Struggling with Phillips Hue smart bulbs

[Drrmjones]

I added five Phillips Hue smart bulbs. I had to jump through some hoops I found here to get them added. I first used the Hue app to pair my phone and account to each bulb. Then I did a software update. Then I used the app to do a factory reset. Only after going through these steps (for each bulb) would the Zigbee Home Automation find my bulbs and add them to Home Assistant.

So far so good, Now I have all the bulbs added, but they sporadically become non-functional. They show up in my dashboard and are not greyed out or marked as disabled. But if I try to do ANYTHING with them, like turn them off, the action fails, and after a few seconds I get a pop-up that says “Failed to perform the action light/turn_off. Failed to send request: device did not respond.”

I’ve combed through old posts. I’m going to try adding a USB extension cord to my SkyConnect. But apart from that I’m not sure what to try. The lights were working all afternoon, then they just stopped. Then started again. And now are not working again.

Thanks in advance for any ideas!

[Drrmjones]

And now, after behaving that way for a few hours, the lights have changed to being “Unavailable”.

[francisp (Francis)]

Start by reading this:

Zigbee network optimization: a how-to guide for avoiding radio frequency interference + adding Zigbee Router devices (repeaters/extenders) to get a stable Zigbee network mesh with best possible range and coverage by fully utilizing Zigbee mesh networking

Who is this guide for? I have tried to make this guide to be a comprehensive collection of the most basic yet essential tips with a set of actions and best practice steps that should be applicable to all types of Zigbee setups, regardless of what type of Zigbee adapter/gateway/hub/bridge/devices that you are using. This guide is meant for both those who are new to Zigbee as well as those who been using Zigbee devices for years but might not been aware of the underlying prerequisites to optimiz…