Hue lights borderline unusable with SkyConnect vs Hue Bridge...did I make a mistake?

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In theory. However, there may have been weaknesses in your original network that were being masked by the Hue bridge. For example, it would have had a bigger antenna than the SkyConnect dongle, so it may have been connecting directly with more devices.

They are certainly at opposite ends of the spectrum, but channel 24 is not recommended, according to the docs.

Channel 20 would be well clear of your wi-fi.

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…but don’t forget your neighbours. If you go to the ZHA integration card and click on Download diagnostics they include a summary of current channel usage (right at the bottom) which should look something like this:

"energy_scan": 
      "11": 55.9836862725909,
      "12": 89.93931580241996,
      "13": 87.33047519856483,
      "14": 49.512515447068886,
      "15": 89.93931580241996,
      "16": 88.70042934643088,
      "17": 13.711043742539033,
      "18": 8.631361812931262,
      "19": 4.15070068297423,
      "20": 70.89933442360993,
      "21": 1.9464625152460222,
      "22": 36.830390267097734,
      "23": 4.15070068297423,
      "24": 3.2311094587038967,
      "25": 2.2107128772756957,
      "26": 70.89933442360993

Unlike wi-fi scans, this includes Zigbee usage - channels 11 (Z2M) and 20 (ZHA) in this example. If you do decide to change channels, the ZHA integration will do it from the GUI. Go to the device card for your coordinator, click add devices via this device and then the network tab at the top. I did this recently and all my Hue devices switched automatically without needing re-pairing.

Sixty-six devices is quite normal, but it depends on what kind of devices they are. Only routers (mains-powered devices) contribute to the mesh, so you need to look at how many of them there are and how they are distributed.

If you have Hue motion sensors there is a known problem with them in that they sometimes disconnect from the network then try to re-connect as a new device, which the network will not allow. There is a simple fix for this here.

It may also help to update the firmware on the SkyConnect. The simplest way to do this is with the Silicon Labs Flasher add-on, which defaults to the latest version.

If you have a Hue dimmer switch you can use it to put bulbs into pairing mode. Hold it as close as you can to the bulb, then press and hold down top and bottom buttons together for 5-10 seconds. The bulb will flash when it’s in pairing mode.

There’s a community guide on migrating from the Hue bridge here.

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