How to identify MQTT Sensors after they are connected

Hardware
1

Hello HA community, maybe it’s a simple question but I’m really having a trouble to see the best way to track it.

I bought 5 temperature sensors (Xiaomi Aqara Smart Home Temperature & Humidity Sensor) and I’m able to synchronize and see their status through my hass.io setup using MQTT.

After synchronizing them all together, I’m not able to properly identify which sensor is which. What is your best practice to keep a track of each individual sensor? Should I sharpie* them :sweat_smile: with a serial number and write somewhere?

Thanks,

2

For my smart light bulbs, I connect one at a time and use a pencil to mark the entity_id on the housing. I use pencil in case I need to change it later. The bulbs are fixed in position so accidentally erasing the id through handling is not an issue as might be the case with your sensors.

You could use a permanent marker inside the battery cover if you don’t want it visible from the outside.

1 Like
3

Thanks for sharing, I guess connecting one at a time make sense. I will try to erase and start again.

4

How are you connecting Xiaomi sensors over MQTT?

5

zigbee2mqtt stick… 5 second press on the sensor and they are bound to zigbee2mqtt.
if z2m is linked to HA, they show up automatically in HA.

6

I use z2m as well, I was just wondering if I had missed some other method.

You can see in the logs of z2m the device UID as it senses. Throw one in the fridge and watch the log for the device that cools down quickly.

2 Likes
7

Once you know which one it is, give it a friendly name (LivingRoomTemperature, Outdoor, …) in the z2m config and it will show up with that name in HA. That works, if you don’t move the sensors around.

8

Just regular CC2531 + zigbee2mqtt hass.io add-on.

9

I see haha, yep It’s a valid method to put it inside the fridge.

10

Still learning this part to give it a friendly name.

Anyway I’m doing now step by step instead of setting everything together while also giving them some serial number to easily track. I don’t have any plans to move them but we never know the future :slight_smile: