I wanted to have smart RGB bulbs in the garden so got a pack of 3 bulbs and of course hoping to get the signal into the garden…
Even with the coordinator (Sonoff P) against the wall that faces to the garden it’s no show.
Inside the house, the zigbee mesh is very stable/reliable and I found numbers for distances that the signal can carry in open air so that should not be a problem but I guess the insulation is.
Anyone who has faced and solve this?
What are the (best) options to bring the signal to the garden?
I don’t know if they’re available where you live, but Lexman outdoor outlets or Hue outdoor lights are great for outdoor range (which will always be a challenge given all the interference from outside…). To improve the indoor => outdoor signal, you can use Aeotec zigbee range extenders.
Against the Wall, is not always the best “solution”, as Zigbee-signals also “bounce” depending upon materials.etc.
However a coordinator in plain view, or i.e further from the outer-wall facing a Window, would/could give better signals penetration, to the outdoor Devices, i have 3 outside Temps. (north-east, south-east, south-west)
NOTE: I also live in a Wooden-House , which might be a benefit in this regards
If you have an outlet on the exterior wall on that side of the home that has a protector (if it doesn’t, they’re not that expensive at the hardware store or amazon, get one you can throw a padlock on), use it and put a smart plug or repeater on it. That should help extend the mesh to the outside.
Need more details: Single family house? What is the material of the exterior walls? How many walls from the nearest repeater to the exterior? How far from the exterior wall to the location with the bulbs?
I have a very robust Zigbee mesh with 160+ devices, including 25+ repeating devices (of various types). I have a single family house with standard construction for New England/USA: wood 2x4 framing with wood clapboard siding.
I have a Zigbee contact sensor (Visonic MCT-370) in my metal mailbox, which is routing to a Zigbee outlet (repeater) contained inside my house about 100 feet away. That repeater is plugged into an outlet on the inside of the exterior wall.
Basically, I had to do nothing special to get the Zigbee signal out to the mailbox.
Nick I think you should offer more information. Building type, wall type, insulation type, surrounding, distance, etc.
=== a data point ===
My zigbee coordinator (sonoff P) is on the 1st floor, and in the room directly above the coordinator, so ~ 3 or 4m away with one wood floor, the zigbee switch (Inovelli blue) in the wall would still work, but the signal value per the zigbee2mqtt network map is already at single digit.
It would still work, yes, so I leave it be.
Anyway, think of it as a data point: 4 meters with one wood floor in between.
