Tips for door and motion sensors

Hardware
1

Hello all,

I’m looking for some hardware and I hope you can help me.
I found some Xiaomi door and motion sensors on Aliexpress but I’m a bit confused.

I’ve seen some that need a Xiaomi gateway and some stating that you only need an app to connect the sensors.
I want to add them to my Hass.io installation.
So which one is best?
And does anyone know if it can be bought in a packet (at least 5 door/window sensors and 1 motion sensor (and the gateway if needed))?

Needs to be shipped to The Netherlands.

2

Well, you dont really need a gateway from the supplier itself. Look into Deconz or zigbee2mqtt

I currently use Deconz and I can connect many different branded devices to my home assistant through deconz (supports many different devices).

Then when you buy those xiaomi things, you can pair them with deconz and it shows in your home assistant.

I am trying to keep the explanation really simple here xD

1 Like
3

Hello @Vasco,

Thank you for your awesome fast reply!
Do you have an example of the Deconz I should buy?

#Aliexpress € 4,07 35%OFF | Zigbee CC2531 2.4Ghz USB E18-2G4U04B zigbee usb RF Zender en Ontvanger PCB Antenne 8051MCU ISM Band LED Indicator

Is above something I can use?

I also would like a wireless doorbell which can be used in HA.
Any suggestions?

4

Well, it depends where you are running Home Assistant from.

When you run it on a raspberry Pi, you could go for either a Conbee 2 stick or a RaspBee Pro.

When you run it off a NUC/Desktop/laptop etc, then Conbee 2 is your only option. You would have to check where you can buy these. I live in The Netherlands and there are plenty of dutch stores offering these devices. You could also order it from phoscon directly. I believe they ship worldwide.

https://phoscon.de/en/conbee2 or https://phoscon.de/en/raspbee

The USB stick you linked on AliExpress is a zigbee2mqtt stick. Yes it’s cheaper than deconz but deconz is user/more newbie friendlier. It has a nice GUI where you can manage the devices/add new ones etc. Zigbee2mqtt does the same but requires Some coding knowhow and no GUI. When you buy that zigbee2mqtt stick you would also need a ccdebuger and a downloader cable to flash the image to it, unless you purchase a pre-flashed one… but then you wont be able to manage or upgrade the stick without the other two components. So when comparing, i’d go with deconz.

Then, when choosing a doorbell, there are so many options to go for. But what do you want? Do you need live streaming? Do you want a more out of the box experience? Etc. There are plenty of topics on this forum regarding doorbells, try to search for it.

And regarding sensors etc, always check the deconz compatibility list. (Deconz actually supports more than there’s listed, but lacks some update on this list). But that list also gives you some idea’s on stuff you could purchase for your house :slight_smile:

5

Thank you for the explanation!
I will go for Deconz then.

I run Hass.io as a vm on a Hyper-V server but I do have a Pi3.

For the doorbell a live stream would be nice yes.

I’ll check out the compatibility list!

6

Get yourself a usb extension cord too. 0,5 m would do. I understood that usb (either conbee or zigbee2mqtt stick) could have some issues with inteference from the machine itself when directly plugged into usb port.

You’ll thank me later for that :stuck_out_tongue:

7

Okay I will do that :smiley:

Can the usb stick be connected to an usb charger (eg https://www.amazon.de/dp/B00R25QZDC/ref=mp_s_a_1_6?adgrpid=71294681900&gclid=CjwKCAiAg9rxBRADEiwAxKDTukyjJRGMjXn_tpYnwZrLK-jc5aSgQ52j4jGEPRdtpWup3gNpViKohRoCw1kQAvD_BwE&hvadid=356408096614&hvdev=m&hvlocphy=1010433&hvnetw=g&hvpos=1t1&hvqmt=e&hvrand=5938712746686623347&hvtargid=kwd-10950231&hydadcr=6479_1931247&keywords=usb+adapter&qid=1580638142&sr=8-6) or does it need to be connected to an usb port on a machine?

8

It needs to be connected to the machine you run phoscon (the deconz app)

1 Like
9

Ah that’s a shame because that will be on the server which is placed on the attic.

10

@Vasco Do you know which shops sell the conbee2?
I’ve been looking but can only find them on webshops.
I live near Groningen.

11

Seems like it’s only being sold via web. Got mine from amazon but maybe you can check this one;
https://en.robbshop.nl/conbee-ii-zigbee-usb-dongle?sqr=conbee&

12

Hey indeed. It’s web, but here you see two stores in the netherlands that actually have a store to go to.

https://phoscon.de/en/conbee2

Scroll down and you’ll see robbshop and hastore. One of those are fine. :slight_smile:

13

Thanks @Jester and @Vasco,

I ordered one from HAshop.nl the shops are way too far :rofl:

14

Check the Wyze sense sensors, thy are cheaper than the Xiaomi ($5) and the hub is included. I have both and the response time is instant on both. The integration in HA is super easy too.

1 Like
15

where do you get them from?

16

Except they are very hard to find in The Netherlands or Belgium.

17
18

I had a look at those indeed but they don’t ship to The Netherlands :frowning:

19

thanks. has little sense to UK enthusiasts as it is possible to order a camera (but one has to wait for about 2 months) and there is no other products on offer (checked on Amazon.co.uk) :frowning:

20

I just recieved my ConBee 2 stick and have it set up.
Does anyone know if I can add my Chinese and LSC (bought in Action) wifi lamps to the Phoscon app and if so, how do I do that?
The lamps are not being discovered :frowning:

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