So at first I didn’t think it was a bug because I am still setting things up, and I figure it was something I did. But now I’m 99% sure it is a bug. But I’m mostly posting this here to see if others face the same issue.
The following more than less gets into what I’m listing here. But again if you face the same issue then let me know or have some idea on how I can fix it.
The more I look into this the more I’m thinking the issue is with ZBT2, but I’m not sure. I’m not tech savvy enough.
The problem
The hue motion sensors (SML001) keep becoming unavailable.
I have 4 different ones and all of them face this exact same issue.
What I tried
I tried reconfigure and sometimes that gets it back on if I tap the reset on the motion sensor. In most cases i have to try to “re-add it”. I found out I don’t have to remove it, I just add new device and after doing the reset thing it sees it and the sensor works fine for a day or less.
Please give more information about your Zigbee network - are you using the extension cable? How many router devices and end devices (battery) are joined to your network?
57 devices about 27 battery. The rest is router type of devices base on the map.
ZBT2
All the other devices but the SML001 are fine. I did the normal hold the reset down until a light shows up, and told the system to add another zigbee device and it automatically started working yesterday.
When one goes down all the sml001 goes down and stays down. I have a feeling it is a timing thing, but for right now it seems fine. I can’t find a pattern to it.
I have the same issue. Connected to ZBT1, no extension cable. 36 zigbee devices of which 10 with a battery. (5 SML001, 3 SML003, 2 RDM002)
This problem only lives with the SML001.
It would be so nice if I were able to force join to a specific router, one that is on a few centimeters distance instead of one in an other room and even on an other floor.
I fiddled a bit with the antenna and one of the SML001 now has a direct connection. That is nice. Apparently it is easier to connect through a wall than to a router within clear sight. It did reduce the number of hops this way but to my taste that is less important than keeping the battery up.
Others still go wrong (according to the zigbee visualisation tool)
Example:
in my office a SML001 sensor connects to the Hue-P45 in the next room.
An other SML001, at 40cm distance to the Hue-P54 in the next room connects to the lamp(philips 4080148P9) on my desk in my office.
I expected these connections to be the other way round.
I tried to convince the sensors to connect to the routers physically (and I expect for radio signals too) closest to them by disconnecting the used routers and re-add the sensor. One at a time. This did not work (according to the zigbee visualisation tool in HA).
Are there better ways to check the connection?
How reliable is the zigbee visualisation tool for this kind of work?
Is there a way to force to connection to -what I think is- a better/closer router?
No, you can’t force connections based on your preference unfortunately, that’s just “how Zigbee works”. As you probably just experienced an extension cable will help with most stuff, pairing to a certain device for example. You have no guarantee that the device stays connected to the device it paired to, it might move to another router device at a later time.
As long as the connection is stable, you get fast responses from devices and don’t have devices drop off the network I wouldn’t worry about this. The extension cable should give you a better connection and mesh network overall.
thanks for your replies btw.
I understand the dynamics. I always understood that zigbee would work with the least amount of energy to keep the batteries alive for the longest possible way. In that regard the switched connections I described surprise me a bit. Both routers are clearly usable so why not use the one closest by? Now both sensors are peeking though a wall (bricks, no concrete but still …) As far as I understand this requires more power than the connection to the closest router on less than half a meter unobstructed distance. The extension cable won’t solve this because for those, the distance is too far.
and the problem remains that those SML001’s keep dropping off the network.
In other threads about the same issue there were mentions of battery power < 20% So I charge them before that. The one that dropped off yesterday still has 39%, which does happen to be the lowest in my setup at the moment.
What firmware are you running on the sensors? I have two of these myself, running on the same batteries for at least a year on both of them. If it’s old try updating it. Mine for comparison:
my firmware version on the SML001’s is 0x43007305 which converted to decimal gives 1124102917 which looks very similar to yours. I updated all my hue devices before I migrated them to HA, without the hue bridge. Keeping firmware up to date is one of the things I prefer to do. In that regard it’s a pity that those updates are not working in HA.
Not that many updates are available: Philips Hue Support - Release Notes Accessories | Philips Hue
