Hi,
I am new to HA. I have a big home (2 floors). Already ordered few zigbee devices (did my best, to be supported by ZHA and zigbee2mqtt - cos I have not decided yet which one to choose).
I know that i need to insall few zigbee repeaters/routers, inorder to build a better Zigbee Mesh.
Questions:
Can you recommend a type (bulb, plug or switch ? which one is better ?) and a model (Aqara, Ikea or…?)
What is the maximum routing range for each of them? I could not find this information online
What is the accepted rule of thumb, IOW, how many routers/repeaters I need per square meter ? (The walls made out of concrete and blocks)
Will there be problems in the communication between the 2 floors (did any one face such problems) ?
Theres no magic number. A lot of it will depend on your construction.
In a approx 3200 sq ft area wood frame home over a basement, I have two Sonoff ZBDongle-P sticks deployed as routers, and a third as coordinator. Exterior is mostly brick veneer, and I have several door sensors on my fence gates.
Most of the devices link via the Sonoff sticks. A few attach via Sengled smart plugs.
Everything has been solidly reliable.
I try to keep the zigbee net as stable as possible. I avoid zigbee bulbs unless they are in an ALWAYS powered location. I use wifi bulbs anywhere there is any chance a smart bulb may be powered off via a switch, get unplugged, etc. I don’t want any chance a bulb acting as a zigbee router is switched off.
Lighting isn’t much of an issue for me though, most of my lighting is on Lutron Caseta switching.
whatever you pick, ensure it is never allowed to be turned off. Nothing kicks the legs out of your mesh faster than people shutting off repeaters. This is the EXACT reason Sengled made the decision not to make their smart bulbs repeaters. People have a habit of turning off lamps.
Spec says a lot more than it really is because walls and electrical interference is a thing. Spec says about 100 feet, but I use about 30’ (~10m) for planning purposes. No such thing as too many repeaters.
see previous. Keep adding until stuff stops dropping.