Reducing Zigbee utilization?

1

I’m getting warning messages saying that my Zigbee Chanel utilization is high.

The message says that I should try some basic things, which I’ve tried already (for example, by putting my coordinator on an extension cable away from everything else), but I’m still getting the warning message.

If you are having problems joining new devices, are missing sensor updates, or have issues keeping devices joined, ensure your coordinator is away from interference sources such as USB 3.0 devices, SSDs, WiFi routers, etc.

Presuming that I’m not simply putting too many devices on my network (I’ve only got 60 devices. 10 of which are repeaters), is there anything that I can do reduce utilization, for example, will disabling unused entities such as LQI and RSSI help?

I’m using ZHA with the official blue usb key coordinator.

2

The channel utilization is likely not your Zigbee mesh, but other things like Wifi on similar channels, or other 2.4GHz devices. But do you actually have problems? I have a very high percentage too (95% range) but no problems, so I’m ok with it. I way too many people near using way too many satellites. Nowhere to run…

1 Like
3

Some devices that were recently added to my mesh won’t stay connected despite being in areas with good coverage, or close to other devices tat have no connection problems.

I’m not sure if it’s just that the devices are faulty or if it’s something else, so I’m going through things by process of elimination.

4

What integration are you using, and are the devices dropping off Aqara by any chance?

5

I’m just using the standard ZHA integration with the blue skyconnect dongle.

I’m only using Aqara presence sensors, they all went in early and are stable. It’s anything added recently regardless of brand. Mostly this is reboxed white label equipment hence why I’m not completely certain that it’s not just cheap hardware.

6

I wasn’t asking a out Aqara because it is cheap but because it has a slightly different interpretation of the Zigbee protocol. I had this problem with Philips branded products too on quite old (but most recent) firmware, and with Aqara, also in ways that were not logical if it was ‘just’ interference.

If it happened recently I’d look at if you maybe you added a routing device that is not so reliable and acts as the goto for newly added devices.

But seeing I had similar problems using ZHA that I solved, this might work for you to. It worked for others as well. The weird thing I felt was suspect, is that devices that dropped off and never came back could be included easily. Why didn’t they return if the interference was not happening at the time of inclusion. And then I found this setting, and the trouble was gone. Everything works flawlessly and keeps doing so now. (I know, I sound like an infomercial. pun intended, but I’m no less serious).

Try putting this is your ZHA config (in configuration.yaml):

zha:
  zigpy_config:
    ezsp_policies:
      TRUST_CENTER_POLICY: 0x0002 # ALLOW_UNSECURED_REJOINS

Though it does lower security a bit, I figured not by much because for a rejoin, the device must have been known before.

I suspect it is the way that these devices try to set up a better route, that is denied by ZHA if this setting is not there.

7

OK, next question, how do I access the ZHA config?

8

You put this in your configuration.yaml.

9

Still dropping off. I pair them and within minutes they’re gone again.

10

Sorry to hear that.I never had it that fast. Sounds like the pairing does not fully complete. Do you pair them in the intended place? And have you tried a way different place? I tend more towards the faulty routing device now.

11

I tried to add a new router to an existing router that has 4 devices connected to it successfully. The new router dropped off in about 15 minutes despite being in range of 3 other routers.

It looks like all new devices are doing this.

12

If you download diagnostics (three dot menu on the ZHA integration page), what does the energy scan section look like? It will be towards the end of the file and look something like this:

    "energy_scan": {
      "11": 9.713248103580147,
      "12": 6.789392891308996,
      "13": 73.50699819621309,
      "14": 84.164247274957,
      "15": 88.70042934643088,
      "16": 80.38447947821754,
      "17": 75.96022321405563,
      "18": 73.50699819621309,
      "19": 9.713248103580147,
      "20": 73.50699819621309,
      "21": 3.2311094587038967,
      "22": 4.69985354430736,
      "23": 3.6632469452765037,
      "24": 1.7132450748239665,
      "25": 1.9464625152460222,
      "26": 68.14622793558128
    }

You may be better off on a different channel.

Some misconceptions here, maybe? When you “add devices via this device” you’re adding them to the network as a whole, not to that device. They will make their own connections, and those will probably change over time.

It will depend on the layout and construction of your home, but 10 routers out of 60 devices is not many. For comparison, I have about 70 devices, 30 of which are routers (though I have one or two very thick walls).

Edit: Have you read this?

Zigbee network optimisation

The Cookbook in Community Guides has a big section on Zigbee.

1 Like
13

Note that changing Zigbee channel should be among the last steps and not among the first steps, (you now even get info about that now when go to change the Zigbee channel in ZHA). So always first make sure to try following all these best practice tips in this guide before changing Zigbee channel or other measures → Zigbee network optimization: a how-to guide for avoiding radio frequency interference + adding Zigbee Router devices (repeaters/extenders) to get a stable Zigbee network mesh with best possible range and coverage by fully utilizing Zigbee mesh networking

14

According to this, channel 25 is the clearest.

    "energy_scan": {
      "11": 59.15797905332195,
      "12": 98.93395819824867,
      "13": 99.6205874545284,
      "14": 99.6205874545284,
      "15": 98.93395819824867,
      "16": 55.9836862725909,
      "17": 89.93931580241996,
      "18": 59.15797905332195,
      "19": 91.05606689948522,
      "20": 70.89933442360993,
      "21": 31.01324838787301,
      "22": 25.74050169409602,
      "23": 25.74050169409602,
      "24": 21.09014924761344,
      "25": 17.086630587133605,
      "26": 25.74050169409602
    },

I’m not especially technical, my understanding was that if you’re using ZHA when you change the channel you need to re-pair every single device. Which could lead to you having to retool automation and cards if the IDs change. I think that I’ll consider that to be my nuclear option as half of my sensors are on rafters in green houses and it’s a two person task to get to them safely as it needs two pairs of hands.

15

I’ve got two repeaters per greenhouse, and each greenhouse is close enough to the next that each repeater has at least two routes back to my sky connect, so I’m confident that it’s not a lack of signal that’s the problem.

I can get new devices to reliably connect the first time, but they drop of extremely quick;y after that. The signal information, if it’s reliable, says that they have a good signal when they connect for the first time.

16

TBH, that’s a lot to take in. So the frank answer is that is that I’ve skimmed it and tried the low hanging fruit, and I’m now looking a the more involved parts. I’m on a limited budget so I don’t really want to buy any new hardware, I’ve spent a lot more than I’d like just to get things this far, and some of the more technical things are outside my frame of reference right now. I’m not confident that I could do them correctly yet, I’m going through things a little bit at a time and moving my way up. This is one of those “I’m still getting to that bit” situations.

I’m largely limited to the sky connect and ZHA, as my irrigation system is hard coded for that exact combination (It was sold as a kit) and replacing it isn’t on the cards

1 Like
17

That seems unlikely. But if that integration digs that deep into ZHA and the coordinator hardware: have you tried disabling it, on the chance that it uses undocumented features from ZHA that changed in the mean time? Maybe the integration is trying to do things with new devices that makes them bail out?

Other than if a device is supported by an integration and provides the entities you need, it should not depend on the integration itself, and most certainly not on the coordinator hardware. That sounds scary.

18

It was actually the very first things that I installed, and is the main reason that I’m using Home Assistant with Zigbee. Everything else is really just an afterthought added on to the server running my irrigation system. If all else fails I’m going to stick with it and ditch everything else as it’s the only essential thing.

I added in some sensors for the windows and some light controls without any problems, and everything’s been OK for the past year or so. I’ve only recently started having problems when I decided to add in some extra thermometers and humidity sensors.

The first few added and stuck, but when I got to about number 10 anything new started dropping out after a few minutes, including new repeaters.

For most of the time I’ve simply had to press the add new device button on my phone app, and I’ve not run into any big problems, so I’ve not needed to know any of this, and I’m picking it up as I go along.

19

I understand the irrigation integration being vital, but disabling it temporarily will help you rule that out as the cause. If it is the cause, no amount of Zigbee troubleshooting is going to fix this. You will also never be able to extend it, and it might fail completely at the next update. You’ll need to create a github issue for the integration.

If disabling it makes no difference, the problem is elsewhere and it narrows down the search. And you can blame the rest for the faillure and eliminate things one by one to find the culprit.

20

Don’t blame you. As @Hedda says, it’s one of the last things to try.

This is a bit concerning. Your use case is rather unusual for Zigbee - it’s more common to blanket an area with routers. It’s hard to over-emphasise how much Zigbee is not a point-to-point system. Here’s mine (in a small house with thick walls):

image
image969×886 104 KB

There’s a single connection to each end device, but each router can connect with pretty much every other router.

Yeah, tell me about it! :roll_eyes:

Edit: A thought - I don’t suppose any of your routers are being manually powered off, are they? Lights, for example?