Issues with Z2M and Zigbee ethernet coordinator

[shaikedem]

hi thank you for your reply
Ill try move the coordinator again. BTW , if its near a Wifi access point could that also hinder its operation?

for your suggestions:

1. I noticed the problem in sensors that report changing data overtime. in my case the only thing i can monitor easily is temperature since tis changing over the day so its easy to detect.
   But i also saw it happen in door / presence contact sensors, when i opened the door and sensor reported it closed
   There is no error in Z2M log or sensor AFAIK. it just stays flat data. Also - how can check for sensor errors besides Z2M logs ?

2. Sensors were purchased at different times long before i had HA, they are all basic tuya zigbee sensors, they worked well under tuya cloud app, using tuya zigbee coordinator. I never saw flat temp reported for example.

3. I am not aware of OTA to these sensors. not sure how to check it as well. They are relatively cheap tuya devices bought from Ali Express different sellers overtime

4. Different brand ethernet based coordinator - I purchased something that was recommended in various HA guides.
   will glad to have recommendations for something else
   I will check for tasmota f/w and OTA updates for the ones I got

for your question about multiple instances:
I have a house with 3 main floors which is narrow and long
not good reception of Wifi/Zigbee between floors , i am using several wifi access points devices connected via LAN cabling to my home network at LAN ports which were pre-installed at time of building the house.

i don’t have a lot of good places for repeaters. My Z2M1 devices are in my work room in basement, with closed doors hardly a reception there of wifi

anyway, issue one on Z2M1 existed before I installed the 2nd instance of Z2M2.

[francisp (Francis)]

@shaikedem

if its near a Wifi access point could that also hinder its operation?

Yes. Wifi interference is bad for Zigbee

There is new firmware here:

GitHub - xsp1989/zigbeeFirmware

[shaikedem]

thanks!
how do i do OTA update to this new version?
is there special install procedure?

[shaikedem]

one more thing about Z2M1 connection errors
AFAIU, the addon of Z2M uses TCP to connect to the coordinator
since both Ha and the coordinator are using LAN, the connections errors I see could not because of Wifi / Zigbee networks in that area? its not supposed to interfere with LAN cabling?

[francisp (Francis)]

See here for flashing instructions:

EmberZNet 7.3.2.0/7.4.0.0 firmware

[francisp (Francis)]

Read this:

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…

[shaikedem]

thanks i will try that
i have nothing to loose, right?
if it goes badly in the process, i can always restore the original f/w with config reset ?

[shaikedem]

Hi
so I upgraded both Z2M1 and Z2M2 with OTA
Indeed the issues of connectivity with Z2M1 seems to disappear and much less frequent - Thank you!

But I need to keep monitoring this for few days to say its good

But Problem in Z2M2 of sensors not updating keeps popping up
Its in various sensors now - contact, temp, power monitoring. Each time different sensors.
like a virus its spreading …
It started about 2 weeks ago - I dont recall anything special in Z2M2 devices done
any idea how to debug it? in Tasmota console, Z2M device console, or in HA ?
while not updating, the sensors shows its valid …
shall I try to remove sensors?

[francisp (Francis)]

Do they update in the Z2M frontend ?

[shaikedem]

no
I keep getting old values there
but its never shown as offline
if i try to turn on/off for example a power monitoring switch , it will not do anything
i now see this error in Z2M device log after trying to refresh the power status

error 2024-08-02 11:43:57z2m: Publish 'get' 'state' to 'Tuya_Plug2_Washer' failed: 'Error: ZCL command 0xa4c138370ed73cf3/1 genOnOff.read(["onOff"], {"timeout":10000,"disableResponse":false,"disableRecovery":false,"disableDefaultResponse":true,"direction":0,"srcEndpoint":null,"reservedBits":0,"manufacturerCode":null,"transactionSequenceNumber":null,"writeUndiv":false}) failed (Timeout - 47721 - 1 - 81 - 6 - 1 after 10000ms)'

[francisp (Francis)]

This error happens when the device does not respond to the coordinator. Could it be that these devices are out of range?

[shaikedem]

no, they are in range
they worked very well until few days ago
ill try to re-add them to Z2M

[Floppymonster]

Do you have enough lightbulbs/Zigbee repeaters, or mainly battery-powered sensors that are only endpoints?

As for suggestions, I have no experience with Ethernet-based Zigbee coordinators. I use USB dongles that I attach to my Home Assistant computer. I just switched over from a Sonoff dongle to the Home Assistant SkyConnect and am quite happy with it so far. (The Sonoff is great as well, but as I’m migrating, I needed two dongles at the same time and I wanted to support Home Assistant).

Even though they are simple USB dongles, they are more expensive than the Ethernet coordinator you linked. I would think the Ethernet coordinators are more complex and should be more expensive? Maybe it is a quality issue with the coordinator?

[shaikedem]

yes, i have several power plugs that act as repeaters
total of 20 devices are on this zigbee network
the thing is everything worked well until few days ago, all sensors reported ok
not sure what happened, now some of them (temp, contact, power monitor) stop
reporting with no apparent reason
I had troubles setting USB dongle zigbee stick - I run HA on UTM hypervisor on Mac, and apparently the USB sticker driver is having issues on MAC, its not detected well by Mac or the hypervisor
also, my HA machine is in basement currently, a USB stick will only cover wel the basement,
so I have to have several coords on network in order to cover my house floors

[francisp (Francis)]

Neighbour changed Wifi channel ?

[shaikedem]

i did zigbee map scan
it took a while, and not all sensors got reported - not sure why
I was able before to do full map
it looks odd as it shows all sensors connected to coordinator directly, while in past they used repeaters/plugs

smart plug 4 is midway between floors and used to bridge between coord on 1st floor to washer/dryer plugs in 2nd floor
not sure how i can control this?

[shaikedem]

It’s possible but I don’t know
Can I select zigbee channels for coordinator, like I can select Wi-Fi channels in my router?
If yes, do I need to re pair all the devices?

[fleskefjes]

@shaikedem

Can I select zigbee channels for coordinator, like I can select Wi-Fi channels in my router?
If yes, do I need to re pair all the devices?

Zigbee network | Zigbee2MQTT

[Floppymonster]

your map looks weird, none of your devices are meshing?
i would expect a map to look like this:

[shaikedem]

IDK why the zigbee is mapped like this
After i reconnected for example washer plug, and restarted some repeaters, the maps looks different, some meshing now. Is there a way to control / force it?

as for dup channels, i put here an image of wifi scanner app from my phone

the one marked in blue is Z2M2
the one marked in red is Z2M1
strangely - they both show same channel 1
KEDEM* channels are my access points
harpak_AP imarked in green s from my neighbour , and at least to this scanner it shows same channel as Z2M2/1. I cant ask him to change channels

I went to my Z2M2. and Z2M1 advanced settings - but there it shows channel 11 for both … not sure what is correct

i dont mind re-paring if it solves the issue, but what channel shall i pick ? in settings it shows channel 11 but in real, at least according to my wifi scanner app, it shows channel 1. Can you advise?