Sky connect range

Configuration Zigbee
1

Hello,

I got my sky connect stick in december. About two weeks ago, I lost all zigbee functionality. I couldn’t even pair new devices when I was very close. After some time it worked perfectly again.
Then, yesterday evening, all devices were gone again. I had to pair all devices again and now it seems like, the range of the dongle is worse than before. Currently all devices are gone again… also all repeater are not connected anymore.
I have 7 aqara door/window sensors and 4 tuya temp/humidity sensors. Additionaly I use 3 ikea tradfri repeater.
I’m running 2023.1.2 (updated yesterday evening after the problems from 2023.1.1) on a raspberry pi. The dongle is connected via two usb cables (a single 2m cable is on its way) and around 2m away from the raspberry. Zigbee channel is 15 (I’m not sure if I can change that?).
I set my fritzbox 2,4 GHz to wify channel 13, which is the furthest away possible.
Has Zigbee really such a low range? Do I need a repeater/non battery device in almost every room? It’s currently struggling with a distance of maybe 5m and two concrete walls (should be only concrete without steel).

edit:
Is it worth to get some more devices (eg. ikea tradfri power plug or repeater)? Or are there better repeater available?
Is it normal, that when devices loose their connection, that they have to be repaired (“add device” and pairing mode at the sensor) again?

2

That sounds reasonable, real world range is typically in the 6 to 8 meter range with drywall. Concrete drops the range significantly.

Yes, add more routers. The Ikea ones are ok, but the Innr plugs seem to be better.

Only if it’s been over 24 hours since they could reach the mesh - some devices will then forget they were connected.

2 Likes
3

Confirm, even (much) more when reinforced

Donot know Ikea but have 2 innr, very very stable plus

Might also be a device issue, the cheaper ones seem to be less reliable but that is by no means a standard, my cheapest device a sonoff … has never ever lost connection (that I know of)

2 Likes
4

Thanks for the reply. Didn’t even know „innr“. They also sell led strips (I’m currently looking for one)

5

Well today I can’t even pair the door sensor which is like 2m away from the sky connect stick. I put the stick 30cm away from the sensor and it still doesn’t reconnect.
I don’t think this is supposed to be like that. And I lost a lot of devices over night again.
Is there already a firmware update for the sky connect stick?
Is there the possibility to change the channel? I couldn’t find it.

6

Yes

Try replacing the chain of USB extension cables you’ve got, a bad cable could cause issues.

1 Like
7

Just a little feedback:
Moved the raspi and stick to another location (it right next so the other avm router which is running as a access point now). The stick is also closer to the raspberry. But it’s further away from my laptop and pc with wireless headset and wireless mouse (both in 2,4ghz range).
This already fixed all problems until now. I also added 2 innr plugs afterwards. Let’s set if it is stable.