What to do when a zigbee device is unavailable?

Configuration Zigbee
1

What is the best practice to bring an unavailable zigbee device back to life?

I usually have to remove from HA, reset the device and re-pair. Is that the only way to recover a device that is unviable?

2

You should just be able to re-pair, without deleting, though I suppose if the entity ID doesn’t change (thus affecting your automations and whatnot), it’s unlikely to matter much either way.

A better question is why the devices keep dropping and what you can do about it. If it’s poor network range, adding repeaters (Zigbee routers, in technical terms) or brining the device closer to your Zigbee coordinator (probably also your Home Assistant box) would help. If you have any “problem devices” like Xiami sensors (which are picky about what repeaters they use) or many Zigbee smart bulbs (which are supposed to be Zigbee routers but don’t always route/repeat well for non-bulbs), addressing those issues somehow may also help.

3

Thanks, thankfully just repairing worked. No idea why they occasionally drop. The plug is in the same room as the coordinator.

4

How do you repair device without deleting it?

1 Like
5

You just put the switch in pairing mode and go into HA as if you’re adding a new device. They aren’t saying “repair” they’re saying “re-pair”. No reason to delete it, just pretend you’re adding a new device (as long as the switch itself is in pairing mode).

6

This is an old conversation but I am dealing with the same thing. After a lot of poking about I found that if I click Configure on my hub (I use a Sonoff stick) the menu at the bottom has a setting that tells HA to consider wired and battery powered sensors unavailable after so many seconds (2 and 6 hours was the default).

I changed the battery powered setting to just 60 seconds and found that all of my unavailable devices became available again. I assume this is to save some battery life but don’t quote me there. It’s just nice to know that all of the sensors aren’t breaking overnight.

7

I have a problem with connecting a xiaomi device. Where did you find the setting you describe? So if it is zigbee2mqtt.