Why are my Zigbee signals (LQI) so weak in ZHA?

Configuration
1

I have just a few devices, over half of them plugged (routers), and all within 100ft of each other - most within 15ft - and only a few LQI are over 50, and one or two drop off after a day. What am I doing wrong?

Zigbee 3.0 dongle - unflashed

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2
  • Put the Zigbee stick on a USB extension cable
  • Check that the WiFi is clear of Zigbee
  • 100 feet is very very far for Zigbee - you can reasonably expect a point to point range indoors of under 30 feet
3

100 feet is an exaggeration - I’d say it’s about 60ft between the two furthest apart devices - they are all within 15 feet of a plugged device - and currently almost all the devices are plugged in. My hub is in the center - so nothing is more than 30ft from the hub.

I started out with the dongle on a USB extension cable, now it’s directly plugged in - there’s no difference.
My WiFi is on Channel 11, which appears to be the furthest from the Zigbee frequency I can get.

4

There are many Zigbee channels… and many WiFi channels. You have to check your environment and pick channels that have the least interference.

The use of an extension cable (and a USB 2.0 port) will help.

5

The Zigbee dongle is set to Channel 15 - from what I’ve read. I’m having a terrible time trying to find directions on how to change that channel.

6

I just paired another Ecosmart bulb in a lamp with direct line of sight to the ZigBee Dongle on my Home Assistant setup at about two meters, and the LQI is 117. WTF? According to the Black Adder compatibility list, this bulb (Ecosmart-ZBT-A19-CCT-Bulb) is fully compatible with ZHA.

That is - no obstacles, 2 meters apart, and the best I can get is a weak signal.

I have checked my WiFi traffic, and the Zigbee Dongle at the default Ch15 is in a low traffic area - not zero but low.

7

Flash current firmware and see how that impacts the drop off issues.

I don’t think ZHA itself has much, if anything, to do with the LQI value. it’s only reporting what the stick gives it.

It seems different sticks/firmware calculate the LQI value differently. The LQI for most devices on my SILabs based Nortek stick was 200+ for most of my devices. My TI base Sonoff 3.0 Plus caps out at about 120. Both using the same channel, devices, repeaters, etc.

Of the two, the Sonoff Plus has been MUCH more stable than the Nortek ever was.