I’m close to throwing the whole automation out of window to be honest. I’m running HAOS on PI4B and my primary focus was to control TRV via external sensors. So, I bought a Sonoff Dongle E, and a bunch of Danfoss Ally eTRV devices first, to see how they integrate with HA with Z2M. First disappointment arrived - the line on graph representing temperature reading is flat and hasn’t changed for more than a week. I’m now also not able to change temperature via HA, the TRV shows that it’s paired and Z2M shows it as well, but no temp readings and not able to change anything.
So, here comes another purchase - Tuya TS0201. Even though it bothered me that TRV readings were stalled, I thought I might make it work with external sensors. Bought 3 of them from aliexpress. Connected them, for the first 30 minutes they reported nicely, after that they flatlined and haven’t reported anything for over 18 hours. I read on the internet that there is a common issue with these, and so I disconnected them.
Aaaand here comes another purchase - Sonoff SNZB-02. I’ve read a lot of good reviews (a lot of mixed ones as well) so I bought 3 of them as a replacement for TS0201. Connected them, they worked nicely for about 30 minutes yesterday, then they stopped reporting and have been idle for >9 hrs. I know for sure that the readings are wrong, because one of them is in our bedroom where we have a meteo station as well and the sensor shows 18.02C and the meteo station shows 21.5C. Okay, so I unpaired them and paired them again and fiddled with min/max reporting interval. Didn’t make any difference at all.
I have spent hours repairing, restarting, fiddling, … At this point it seems to me that either there is a fundamental problem with the hardware in my setup (like maybe the coordinator usb stick is faulty?) or the whole zigbee protocol is just unreliable as hell… I bought one piece of Sonoff S26R2ZB thinking that maybe I need to do the network stronger (even though all my devices have 160-210 LQI) - didn’t make any difference. Tried to bind devices to the S26R2ZB (which is a router) - of course I can’t because there is a known issue with these, where it’s appearing as a router but is useless in the end because it’s unable to act as a router (can’t even permit join on them cause they report an error).
I need help. Can someone think of anything that might help debug this nightmare? (I can attach screenshots of readings of trv/sensors if needed)
Try enabling last_seen in Z2M and see if your devices are reporting in regularly
You put the dongle on an USB extension cable?
The Sonoff devices are known to be meh routers - and adding it after you paired may mean the TRVs aren’t using it anyway
Did you pair everything in place, or did you move it after pairing?
Did you pick a Zigbee channel free of WiFi?
I’d personally suggest either some Innr plugs or some CC2652 sticks flashed as routers. Then re-pair the devices to their nearest router. With last_seen (and optionally availability) enabled you’ll get to see what’s happening.
Nah, far more likely the problem relates to either your lack of routers or some form of interference (or both).
Same here with especially Aqara thermostats. There are similar bug reports in the Z2M GitHub. Some users claim that somehow after version 1.33.0 the problem with unreliable ZigBee connections started, one guy reports reverting to a previous version including the previous database helped him. I can‘t check because I just switched to Z2M.
Enabled last seen, the temp sensors say that last_seen is approximately the same as the last reading (10-11 hours ago)
I did not. I can buy one and try, but it doesn’t make sense to me, because the devices were paired without issues and were reporting normally for the first 30 minutes
I tried to bind TRVs to the router but I’m not even able to put router in pairing mode (Permit join)
I moved it as I needed to debug. If moving a sensor can break the functionality, then honestly that does not scream “reliable” to me
I did not, the channel in Z2M is 11 and in router both 2.4GHz and 5GHz are set to Auto
regarding availability, I enabled that and all of the devices I have say they’re offline
Then they’re almost certainly not connected any more. It depends on the brand, but I typically see all sensors check in at least hourly (except for Konke where it’s every three hours).
You absolutely need one. It reduces interference. Having devices work for ~30 minutes kind of makes sense since they usually join with a higher power.
If you can’t pick it to join through then maybe it’s not connected too.
The problem is that many non-router devices don’t go looking for a better signal, and Xiaomi’s original (not the E1/P1/T1 ranges) Zigbee 1.2 range won’t ever pick a new route.
Time to set the 2.4 GHz band to something other than Auto - and probably move Zigbee to one of 15, 20, or 25
This to me feels entirely like a lack of (suitable) routers and/or RF interference. Start by adding that extension cable and consider a few (quality) router devices. You can typically expect a functional range of about 6 to 8 meters (assuming internal walls of plasterboard/drywall - less for stone/brick/wood/concrete).
Kind of expensive to get them where I am (Slovakia), also I really dislike how they stick out of wall, that’s why I was looking into more elegant solution - the whole socket.
I sense a bit of sarcasm in your answer Is moss tuya the same device as standard tuya, and they just added a brand to it, or is it a different thing?
Tuya makes hardware, and also provides cloud services and firmware for others to use.
You can buy masses of stuff designed and made by Tuya, but branded something else. You can buy masses of stuff designed and made by others, but running Tuya firmware. A lot of that is mediocre at best, and downright terrible at worst. Some of it is pretty damn good.
The challenge is telling them apart.
Moes stuff generally seems to be the better end of the Tuya spectrum.
Tuya WiFi stuff generally isn’t, plus you’re tied into their cloud platform. They did contribute the current Tuya integration, and then abandoned it. Only an uncertain subset of Tuya’s WiFi stuff works with that. They’re developing a new custom integration… we’ll see how the future of that goes.
If you want to add some Zigbee routers easy and cheap another option that at least works for me, is some Ikea Tradfri bulbs. They are inexpensive and they work as routers. And you can dim your lights and have fancy colors too if you want.
Not that i know about, and most likely hard to find, as such “guides/reviews” also is “related” to i.e which “controller” And Integration/end-Software/APP they are connected through
But for cheap-end brands i can Name " Nedis (be aware of huge variations in terms of reliable functionality) , depending upon models and “features” " i have 3 multi-plugs(extention box)/with usb-sockets also, 3 outdoor 3680 Watt/power-meter, 4 indoor 2400W
Deltaco is another “Brand” using Tuya firmware , i only have 2 x double-plugs, with power-meter, no issues
PS: Mine are more than 2 years old, so “reliability” is most likely improved , both on hardware and firmware level
All i have in Local-Tuya integration (All WIFI Devices !) And paired to Android Tuya-Smart-App
Edit: Sorry, just slipped into my old brain that this Topic was about Zigbee Devices
I’ll give Discord a go again. I guess I’m too old or something, but I found Discord a bit too much the equivalent of a room of people all talking through each other. I’ve only used the web interface, but its way of displaying all the message in a single stream makes it quite messy in my eyes. There is some sort of thread display but it only works for some threads.
@Tinkerer I’m back with an update. What happened since my last post:
Extension USB cable arrived, plugged the dongle in
wall sockets arrived, installed and paired both of them
switched my router’s 2.4ghz wifi to 20MHz and channel 1
switched my z2m to channel 25
re-paired all devices
Outcome:
the sonoff router, which I blamed for not working as a router properly, is indeed working - the issue was that it was apparently too far away from the coordinator initially, even though they were about 5 meters and one concrete (AAC/ytong) wall apart from each other
the sonoff temp sensors now work like a charm - I’m about to test the TS0201 sensors as well and I expect those will work as well
the danfoss ally TRVs now work fine, although it was a pain to pair one of them (took maybe 20 attempts and multiple z2m restarts)
What surprised me:
the zigbee signal is incredibly weak - upon pairing the socket that is 5m/1 wall away from coordinator I was getting LQI of 120, then I moved the dongle by 0.5 meter further away and the socket became unresponsive… from my observation, anytime you hit a wall or you’re more than 5m away from the coordinator/last router, you need to add another router, otherwise you’re screwed
upon restart of HA (and therefore z2m), the mesh reconfigured and kept one of my wall sockets completely isolated, as it was trying to connect it to the coordinator (which is about 12 meters and 3 concrete walls away), instead of the sonoff router, which is now located about 2 meters and one concrete wall away from it - had to re-pair it and manually select the closest router while doing so, then it was working fine and the rest of the devices (previously connected to that socket as router) started to work again
Looking back at this whole project, I wouldn’t do it again if I knew how weak the zigbee network is. All in all, I spent about 500 EUR just to make TRVs read temperatures from external sensors and adjust its temperature based on their readings. Yes, I’m now able to continue automating other things as well, but the time and money that went into it is just not worth it (even though I’m a huge IT/hardware and DIY fan).
But I want to say a huge thanks to you @Tinkerer for helping me out and getting me out of this misery!
Yup, I expect a typical range of 6 to 8 meters with drywall/plasterboard. That drops fast with concrete/brick/wood. You may be better off with Z-Wave since that has better range in those conditions, at least in theory.
As for LQI, that’s just a number. All devices calculate it differently, and whether or not things work is all that matters. I’ve got values from 10 to 200, with little apparent reason for some of them.
Yes, that’s very true. You quickly will find yourself buying more and more mains powered zigbee devices you actually only need to extend coverage. You than soon will also find out that not all of them will even work as repeaters. I found out the hard way that zigbee is a deep rabbit hole and that their isn’t to much truth in “if it is zigbee it will work”. Some devices will not expose all functionalities without vendor bridge/hub for example or sometimes simple/basic things like a detach switch option will not be available. Also you will find yourself spending time searching custom quirks to get a random zigbee device even working.
Long story short: I invested lots of money in zigbee but stopped, sold everything and now using wifi based devices with esphome. No problems with coverage (wifi device can easily penetrate walls and have a very long range compared to zigbee). All devices work 100% (all functions no matter the brand) with HA and updates are also just a click.
Is moss tuya the same device as standard tuya, and they just added a brand to it, or is it a different thing?
