Switchbot bots going through constant available-unavailable cycle

I’m running HAOS on a dedicated Raspberry Pi 4, running the latest version (Core 2024.9.2, OS 13.1 as I type this). I also have a few Switchbot bots that control my curtains, which are connected to my HA using Bluetooth, no hub.

A few weeks ago I noticed the bots started responding erratically, and I only now found the time to look into it.

Looking at the logs, I can see each of them is in a constant loop of becoming available, then coming back online after a minute or so, only to become unavailable again a few minutes later.

I noticed this post, which seems to present the same issue:

However, they claim that the issue has been resolved after updating the OS to version 10.3, and I’m running a later version.

Is there anyone else who’s experiencing similar issues, or knows how to solve this?

Thanks!

Hi idanyd,

The native bluetooth on a raspi is meant for VERY short range connections to a mouse or keyboard, headphones. It gets radio interference with the internal workings of the PI.

You would be best off adding a couple of espHome Bluetooth proxies near the curtains.

Thanks for the reply.

I’m not saying you’re wrong, and your suggestion does make sense, but this setup worked flawlessly for about 2 years now. So I don’t think that the BT range of the RasPi suddenly became an issue.

Don’t have to believe me. Put this into your search engine and see what others say.

raspi4 bluetooth range

And my suggestion to fix…

I figured, before buying an additional accessory I’d run a small experiment - I took one of the Switchbot bots and put it right next to the Raspi for a couple of hours to see if there’s any change in the connection cycle.
But the behaviour, I’m afraid, stayed as it was - the device keeps on losing connection, then regaining it and losing it again and so on.