ZBM5 Light Switches which work without one.

The thing is that due to the No Neutral the Light Switches are seen as Endpoint Devices and not Routers.

If I Add some Sonoff Smart Plugs to the House they will be seen as Routers, however, I am unsure how many Smart Plugs I should use.

As I said, the House is Small, a 2 Bedroom Semi Detached:

Upstairs:

Main Bedroom (Home Assistant Green and Zigbee Coordinator are here)
Box Room
Bathroom

Downstairs:

Living Room
Kitchen

If I put a Smart Plug in the Box Room, Living Room and Kitchen do you think that this would help the Zigbee Mesh Network and in turn thd Light Switches?

Thanks in advance

Kevin

2

There is no set number, since every deployment differs. Usually the more, the better (within reason).

1 Like
3

Consider also what the signal has to pass trough, walls and floor. If you have reinforced concrete slab for example, you might want to have devices near/both side the stairs

4

Hello

Thanks for the Replies.

The Internal Walls are Plasterboard Cavity and the Floors are Chipboard over Joists, the only Solid Walls are the External Walls.

So, I should be fine as is, Hopefully :slight_smile:

One Question though.

Do Endpoint Devices always Connect to the Coordinator Directly even when Router Devices are present nearby?

Just that I have noticed that even though I have a LED Strip behind the TV which is a Router Device, the Light Switch in the Room, an Endpoint Device, always Connects to the Coordinator Directly even though that is located Upstairs.

Still on that Steep Learning Curve :slight_smile:

Thanks in advance

Kevin

5

No. But they often do. They might stick with the original parent if signal is sufficient even if you add a router nearby. And there are also router devices that don’t accept children or the number is very limited.

6

Hello

Thanks for the information, it is appreciated.

Kevin

7

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8

Hello

Apologies, I thought that I had.

I have now :slight_smile:

Thanks

Kevin

9

I have one or two of these in almost every room of my house. No end device is more than three meters from a router. Is It overkill? I don’t know nor do I care. I have a solid, reliable Zigbee network.

10

Hello

Thanks for the Reply.

My initial thought was to have atleast one Smart Plug in each Room, primarily because of the Light Switches all being End Devices, due to No Neutral, but it seems that the Light Switches are connecting Directly to the Coordinator even when there is a Router in the same Room.

I think I will go with my initial thought and put atleast one Smart Plug in each Room.

Thanks

Kevin