There’s a lot to say about it, and also a lot that has already been said. If applied properly, the SkyConnect dongle is as good as any. And the problems you have might also happen with another hub if you stumble into the same pitfalls.
There’s a whole section of good posts here:
The most common pitfalls are:
- Failing to use a proper extension cable to get away from interference
- Failing to pick a proper channel, away from interference
- Not having enough zigbee router devices
- Cutting power to zigbee devices that act as router
- Pairing devices in another location then where they are used