Should I stop now?

Configuration Zigbee
1

Hello all, I am a beginner to the home automation environment and have started my HA journey, though it is not going well. I can dump a bunch of logs here, but I think my problems are more fundamental.

I have some experience with philips Hue and with Holman automation and thought I would centralise control. So, I invested in a Pi5 and loaded HA. The Pi5 is cooled, is not being stressed and has an abundant power supply.

I have a reasonably extensive Ubiquity network which includes a bunch of cameras and NVR. The cameras and NVR are on dedicated switches that connect directly to the Ubiquity cloud gateway, so none of the video traffic goes through the main household network. I have three access points around the house which are on their own switch, connected to the gateway.

My HA hardware is run on its own switch that has Hue, Ewitt, the Pi5 and an SLZB-06 hanging off it. I can see the traffic through that switch and can confirm it is not much at all. I have the SLZB-06 at least 5 metres away from any USB3.0 connection or access point.

So, my initial attempt at Zigbee was through the ZHA integration with a SLZB-06 gateway. It went well for a while with about 15 endpoints including 4 x mains switches that acted as routers. However, the system began to slow down and latency increased to the stage where things would not react for up to 10 seconds or would not react at all. HA was constantly disconnecting. Finally, the SLZB became unresponsive. it was being pwoered through the USBC port as the HA switch is non-POE.

So, after reviewing all I could online, I started from scratch and reinstalled everything. This time, I integrated the Mosquito broker and Z2MQTT with a new SLZB-06 with new ethernet cables on everything connected to the HA switch. It is interesting that almost every youtube video I watched integrated Z2MQTT a different way.

ANyway, I added my first device which was one of the power switches and it popped up straight away, completed the hinterview process and looked OK. I turned it on and off once and I could here it click immediately. I tried again and the same thing that happened with the ZHA happened again; latency went to 10 seconds and then it became unresponsive. It looks like another SLZB is bricked.

So, here are my questions…

  1. I have wasted a bunch of time on HA and see that most times people are bashing out yaml to fix things - not my strong point. My assumption is that HA is not ready for prime time and is more of a hackerspace thing that really cannot be relied on for applications where failure is a problem - turning on and off pumps and valves, etc.
  2. Is there another system out there for home automation that has the maturity and reliability of Philips Hue or Holman?

Thanks.

2

Not at all. I suggest you start by looking through the cookbook, you’ll get pointers on how to build a robust Zigbee network there. The Home Assistant Cookbook - Index

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Keep in mind that Zigbee is very low-power. If your end-point devices are more than a few meters from the nearest router or controller, you may have a weak network.

In my case I have several ThirdReality Zigbee switches plugged in around the house so that no end device is more than 2M from a router.

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4

A few metres? Wow. That rules me out. The holman system is robust at 20m or more. Philips Hue is good at 10m or more. I don’t have power outlets that close together. Not sure how many houses would have that. Completely impossible for a lot of endpoints; garden valves, pool sensors, weather stations, etc.

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Philips Hue uses Zigbee, nothing magic about it.

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Yep. That’s my point. It’s been bulletproof for 18 montsh with about 89 lights, including flood lights that are at least 10 metres away from any other Hue device.

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Did you read the links I gave you? A Zigbee network with 89 routers is quite different than the one with 4.

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Yep, if you read my original post you would note that I directly referred to the measures I had taken to avoid interference.

It’s interesting that none of the setup guides or posts talk about such a high density of routers required to maintain a stable network. if this is a requirement, it sort of defeats the whole concept if a substantial part of your network relies on hard-wired power.

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This is far from the truth. I have several hundred devices across a multitude of platforms that control almost all aspects of my home. HA has provided more security and peace of mind when I travel than I could have ever imagined.

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10

I am not talking about interference.

From the link I gave you:

Therefore the key to a great and healthy Zigbee network mesh is to add/have many “Zigbee Router” devices relatively close to each other (and always powered on) in order for the Zigbee network as a whole to get good coverage and range, as well as improving the overall robustness and robustness and resilience in the network to handle the loss of some Zigbee Routers in case of failures. So often you more or less just need to add several mains-powered Zigbee devices that can act as “Zigbee Router” devices to get a stable network with good coverage, and keep adding even Zigbee router products to achieve a great Zigbee network.

A network with only 4 routers, competing with another large Zigbee network, will be flakey. If you move your Hue devices over to the SLZB you will most likely get a good, solid network.

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11

Why invest in a SLZB-06 device and connect it via USB?

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12

No mention of high density routers to optimise the network in the official guide, or anywhere else I have read other than your cookbook. If this is a critical requirement, maybe they could add it.

13

Are you sure about that? It says

Thus to have a healthy Zigbee network, you need many Zigbee Router devices relatively close to each other in order to achieve good coverage and range

image
image1611Ă—932 234 KB

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It’s not connected via usb. it is connected via Ethernet. it is powered through the USB port. This was due to a recomendation that some users foudn a bug in teh SLZB firmware when powering it with POE.

15

I stand corrected.

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The volunteers replying here are ACTUALLY trying to assist so you have a positive HA experience, but as with programs as advanced as HA, the setup is extremely important.

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100% And I thank everyone for responding. It is probably too advanced for me. I have basic computing and network knowldege. I do apprecioate everyone’s response which has answered my question…1. I don’t have the density of routers to support a Zigbee network. 2. I don’t have the skill sto set up HA and keep it stable. I’ll probably stick to the consumer systems like Hue and Holman.

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You do though, if you have 89 Hue lights. It’s a job that will take some hours, but with that amount of routers on the SLZB you will have a solid mesh. You could probably get away with pairing 20 or so to the SLZB and keep the Hue hub for the rest. There’s an integration for Hue aswell if you didn’t know :slight_smile:

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If you are running Hue devices, most will be routers vs end devices. We are here to help so we can take it a step at time. You can run a Hue Hub in parallel with your SLZB coordinator if that works better for you…

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Yes, I have the Hue integration running and was attempting to integrate the Unifi video integration so that the AI cameras could trigger the outside lights when people detected.