Was using the Zigbee 3.0 USB Dongle Plus (ZHA). Got the SkyConnect, and migrated over by backing up the old dongle, swapping dongles on HA, and restoring. Everything now works on the SkyConnect, I also enabled so that I see the 2 new services (Thread & OpenThreadBorderRouter) under “Devices & Services”. So far so good!
I then wanted to re-use the old Sonoff Dongle as a router to extend my network, and here is where the issues start. First, I re-flashed it with the Zigstar Multitool with the “CC1352P2_CC2652P_launchpad_router_20221102”, and hit the button before inserting. It is detected in HA, but seems to have the same ID as the new SkyConnect, so nothing is added!
I am guessing that I have the same IEEE Address on both dongles? How can I check if this is the case? And if so, how do I fix it?
Changed the last letter of the IEEE to from an “a” to a “b”, and it now works!
Is the IEEE the same as a MAC-address?
Seems there is one more octet in the IEEE than what the MAC has, or is that not used, since it is 00?
If it is indeed a MAC, how does one pick a new one? Or is it totally random? On other devices, the MAC will point to the manufacturer. From googling, it would seem to start with “00:12:4b” for all or most zigbee dongles, so I assume it is differently built.
Functionally the same as a mac. Not sure of any nuances of length and format.
The TI chips allow the ieee they use to be changed at will.
With the SI Labs chips the ieee can only be changed a single time and there is no going back, so you’re SkyConnect will now always have the ieee of your old dongle. Likely not an issue unless you want to migrate again at some point.
Good to know! This might have puzzled me if I had made changes in the future!
Any idea why it can only be changed once on the SkyConnect? Seems short-sighted and stupid, looking at how people might want to play around, and might therefor cause one or more migrations!
Yep, that is what I did! Used the zigstar tool! Had to re-write the firmware at the same time though, just like your reference points out! It is now connected!
I just tried migrating Z2M via zzh CC2652R1 stick over to Skyconnect using multiprotocol add-on and then ZHA integration and although I got it working, there was a huge delay in device status changes…up to 15 seconds for a motion sensor to show triggered in HA so I went back to my old setup. I had a lot of re-pairing to do…
While not always, those types of problem symptoms that you describe are most commonly symptoms of EMF/EMI/RMI interference and/or not having enough Zigbee Router devices with good reception in the Zigbee network, as Zigbee uses low-power signals to send very short message RF reception can be extremely sensitive so having issues with either or a combination those can cause such problem symptoms. It is therefore always best to take basic actions to alleviate all those concerns first as doing so will make further troubleshooting easier. Following the best practice tips from this guide is the most easily achieved of a set of tasks that will have the greatest overall effect on Zigbee communication reception → Zigbee networks: how to guide for avoiding interference + optimizing using Zigbee Router devices (repeaters/extenders) to get best possible range and coverage
Summary of setup questions that you need to answer to take action on:
Have you connected your Zigbee Coordinator adapter to a USB 2.0 port and not a USB 3.0 port?
1b. If your computer does not have a USB 2.0 port then are you using it via a powered USB 2.0 hub?
Have you connected your Zigbee Coordinator adapter via a long USB extension cable?
2b. How long USB extension cable, is it shielded, and have you used it to place your Zigbee Coordinator adapter as far away from all possible sources of EMF/EMI/RMI interference (e.i. all electronic appliances/peripherals/devices/cables/power-supplies, etc. like example USB 3.x harddrives)?
How many and what exact Zigbee Router devices do you have on this same Zigbee network?
3b. Are those Zigbee Router devices located close to the Zigbee end devices in question?
3b. Are those Zigbee Router devices located close to the Zigbee end devices in question?
3c. Do you regularly power OFF and ON Zigbee Router devices such as Zigbee Smart Lightbulbs?
You might also want to consider upgrading Zigbee Coordinator NCP firmware
The whole pupose of getting HA Skyconnect stick was for Thread support for Matter devices. As for Zigbee only, I was perfectly happy with my Electrolama zzh (CC2652R1 - External Antenna) stick…
The whole purpose of getting Skyconnect adapter was to support Thread devices.
Otherwise, I was perfectly happy with my Electrolama zzh zig-ah-zig-ah! (CC2652R1 - External Antenna) for Zigbee…
Why not flash your skyconnect with rcp-firmware ? (=Thread only firmware)
One reason multiprotocol firmware is not recommend : The radio switches to Zigbee, listens a few milliseconds, the radio switches to Thread, listens a few milliseconds, switches to Zigbee …
If you use Zigbee only or Thread only firmware, that does not happen.
Keep Zigbee on your CC2652, and use skyconnect for Thread
I understand the concept for multiprotocol and how it works. It’s too bad though the theory isn’t working in practice! I was envisioning a slight induced delay due to “multitasking” but wasn’t expecting near instant actions to now have a 10-15 second delay.
Thank you for the links!.
OTBR add-on installed and Slyconnect flashed with rcp firmware. OTBR Integration discovered and added. Added the Matter (BETA) integration added which auto-installed the Matter Server 5.4.1 official add-on.
In the Thread integration I’m seeing my Amazon Echo but I read somewhere that it’s kind of proprietary. I’m seeing two ha-thread-xxxx threads for some reason - one with a TBR (the new one I just added?) and one without:
