Starting from scratch, using Zigbee

Dear all,

i am going to automate lights and other things at my parent’s location. First goal is to automate outdoor lights, based on sun, time and movement. Since I am facing poor reliability with the Homematic components at my house, I selected Zigbee as protocol for my parents.

Already bought some hardware awaiting it’s delivery within the next days: Raspberr y PI 4B 4GB and Raspbee II on-board card. Also two smart bulbs from Osram as a start.

Since I am starting from scratch, what setup should I use for HA? I’m on x86_64 using Docker containers running at my house (using docker-compose to coordinate), should I stick to this or prefer HASS.OS for the RPI4 setup? I will definitely need remote control (using SSH) for the new system. For the Raspbee module to work, there is also the need to change the Raspberry PI’s configuration with respect to UART and GPIO. Is this possible with HASS.OS?

And what is actually required to control devices directly connected to the Raspbee add-on card? There is an official deConz add-on available for HASS.OS, but is it mandatory? From reading the ZHA integration, direct usage of the add-on card is supported, what benefits does deCONZ provide?

Also, most of the lights are plain bulbs switched on/off by a central mechanical timer in the main fuse box. I want to replace that by a remote controllable switch, but those devices seem to be hard to find in Germany and cost alot. Any suggestions for an affordable, yet reliable device that can be mounted to a DIN rail?

Finally: The area to cover with Zigbee is quite large, more than 10.000m². Does Zigbee support repeaters to extend the covered ranged?

Thanks for your hints and other reponses in advance.

It’s your parents house so I’d play it safe with a nice simple install method that is less likely to break.

None. I feel ZHA is better, but that’s just my opinion. It supports more devices and does not require another layer of ‘software’. It works perfectly for me.

Control the existing contactors using an ESP running ESPhome.

Yes

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For sure, they live some kilometers away and are absolutely out-of-time with respect to computers. It needs to run failsafe. Going for HASS.OS then.

ESP devices rely on WLAN, that could become an issue. Actually, there are 3 fuse boxes distributed among the area, the affected one is in another building, below ground level and about 20m away from the WLAN AP.

I would prefer Zigbee radio and it’s meshed network for that reason.

There’s an option to use Ethernet as well if that helps.

please allow me this noob ESPHome question:

what hardware do we need for this, other than let’s say a switch using an ESP chip? (eg I had a Hombli branded switch, but in the device_tracker it showed up as a device with espxxx. I even believe it was Tuya powered, but since that is a Cloud solution Id like to stay away from that.

Should I be able to control that installing only the ESPHome instructions for the HA add-on, or do we need some sort of intermediary ‘Hub’ to register all Esp devices.

OP: What do you plan to use for a Zigbee hub in the RPi? I’ve had great luck with the HUSBZB, and it’s still available on Amazon and others, although I’ve heard they’ve stopped making them.

One point about repeaters: You can use a mains-powered smart plug (switch) with a built-in Zigbee repeater. Place these strategically around the house to build a solid mesh. As a side benefit you get control of whatever is plugged into them.

Of course, you can also toss any 802.11 wireless devices onto the network wherever there’s a good signal. Those tend to be even cheaper than Zigbee devices. The only issue is those tend to require dedicated integrations, and sometimes a third-party app, at least to configure.

I agree with the KISS principle. One RPi running whatever they’re calling the “install for dummies” version these days, and one or two protocols for monitoring and control devices.

I consider the Raspbee II to be the hub, am I wrong?

Correct, to my understanding this applies to any non-battery-powered Zigbee device, even light bulbs. I think the correct term is router.

Ahh, yes, didn’t see that, sorry.

Yes, I typed the wrong word, sorry. But be aware that I’ve heard of some bulbs, and possibly other mains-powered devices, which don’t act as a router. Just something to verify before purchasing.

No need for any hub for ESP’s as they are simply wifi. (well technically your wifi AP is the hub for them).

I do read at different locations, that changes to config.txt are required to make the Raspbee II add-on card work. Does this file still exist with Hass.OS although the distribution does not feature the raspi-config command?

Okay, to close this thread. It’s working now, but it was disastrous. Main reason was, that the Phoscon Raspbee II module has an issue with USB 3.x devices being close-by. That led to various failures, when trying to set-up a device booting from USB 3.1 stick: Paired devices got lost, pairing was impossible, even the entire module became unresponsive.

Not to mention the hazzle to update the RPI4’s EEPROM to make it boot from USB. RPI3B does this out of the box, RPI4 needs a recent EEPROM imaage.

So finally, after switching back to SD-Card (which leaves me uncomfortable), using plain Raspbian and Home Assistant with Docker, it’s working stable now.

I have enough stuff to compose a new blog post, that’s the only benefit of my experience.