Good evening!
I think this is the millionth post about Zigbee connection problems… I’ve read many, but each had different problems.
HA installed on an RPi4 with an SSD.
Conbee II key.
ZHA.
HA latest version: Core 2025.12.4
Supervisor 2025.12.3
Operating System 16.3
Frontend 20251203.3
Companion app 2025.11.2 (2025.1537)
For a few days now, I’ve been having problems with battery-powered Zigbee devices that are losing connection… (Mainly early aqara devices). the problem is that even when I bring them close to the main router, they’re no longer recognized, and I have to re-pair them (even by restarting HA).
Between the main router (Conbee II), there are several powered Zigbee devices that act as bridges, such as a wall switch, a roller shutter control, a Philips Hue LED strip… there is NO more than 3 meters between the bridges and the battery-powered devices. The house is well-covered by bridge devices.
But as mentioned, the main problem is that even when I bring the battery-powered devices within one meter of the main Conbee II router, they don’t want to connect.
Since these are old AQARA devices (the first products) I don’t think they are Zigbee 3 but an older version… do you think this could be a problem?
Thanks
edit: Batteries are new… excellent quality not from Aliexpress.
One is also an IKEA motion sensor that uses rechargeable IKEA batteries… it is far away but this one instead has a constantly fluctuating connection (it has a shutter control powered from about 3 meters away).
Didn’t some of those 1st gen devices have 2 different batteries that were recommended depending where you looked, and if you used the wrong one they would work for a couple of weeks and quit again?
I remember something like that.
But seriously, @Skyman1 just get a new one and try it, The cost is low and you’ve had them for years now. If you are using them in an automation to control something, you really want them working properly.
OK but there was one model of some temp sensor that would take like a 2.4 or a 3.6 battery and be happy with both that kind of thing (but one lasted a year). I don’t know if it’s that model but do some searching here and you will find what I’m talking about.
But I use the same sensor with the same battery in another area and it has no connection problems.
what bothers me is that if I take the problematic sensor and move it near the main Conbee II router, even after changing the battery, it doesn’t regain connection.
I need to re-pair it with the main router (CobeeII)
But you don’t know if that is it’s preferred connection, or it is trying to connect to something close to where it lives.
Some devices tend to lock in, and get confused if it loses that because you moved a chair in the way and that signal dropped. It may not switch to the hub just because it’s closer to that.
I don’t know this but I imagine that if I bring it 1 meter from the main router it will tend to connect to the main router and will not try to connect to the further router
This is why if someone has a routing Zigbee bulb that gets mains cut with a physical switch, a common problem, it messes up the whole mesh. Some devices like what they like, I don’t know why.
I don’t know… I also left those devices disconnected for whole days near the main router but nothing… I had to re-associate them again. Maybe it happened due to a device that managed to reconnect.
While now I see that the IKEA device… connects and disconnects alternating from hour to hour.
maybe I bought the wrong ones but from Alixpress they lasted maybe a couple of weeks… it’s just that it’s difficult to find the right brand that keeps the charge. If you have a good brand to recommend… I’m happy (as long as they cost less than the ones I buy near home).
but this is offtopic…
Dont know if i got this right, … if it has no problems in another area…leave them there, and by a handful more
Yes the old Aqara Temps is “kinky” and some drain the battery faster than others(month!)
Fist things first - let’s get the terminology corrected so you’ll be in a better position to search & understand:
You have a Conbee II coordinator, not a router
You have powered Zigbee devices that act as routers, not bridges.
They are zigbee 1.2, but it shouldn’t be a problem, as long as you realise that these won’t switch to a different route automatically if they lose connection to their router.
With the above in mind, you shouldn’t be pairing them to the coordinator since they will lose signal as soon as you move them to their final location.
Instead, place them in the room you intend to use them, open up HA, find the closest router device page > 3 dots, then click “Add Devices via this device”
Since these are battery devices, they tend to “sleep” to conserve battery, sometimes even during the pairing process. To prevent them from sleeping while pairing, short press the button on the device every 1-2s until pairing is complete.
A few things to note:
The new batteries might have taken a hit to their voltage with all your previous pairing attempts & the fact that your sensors were trying to communicate with the mesh & failing. Be aware their lifetime will probably be impacted.
Your Ikea motion sensor will probably also benefit from the above steps if it’s trying to communicate with the coordinator directly. Check the ZHA map to confirm whether it’s connected via a router or direct to the coordinator.
Make sure you don’t cut power to the powered routers or you’ll destroy your mesh & probably have to re-pair the Aqara devices.
It’s always a good idea to add more routers
If you’re still running into issues, have a read through this.
For what it’s worth, I also have the old Aqara door sensors running on Z2M with no issues. They’re still on the original battery from Ali, despite running for 5 years.
Yes, perhaps this could be the problem… I have some GU10 Zigbee spotlights that are turned on and off by a wall switch (so they disconnect completely). Perhaps my sensors connect to those router spotlights… then when they turn them off they lose the signal. The problem is that I still have some powered devices that can function as routers (1 controls a shutter about 2 or 3 meters away, 1 wall switch and a power outlet about 4 meters away, and another couple of devices within 3/4 meters that can function as routers).
Yeahhh, that’s your issue. Smart lights & dumb switches don’t really play well together when it comes to zigbee.
Get a zigbee switch with decoupled mode if you want to control your smart lights.
I’ll probably replace the spotlights with wifi models…
Anyway, I need to figure out how everything works. I removed the Zigbee devices that were activated by a switch from the Zigbee network. Despite everything, they still don’t seem to be pairing anymore (I’m not at home). When I get back, I’ll try pairing them again to see if the problem persists.
