I keep having deep issues with zigbee in my house. Despite months of work and research, the devices keep losing connection. I’m suspecting that’s the raspberry pi or the HA installation are causing the issue, but as its kinda productive already, I cannot shut the Pi down.
Therefore, I would like to have a different device that does the zigbee pairing and acts as a router, and reports to HA.
Any recommendations for such a device?
(edit) as this thread got longer and longer, I was asked to add which coordinator I’m using. It’s an ordinary SkyConnect, usb 2 extender cable, dangling outside the open network rack
I assume you use an extension USB cable. And the Pi is not placed near to a Wi-Fi Roter.
Maybe some interferences with the Wi-FI 2.4GHZ?
Did you check you Zigbee and WI-FI channels?
You asked for what works. Barring either just using the hardware list for ZHA or Z2M you want a recommendation… The tubez device is recommend by a lot of folks around here I trust for Zigbee recommendations. Considering that most of the time Zigbee comms end up being a function of good gear, use good gear. Good isn’t necessarily cheap.
(btw Sonoff is plenty good but there are other concerns such as which version device and what firmware that tubez generally doesn’t. Also I think the one you referred to is a router not a coordinator.)
The coordinator can impact range to first hop and total number of direct connect devices. That’s it if you’re not fighting those issues then it’s not likely the coordinator.
In a well planned zigbee network the coordinator usually is not the issue unless it’s a known bad device. It’s usually better planning or better behavior on the routing devices that make the difference so I really doubt this will solve the issue for you. But if you were going to pick a new coordinator because you think that is it. I’d go Tubez when it’s available.
tl;dr Honestly Id go back and continue the troubleshooting on what you have.
This seems to be the default response to Zigbee problems. Agree with @NathanCu - assuming you have enough routers and have addressed interference issues, in my experience it’s nearly always cheap buggy devices.
I still think it’s your end devices. I saw a note where you said ‘Aquara is good’ yes it is. A lot of that gear is good. But they don’t necessarily always play nice together.
Ive seen some people with Aquara PIRs and the only way they were able to keep them online were using exclusively IKEA sockets… (which are very good routers btw)
I solved my Zigbee range problem by installing these THIRDREALITY ZigBee Smart Plugs in every room. No device (router) is more than 12ft (3m) from another.
Yes, I too have found the 3rd Reality plugs a good low cost reliable router, and you get a power monitored controlled plug to boot.
Do you know what Zigbee chip they use?
I’ve also found their door sensor and PIR end devices some of the most reliable and long lasting in their categories. And the Zigbee2MQTT OTA seems reliable and relative fast for end devices. As well for the plugs.
I bought lots of these, which I think are the same as the third…thingy
ZigBee Smart Steckdose 16A, 3680W Alexa Steckdose mit Fernbedienung/Sprachsteuerung, Intelligente Steckdose misst den Stromverbrauch, Steckdose Kompatibel mit Alexa&Google Home. Hub Required. 2 Pack Amazon.de
I have three (!!!) in like 1m away from the coordinator, 3m away from 1st one, and 3m away from second one. And they break connection after three days or less, reliably. Don’t tell me that’s too much. I bought an aqara plug, too. 2m away from coordinator, won’t work on second day.
I’m not stupid… I’m trying to find the error and all I hear is “get more plugs”
So, is there a way how I can externalise all zigbee stuff to a different device than my Pi to check if the Pi is somehow broken?
We know that’s not what they’re saying. But it’s not just get more it’s get more known good ones. For instance there’s tons of generic cheap Tuya clone no name plugs that are routers that also play fast and loose with the spec and drop messages. (leaving end devices to drop off eventually)
bro, that’s huge!
