Integrating hue bulbs without hue bridge + possible switches

[cpessoa (Caio Pessoa)]

Hi folks.

It’s my first time posting here and I’m very new on automation as well!

I’ve been playing with HA and I’m having a hard time to have a simple toggle on/off of my philips hue bulbs. I don’t have a hue bridge!

Would a ConBee II do the trick for me?

I’m also willing to add switches to turn on/off old projector (Toptro) and maybe replacing some sockets.

[Hedda]

@cpessoa

Integrating hue bulbs without hue bridge ?

Suggest buying a modern Zigbee Coordinator USB radio adapter and installing either the ZHA integration for Home Assistant (which is very easy to get started with as it fully embedded) or using the stand-alone Zigbee2MQTT (which is more flexible but not embedded and instead integrates via the generic MQTT integration so the experience it is a little more like running a separate hub/gateway/bridge like the Philips Hue Bridge):

• https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/zha

• https://www.zigbee2mqtt.io/guide/installation/03_ha_addon.html

@cpessoa

Would a ConBee II do the trick for me?

Yes ConBee II will work (with the latest firmware), however, instead recommend getting either a Silicon Labs EFR32MG21 based radio adapter if planing to use Home Assistant’s own ZHA integration solution or get a Texas Instruments CC2652P based radio adapter if planning to use the third-party Zigbee2MQTT solution.

Regardless of which Zigbee solution go with or which Zigbee Coordinator radio be sure to read these:

Try to follow this as best you can → https://community.home-assistant.io/t/guide-for-zigbee-interference-avoidance-and-network-range-coverage-optimization/515752

Also see → https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/zha#defining-zigbee-channel-to-use

As well as follow this too → https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/zha#best-practices-to-avoid-pairingconnection-difficulties

Tip for upgrading Philips Hue devices with latest OTA firmware recommend check out the ZHA Toolkit if go with the ZHA integration → https://github.com/mdeweerd/zha-toolkit

@cpessoa

willing to add switches to turn on/off old projector (Toptro) and maybe replacing some sockets.

Check out this community-contributed database of devices → https://zigbee.blakadder.com/

Personally I would just like to generally recommend not getting any Tuya branded or rebranded/OEM Tuya devices that are mains-powered (note that a majority of cheap Chinese devices are made by Tuya), nor any Aqara or Xiaomi branded devices that are mains-powered, (however their battery-powered sensor devices are normally quite good so those are usually fine), as while very inexpensive they are usually not as compatible as mains-powered devices that are not manufactured by Tuya or Aqara/Xiaomi

[stephenk87 (Stephen K)]

What is the end user impact of these devices that are “not as compatible”? Also, are there any brands you would recommend for mains-powered zigbee devices? I have a whole bunch of Aqara or rebranded Tuya devices and I’m curious what their sub-optimal compatibility might be having on my overall experience. They work fine for the most part from what I can tell…

[Hedda]

Check out this new community guide (and discussion thread) specifically about Philips Hue migration that was recently created/started:

Migrating from a Philips Hue Bridge to the ZHA (Zigbee Home Automation) integration

Don’t forget that the first post in a community guide is a wiki - feel free to add to it or correct it. This guide was written and tested these versions but should also work similarly with later versions: Home Assistant 2023.8.4 Supervisor 2023.09.2 Operating System 10.5 Frontend 20230911.0 - latest Background Until recently Philips Hue devices have been controlled locally via a local API through the Philips Hue Bridge using the Philips Hue integration for Home Assistant, but Philips/Signi…

Device compatible questions are also answered in these sections of the ZHA integration documentation:

https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/zha/#knowing-which-devices-are-supported

https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/zha/#how-to-add-support-for-new-and-unsupported-devices

https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/zha#limitations

Your other questions are already answered in much more detail if you read (and follow) these threads:

Migrating from a Philips Hue Bridge to the ZHA (Zigbee Home Automation) integration

Don’t forget that the first post in a community guide is a wiki - feel free to add to it or correct it. This guide was written and tested these versions but should also work similarly with later versions: Home Assistant 2023.8.4 Supervisor 2023.09.2 Operating System 10.5 Frontend 20230911.0 - latest Background Until recently Philips Hue devices have been controlled locally via a local API through the Philips Hue Bridge using the Philips Hue integration for Home Assistant, but Philips/Signi…

Zigbee buyer's guide

Don’t forget that the first post in a community guide is a wiki - feel free to add to it or correct it. This guide was written with reference to: Core 2023.11.3 Supervisor 2023.11.6 Operating System 11.2 Frontend 20231030.2 Summary This post is aimed at newcomers to Zigbee - and possibly to Home Assistant - who have stumbled into the wild west of Zigbee devices and manufacturers. It does not recommend particular products; instead it advocates a cautious approach to buying. When it comes t…

Zigbee networks: how to guide for avoiding interference + optimize using Zigbee Router devices (repeaters/extenders) to get a stable mesh network with best possible range and coverage

Who is this guide for? I have tried to make this guide to be a comprehensive collection of the most basic yet essential tips with a set of actions and best practice steps that should be applicable to all types of Zigbee setups, regardless of what type of Zigbee adapter/gateway/hub/bridge/devices that you are using. This guide is meant for both those who are new to Zigbee as well as those who been using Zigbee devices for years but might not been aware of the underlying prerequisites to optimiz…

Not many people know that... A random collection of Zigbee trivia

Don’t forget that the first post in a community guide is a wiki - feel free to add to it or correct it. This guide was written with reference to: Core 2023.12.3 Supervisor 2023.11.6 Operating System 11.2 Frontend 20231208.2 Some subjects come up quite a lot... That map [That map...] The ZHA “network visualisation” was originally a dashboard card. It was absorbed into ZHA and the card is now deprecated, but the repository is still on Github. The lines on the map show every route between …

[LiQuid_cOOled]

I’d recommend the SONOFF Zigbee 3.0 USB Dongle Plus model ZBdongle-P.

Hardware:
I bought several coordinators and the newest isn’t the way to go.

Software:
ZHA is getting there, but Zigbee2MQTT is the way to go. I have 100+ Zigbee devices so I may not be an expert, but definitely experienced

[stephenk87 (Stephen K)]

I appreciate you providing all these references. I’ve read through some of these but a bunch are new to me so thanks for putting all these together in one place.

[Hedda]

Very important to note that Zigbee devices have poor range and bad penetration (low RF propagation) + are relatively speaking extremely sensitive to EMF/EMI/RMI interference, so you need to place your Zigbee Coordinator properly to avoid all sources of EMF/EMI/RMI interference + add many mains-powered Zigbee Router devices that will act as range-extenders/signal-repeaters before you add any battery-powered Zigbee devices in a other room or far away from the Zigbee Coordinator → Zigbee networks: how to guide for avoiding interference and optimize for getting better range + coverage

@LiQuid_cOOled

I’d recommend the SONOFF Zigbee 3.0 USB Dongle Plus model ZBdongle-P.

The CC2652P based Sonoff ZBDongleP is also my recommendation, see → Zigbee buyer's guide

Regardless, make sure at least use via a (shielded) long USB extension cable to a USB 2.0 port → Zigbee networks: how to guide for avoiding interference and optimize for getting better range + coverage

[Hedda]

@LiQuid_cOOled

ZHA is getting there, but Zigbee2MQTT is the way to go.

That depends on how advanced you are as a user when getting started and how advanced you think you want to go with Zigbee devices. They both have different pros and cons, however, the built-in ZHA integration is still easier for a beginner to get started with as it is fully embedded as a native component inside Home Assistant core, while Zigbee2MQTT is still quicker to get support for brand new complex/odd/unusual/advanced products when they just come out however the learning curve is steeper if not already very experienced with Home Assistant, but the learning curve for configuring any complex/odd/unusual/advanced device is relatively high in both these Zigbee gateway solutions.

Zigbee2MQTT can be said to be more for “power users” who buy more Zigbee products for less common purposes, and the ZHA integration works great out-of-the-box for most users who buy more standard types of products for lights and home automation.

One could also argue that the odd/wired products should maybe in many cases not have been made as a Zigbee device because they usually do not follow the Zigbee specification (and therefore they will not work until a developer code a custom device handler as a converter/quirk/translator for that specific product, and most such products would probably have been made as a Wi-Fi based device instead using ESPHome or Tasmota firmware on an ESP32 SoC).

FYI; BeardedConti posted a new pros and cons video about ZHA versus Zigbee2MQTT for beginners:

ZHA or Zigbee2MQTT - that's the question now!

Home Automation Guy posted a similar video about two years ago and parts in it is already outdated:

Zigbee2MQTT vs ZHA (Zigbee Home Automation) - Which should you use for your Smart Home?

Development for these is going fast but today recommend you guys check out later posts in this thread:

ZHA vs Zigbee2Mqtt - which is the most stable?

Hi there. I have been having a few issues with my network whereby certain devices, using Zigbee2Mqtt, randomly stop working. This does not happen too often but sometimes all I can do is restart the Zigbee2Mqtt add-on and then everything seems to be fine again. Is there any point in trying ZHA as an alternative? From what I have read, it seems that ZHA is less “power user” but at the moment, all I need is stability (as the family have started to pick up on it at the moment and have just asked…

[LiQuid_cOOled]

I agree ZHA is getting better, but with all my devices Zigbee2MQTT was the way to go. It did have a learning curve.