I am testing a Zigbee 3.0 light behind a smart light switch.
The switch is a Lutron Casetta and the Light is a Moes Zigbee 5.7" Downlight. But I don’t think this matters to my post.
The issue is the Zigbee becomes unavailable when you turn off the light switch (of course). But it takes some time before ZHA marks it unavailable. However, I know from the Switch. I’d like to tell ZHA that the light is unavailable.
Then when the switch turns on, I’d like to tell ZHA the light is on, or ideally force ZHA to pin the device and get a status from it. As it is, it takes some time for ZHA to notice the light is back. I am still debugging this, but it seems a service call to light.turn on fails if ZHA thinks its unavailable, even when its on.
The solution I am looking for is to trigger an automation when the Lutron switch turn off, to mark the light unavailable. And when the Lutron switch turns on, ask ZHA to ping the light and get the status.
Reading some about Z2M suggests this is a solution, if I migrated away from ZHA
So you have a smart switch and a smart light? Why?
A Zigbee mains device should always be powered on. Assuming it’s a router, turning it off will destabilize the network.
If it’s any help, the ZHA timeout for declaring a device unavailable is adjustable - you can find it via any Zigbee device info page. Click on the three dots next to “Configure” and select View Network, then the Network tab. By default it’s something like two hours.
This set up is a test of products I am planning to use in a new build.
I have Zooz Z-Wave switches which I am very pleased with, and in general my Zwave network is flawless. But I cant find nice Z-wave downlights. The Zooz switches can be put into a smart bulb mode and then I can do what you suggest. If that’s reliable I am OK.But it will involve Z-wave => HA => Zigbee and it feels like there is a bit that can go wrong.
Nothing is as reliable as a hardwire. And a light should be 100% rock solid and turn on instantly when you flick the switch. I’ll have my elderly parents living there and I am, not up for 99%! With that perspective, I want the hardwire option. In this mode, I’d be happy to turn off the routing function if that’s possible.
“Feeling” like it can go wrong isn’t scientific. lol
With that said, many of us do exactly what you are attempting with good success. I personally have zwave switches that operate zigbee lights. I have zigbee remotes and buttons that operate WiFi lights. I have WiFi switches that operate both WiFi and zigbee lights and devices. All of it works without issues. That’s the beauty of HA as a controller; Mixed protocols aren’t really an issue at all.
With all that said, no system is 100% all of the time. But, I guarantee you that switching off a zigbee light that is a router will cause you issues in your mesh. It’s not a if, but a when.
Some lights don’t route in a mesh, but most of them do. I think only Sengled and a couple of other brands specifically don’t act as routers in a zigbee mesh. Also, afaik, you can’t turn off routing functions in a bulb. Either it’s built in by the manufacturer or it’s not. Moes lights do act as routers. There’s not a setting that I have ever seen that can disable that.
Yeah, I couldn’t find a setting in the Moes’ configuration that looked like it would turn off the router.
Good to hear you have a similar setup to my plans, and you say its working well. But your statement “no system is 100% all of the time” encompasses exactly what I mean. I actually make Functionally Safe Power Management ICs for Automotive Industry, so I know a thing or two about complex systems with multiple single points of failure. There is a lot right with a wire, not much to go wrong!
=> I wish smart lighting fixtures could be connected with active & neutral plus switch wire for exactly this reason. Zigbee/WiFi stays up and switch just acts as an input like it would on a shelly switch.
These Moe’s lights might be the only thing I have on my Zibgee network, as I use Z-wave whenever possible. But I guess some lights are on / some are off so the network could still be affected.
I don’t understand the Zigbee routing very well. But this is not a very big area, and my HA with Zigbee will be central, so every device will be within 25ft of the coordinator, and should have good single hop connectivity. In that scenario, wouldn’t the routing tables always choose that route? Maybe the mesh is redundant? (Granted - this is the exact definition of a single point failure, but the coordinator is already that).
Oh - forgot to mention.
I did adjust the timeout as Stiltjack suggested and that has really helped.
I set it to 60 seconds and now the Adaptive Lighting Integration is working well after the light turns with the switch.
