OK, I understand your considerations and agree that the WiFi connectivity of many home automation hubs is a source of trouble, bcs of its instability every now and then/interference issues in the 2.4 ghz band.
That’s probably also the main reason the Hubitat Zigbee/Z-wave hubs are having hard-wired LAN port and no Wifi.
Do you have any experience with the Hubitat hubs and their latest version (C-7)?
@Marc_Sway Please read my explaination above again as you are asking the wrong question and I tried there to explain there that the bridge hardware by tube0013 is not a stand-alone hub/controller when using ESPHome with serial server. It will simply act as a proxy for the Zigbee module and replays its serial-port to a other software via socket like ZHA or Zigbee2MQTT, and what Zigbee devices those applications in turn nativly support in entirly up to them, (both does however support Sonoff Zigbee devices). Again you can not compare this to stand-alone hubs/controllers like example Hubitat.
I do know that Aqara Zigbee water detection sensors work with Sonoff Zigbee Bridge.
Has anybody tried to use a Sonoff Zigbee Door Switch, by opening that device and instead of the reed contact in there, solding 2 wires to the connection points and use those 2 connected wire leads to detect water?
I really would like to know if modifying a standard Sonoff Zigbee door switch can be used then as a water sensor.
Based on all the available information, the Sonoff Zigbee Bridge appears to be a lost cause.
Zigbee devices repeatedly come unpaired because data packets get lost or missed in the wifi-to-zigbee link, inside the Sonoff Zigbee Bridge. It sounds like a fundamental architecture flaw, which likely means it’s not fixable without a new version of the Sonoff Zigbee Bridge hardware being created.
I note the warning in the brown box on this page:
This week, I removed the Sonoff Zigbee Bridge and moved on to using a CC2531 USB stick coordinator.
Thus far, there have been zero instances of Zigbee devices coming unpaired.
Yea, the few only lasted a day or so. I will have more soon - sign up for an email when they come. I’m waiting on a pcb order that took longer than usual. The parts are in transit now should hopefully arrive later this week.
Yes - I’ve been doing this via US Postal Service “international first class parcel” delivery is 1-3+ weeks. Prices range ~$14-19 depending on destination.
I’ve seen some packages make it to destination in 4-5 days (London, UK) others sit waiting for a flight in the New Jersey/New York area for a week or more. Or seem to drop off tracking as they pass on to other postal systems.
Good to know this USB Zigbee 3.0 dongle is now available, but I expect some important disadvantages:
The antenna / radio design is probably not delivering a satisfying Zigbee RF coverage within a medium sized house. This may cause connectivity loss to sensors or the need for 1 or more Zigbee repeaters in the house.
These issues have been described earlier in this thread.
Also, this USB dongle usually needs to be plugged into your computer running your HA software. This is not ideal if you want to install your Zigbee transceiver at a centrally located place in your house, connected hardwired to a LAN.
Yes, but it should not be the intention to install (mains powered) zigbee devices in a network solely for the Zigbee repeater function and improve Zigbee coverage around the house.
I would expect from a decent Zigbee coordinator at least a decent antenna design (incl gains) and Zigbee RF range around it. And preferably with a UTP/LAN connection.
