I wanted to move start de move from my old 433mhz rf-link stuf to zigbee.
To test it out I bought a dirt cheap cc2531 usb stick plugged it in my pi4 in the utility closet and paired my only zigbee device that I have at the moment an ikea light bulb.
All works find the signal goes through a a couple of doors with ease.
Now that all works I would like to upgrade my game and bought the sonoff zigbee dongle 3.0 E.
The rage on that thing is terrible.
Plugging it right in the pi straight away in the utility closet does not work it all. I now used a USB extension cord so that the dongle is outside the closet with only a couple of meters between the ikea bulb and the dongle it self. This works somewhat. I don’t dare to touch the dongle because that will for sure kill the link to the bulb.
What am I doing wrong. Everywhere I read that it should be a fairly good dongle.
I used ZHA and zigbee2mqtt which doesn’t help. I used different firmware also doesn’t help.
Used different zigbee channels also no change.
Should I just ditch this dongle and buy something else and if so what would you recommend. Or is there a setting I overlook what could help me.
I got one of the newer sonoff ones (dongle p) when they first came out and haven’t looked back.
things to try…
not all USB extensions are created equal try another one
keep the unit itself well away from anything bluetooth and wifi (especially 2.4GHZ) related
what kind of materials is your house made of?
mine sits at the end of a 2m usb 3.0 extension cable up near the ceiling on the 2nd floor of our house and is connected to devices across the whole house. I can pair a device via it from any room in the house so im going through several concrete walls and a floor, about 30-40ft.
hope its of some help. someone with the same dongle is probably better placed to advise. sure someone will be along soon
Actually, the ZBDongle-E is the newer model, but, I’ve had better experience with the older ZBDongle-P.
Still at a distance of only a few feet there shouldn’t be an issue with the E. First thing would be to check for zigbee/wifi channel conflicts, @hedda’s interference primer covers that and more.
If that fails get the Dongle-P or other CC2652P based stick and report back. Willing to bet it will perform better, but still could be spotty if there are interference issues.
You also need to understand that Zigbee depends on network mesh technology so it really relies on you adding a few Zigbee Router devices that will act as Zigbee repeaters to extend range and coverage as well as add stability to the Zigbee network if and when the Zigbee Coordinator goes down.
If possible you should not have any Zigbee End devices (battery-powered devices) connected directly to the Zigbee Coordinator, instead, they should preferably connect indirectly via known good Zigbee Router device(s) that is located closest to that Zigbee End device (battery-powered device).
I can’t really agree with that. I have a solid router mesh, but about a third of my devices eventually migrate to my coordinator(cc2652p/z2m) naturally. Everything is rock solid.
I’ve seen threads where ZHA devs have suggested a parameter to prevent end devices connecting to an SI Labs coordinator, but it sounded more like a work around for SI Labs/EZSP shortcomings than a generally good idea.
Thanks for sharing that information.
I will try a different extension cable to see if that is the problem.
Wierd though regarding the 3.0 usb. My old CC2531 was inserted directly in the PI next to a 3.0 port that was in use. I had a small cable between the antenna and the stick but that was only 10cm.
I did not expect that different sticks would make such a difference.
If I wasn’t installing motion sensors I would stick to the CC2531.
Hopefully with your guide I am able te get some more range.
I’ve just received and installed the Zigbee 3.0 USD Dongle Plus from Sonoff and my device (door sensor) loses connection the moment I step outside on my way to the garage, which is barely 30m away from the dongle. I get better reception with my wifi!
I haven’t tried a USB extension, will do.
Overall I’m disappointed as I was hoping I would be able to monitor my gate, which is 100m away, but that’ll be clearly impossible with Zigbee technology unless I place routers at intervals.
It sounds as Zigbee is probably working as designed and you are just not following best practices, or?
Because you actually have to add many Zigbee Router devices and yes you have to place them at interval, however be aware that almost all main-powered Zigbee device are Zigbee routers too, but all of them might not work as well as others do.
If you add one or more DIY Zigbee Router products (Zigbee dongle with external antenna re-flashed with Zigbee Router firmware) and place them near to your window then it can probably reach 100-meters or more as long as it is line-of-sight (because Zigbee signals have radio propagation so do not pass through dense/thick building-materials).
Thanks, I did read your guide (used usb extension) but did not watch the video (yet). I do have a router which I can install, but perhaps my expectation is wrong (lorawan) and it’s not for me. Adding routers to extend range ads to complexity, if I’m not around, there’s no way my wife will know how to debug and reconfigure!
Yes your expectation is wrong as Zigbee does not use the same radio freqencies or technology as LoRaWAN. The ”LoRa” in LoRaWAN stands for ”Long Range” while the ”WAN” stands for ”Wide Area Network” and it is designed to create a regional, national, or even global network.
Zigbee home automation products on the other hand createa a PLAN (Private Local Area Network) with small network mesh locally for just your own house, and Zigbee devices uses low-power 2.4GHz radios the range is very short so it fully depends on using mesh networking.
No you misunderstand how Zigbee works, it is really designed to be easy to use, but it does rely on you adding devices that work as Zigbee Router devices. As long as you just add enough good Zigbee Router then it should work automatically like magic (automagically if you will). Zigbee will not work in practice if you only have battery-powered devices as it can then not create a mesh network.
Do read my whole guide again more and try to understand the concept of all Zigbee Router devices that you pair/join to your Zigbee network create a mesh network, so all you need to do is to add MANY mains-powered product that act as Zigbee Router, after that is nothing you and your wife need to do to maintain it. No need to make a big thing out of making it work, but again, you do actually have to have Zigbee Router devices. Only then does Zigbee work automagically.
Thank you very much for the explanation. I have not looked into getting the routers to work yet, but if they just work without having to pair, I definitely did misunderstand, thanks for clearing that up.
However as for Lorawan, it can be used as a private mesh network. It is very immune to interference, works for 10s of kms with tiny antennas and uses very little energy. I used zigbee in drones some 12 years back, and I assumed it kept up with the developments in radio technology. I’m keen to try out a lorawan ha door sensor, but in the mean time I’ll re-read your excellent doc and implement the zigbee devices I purchased.
No you have misunderstood, Zigbee Router devices do not work without pairing/joining. Zigbee is a secure network so you of course have to pair/join each Zigbee Router device to your Zigbee network for it to communicate and route messages on it. You add a Zigbee Router devices to your Zigbee network just like any other device, and then after paired/joined they will automatically start acting like routers (i.e. route/forward messages from other devices within reach). It does however normally take up to 24-hours before other devices will start to connect via a newly paired/joined Zigbee Router devices instead of connecting directly to the Zigbee Coordinator. Again, read the guide, all this and more is all explained there in great detail, (I wrote that guide so did not have to explain this again and again in every thread). I’m out.
Again, I have read your guide do avoid interference and have applied it. I’m sorry if you had to repeat yourself and I read it right the first time butmisunderstood your post about “automagically” - with lorawan, you don’t have to pair anything, routers automatically become part of the mesh.
I try to keep a philosophy of simplicity and ease of maintenance. Adding a zigbee router goes the other direction. If a zigbee router fails I have to figure out which one, uninstall the devices which I think they were linked to, then find out again how to get them into pair mode and add them to the new router. It’s mediocre range and ultra sensitivity to interference (USB3 interference, really??) makes it of very little use.
I’ve used Zigbee in 2010 with drones, I really thought it improved in the last 14 years.Sorry for the rant.
