Mesh network repeater (maybe an easy question)

Hardware
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Dear Home Assistant users,

I have a short question, but first some additional information.
I’m using the latest release of Home Assistant, running on a Raspberry Pi4 with an USB CC2652RB Zigbee Controller (USB stick). Having said this…

I like to improve/increase my Zigbee mesh network. This because some of the lights outside the house are not always responding correctly and/or in time.

My questions are:

  1. How do I know which devices are repeaters in the Home assistant mesh network topology overview?
  2. When the (Zigbee) lights are turned of, do they still act as an active repeater in the mesh network?
  3. I like to buy a set of 5 wall outlets (Tuya Smart Zigbee 3.0 Stekker 16A Eu Outlet 3680W). How do I know if they also act as a repeater → https://nl.aliexpress.com/item/1005003444957152.html

Thank you very much (in advance) for an answer. :slight_smile:

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Most mains powered devices are routers (the correct term for a repeater). The exceptions are (mostly) Sengled bulbs and two-wire light switches.

If you turn them off in software, yes. If you cut the power to them, no.

They’re mains powered, they’ll be a router.

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The ones that say Router are Routers, the ones that say EndDevice are end devices.

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Thank you very much for these answers…
I asked a Sales man from Aliexpress (conversation below) if the wall outlets strengths the mesh network and he says (explicitly) no. So now I am getting a littlebit confused… :frowning:
Also because the network topology in HA tells me something else and I like to buy extra hardware to improve my mesh network.

What are you thoughts? :slight_smile:

Conversation and link: https://nl.aliexpress.com/item/1005003444957152.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.0.0.254e79d2g068gp&gatewayAdapt=glo2nld

Dear friend, I have 2 questions.

  1. Does the “Tuya Smart Zigbee 3.0 wall outlet 16A Eu” increase/strengthen the Zigbee mesh network?
  2. If I buy 5 wall outlets, can I get a black friday discount? Thank you for your answer [Smile]
    Best regards

Aliexpress
Hi, you can order it today, the promation start and it doesn’t strengthen the mesh network.

Me
Thank you for you quick answer. So, just to be sure. The Tuya Smart Zigbee 3.0 wall outlet" does NOT work as a repeater?

Aliexpress
Hi, yes,it has no repeater features.

Okay. Thank you very much!

5

Ah… Tuya… just say no to Tuya.

Seriously, it’s cheap for a reason. You’re better off buying something else - and if you must buy Tuya do a lot of research to ensure you’re not buying a nightmare.

Innr do some good plugs that are routers (I have the UK version), as do Salus, Ikea, and many others.

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I thoroughly agree with @tinkerer. However the q&a section of the aliexpress says otherwise on it being a repeater.

I expect the “salesperson” is typical of the outright bollocks one finds on Ali.

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Thank you for the advice!
I looked for the wall outlet from Ikea, they are as cheap as Tuya, but much bigger.

The one from Salus looks also good (specifications), but is (much) more expensive.
Is there also something reliable available (also acting as a router) within the bandwidth 10-15 euro’s per piece?
Lot’s of product’s, but also lot’s of things to think about (features and so on).

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I have those tuya zigbee plugs and they are working fine from day one. I don’t have any issues with them. One of them helped me to debug electrical issue. In my opinion they are better than aquara and cost less.
As repeater goes you can buy zigbee repeater. I have One. Router in zigbee network will basically connect end device to It self. If there is no router all devices will be connected directly to coordinator and in the end this will kil a coordinator and bring network down.
So routers won’t strenght your network in the way that it will have more rssi. Routers in zigbee network will reduce connections to coordinator.

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Thank you all for your support. I closed my request., :slight_smile: :slight_smile: