Thanks. My HA-Pi4 will be a rack-mounted. Do you anticipate a signal issues/interference if I attach its extension cable away from the metal rack? My rack is also in a small room.
Don’t we want use Zigbee or alike for a small home sensors for its lower than Wi-Fi power consumption?
They always recommend a 2m (6’) USB extension cable to avoid signal interference.
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I tried it as many people said it is the way to be. But I had my experience and in the end I tossed all of my ZigBee devices out because of poor performance or other limitations.
For example the ZigBee hygro/thermometers I owned were slow to react/update which caused a delay of around 5 to 10 minutes for the exhaust fans to turn on when taking a shower. With these devices I had absolutely no control to change the update frequency or set a delta for the humidity to react quicker.
I switched the cheap ZigBee hygro/thermometers for even cheaper BLE xiaomi hygro/thermometer which that even feature a display (that can be even used for showing entity values from HA via esphome) and other than the ZigBee ones allows custom settings. They react much faster (typically within 30 seconds when starting a shower) even with the default settings. They also claim a battery life of 1-2 years which was in the same ballpark as the ZigBee ones.
Yes, wifi is not very practial for battery powered devices. The strong WPA2-PSK/CCMP encryption and the overhead of the various network layers does need a lot of energy compared to a device which just sends out a some broadcast with low power (low range/bad penetration).
Still I actually prefer having my devices mains powered as it has various plus points for me:
- Always working (no empty batteries)
- Cheap and clean regenerative energy (no expensive and dirty batteries which are shipped around the world)
- Possibility to use own solar power
- Strong signal and got penetration because not limited in power
The only battery devices I have are the few xiamo ble hygro/thermometer and some old 433Mhz devices which are all “bridged” to home assistant via WiFi or Ethernet connected esphome devices
I take most comments nowadays with some grain of salt. Went the ZigBee route because it was advertised the best way but in my case it was quite disastrous:
- every manafucture cooks his own soup - no plug’n’play like prayed so often
- mains powered devices often do not work as a repeater or only poorly
- If the connection is not line of sight without obstacles battery powered devices often don’t reach the next repeater only 5 meters away
- the advertised functions often don’t all work (like a contact sensor with brightness does actually not report brightness)
- Often the update frequency is to low for proper automations (see my last post)
- and more…
It was enough for me that I got rid of all of my ZigBee stuff which I accumulated over one year.
On the other hand people don’t get tired falsly warnings that WiFi devices will clog your network and what not which is just spreading FUD from my personal view. My super low budget WiFi AP which was produced more than 10 years ago is perfectly capable of handling my permantly 60 esphome WiFi devices and allows the whole family to use clients (phones,tablets,notebooks,TVs,…) and do video streaming and what not at the same time.
One can’t forget everyone in the internet is allowed to write everything - even if people don’t have any personal experience with the topic!
Also, use USB 2.0. The RF interference from USB 3.0 protocol can interfere with Zigbee.
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Hi all
i have a question,
Just started with ha en till now everything is Tasmota.
But i found that some good additional devices such as dimmers require Zigbee
I think this dimmer below is a good choice because its suitable for al sort of leds
Zigbee led dimmer module 250W | ECO-DIM.10 Zigbee (ecobright.nl)
I`m running HA on my nas on the attic and i like good coverage so I’m thinking of buying a hub/gateway instead of a usb dongel
Is that a good suggestion?
Im thinking about this one:
Thx
In other words you ended up using both; cheap Zigbee and Wi-Fi based devices?
Just want to get idea.
No.
I have DC and AC dimmers based on esp(home). I expect the same devices also be supported by tasmota.
Rather bad idea in case you can’t control the software on your hub.
Just read about what rugpull Phillips Hue just did couple of weeks ago forcing a cloud account with data sharing in case you want to continue with the bridge…
If you can’t control the software on your device the manufactures can render it a brick whenever they want or introduces fee’s for functions which were formerly free.
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I started with Tasmota but have moved almost all of my Tasmota devices to ESPHome. I find the Home Assistant API to be more reliable. YMMV
No. You can get dimmers in any of the common protocols. Mine happen to be on Z-Wave.
My Home Assistant server is in the basement. (My attic gets hot in the summer, up to 150-F, 65-C). I have a USB dongle for Zigbee and one for Z-Wave. A hub/gateway buys you nothing that Home Assistant and the dongles can’t. I am only recently expanding my Zigbee network and the more devices I add, the stronger it gets.
You haven’t mentioned smart lights (yet). My advice is, unless you NEED colors, just use a smart wall switch and cheap LED bulbs.
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Hi Leo
No I dont use zigbee jet
I though I had to for the dimmer I wanted is only availeble in Zigbee or z-wave
For both I need a aditional dongel, I rather kept everything simpel and use only tasmota flashed devices on WiFi protocol
Till now I have 16 THR316d and serveral pow devices and the mini r2, all sonoff. And iam more then happy with them
But now I need Some dimmers witch support both dimming technics and thought I have to switch to zigbee
Hi indeed
Wich dimmers do you use then?
And the reason I thougt not to use a simpel usb dongel is that I can place the Zigbee or zwave hub in my livingroom Connect to the WiFi and have good coverage throughout my Home and garden
But as I mentioned I have no experiance with them al
So Reading your answers i gues I should reconsidder 
Hi Stevemann
Oké clear
I have the same idea about using good dimmers rather then smart bulbs
With dimmers do you use and would you suggest to start for me using Zigbee or z-wave?
Or stay with the normal WiFi protocol what sonoff devices use?
Thx in advance
What I use may be irrelevant to your needs. But, the only dimmers I have are Z-wave. No special reason except Zoos had a good sale on Z-wave dimmers when I decided that the family room and hallway lights should dim when we are watching TV.
I have just recently started expanding my Zigbee network, so I have no history to share.
Most everything else in my home is WiFi. A lot of it DIY.
One think I forgot to ask
Is there a method to place you z-wave or Zigbee usb dongel farder away from your ha host beside a usb extension. Preferable via utp
Anyone experiance?
Funny enough @hedda answered this for someone this morning - I learned about a new thing
Also there are network connected coordinatoirs available.
Thx Nathan
I have a look at it
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My Home Assistant server is in the basement. Under the stairs in the center of the house. The dongle is connected to the server with a 1 meter USB extension. (Use a USB2 port as USB3 generates interference). You will need routers (AKA Repeaters) scattered about the house because in my limited Zigbee experience, three or four meters between nodes is where signal strength becomes a problem.
I solved this by putting one of these in each room of the house:
Oké thx a lot
I think afther reading this articel that z wave is the beter choice for me
Have an good weekend
You will eventually have both, so it really doesn’t matter which protocol you start with.
The article you linked is strange. It lists Zigbee in the 900 MHz range as a problem, and in the next paragraph it lists Z-wave in the 900 MHz band as a good thing.