I have used Switchbots, the Xiaomi Aqara (loses connection and then stays offline forever), but all of them suck.
Ideally, I’d like to just have a temperature sensor I can plug into a wall socket (no more fucking around with batteries).
Right now, I have a Zigbee mesh, which works fine, but I just don’t have a temperature sensor. Shouldn’t capitalism result in a product that does not suck?
Aqara’s Zigbee 1.2 devices are just fussy about their parent - if you pick the right routers then they’re fine. All of mine have been problem free.
Others to consider:
The problem happens when there is e.g. a power outage and the parent is gone.
Is this the Aquara T1? , because that one doesn’t reconnect to the mesh in any way automatically after a connection has been lost (or it connects to the wrong parent and then doesn’t try again, which practically is the same, because it means human intervention, which means its economic value is zero).
I don’t get how companies market an automation product and then require users to babysit their devices? Literally the only smart device I have seen working according to expectation is a smart plug; everything else is broken.
The Develco people can’t even be bothered to have property technical specifications (e.g. is it ZigBee 3.0?, did anyone certify it, etc.). It’s incredible how they can be this stupid creating a document named Technical Specifications which then … does not have technical specifications. Who do they think they are dealing with? Some n00b?
Really, this madness makes me almost want to design my own temperature sensor product, because apparently nobody cares to build something that meets the extremely basic market demand.
I don’t give a shit how it looks, as long as it doesn’t kill people, has a long battery life (preferably solar powered), uses Zigbee 3.0, and is actually fully compatible with just about everything router/coordinator on the market. How these could not have been design considerations is a mystery to me.
No, that’s the original Zigbee 1.2 version.
Sounds like you want to buy Z-Wave. Z-Wave Plus and later devices are fully interoperable and there’s a standards testing body. Of course, you pay for that. Zigbee is cheap because it’s a uncontrolled wilderness.
I have Aqara-M2, with Xiaomi Aqara temp/humids 8st, + Xiaomi/Aqara Motion sensor 4st + 2 plugs … recently had a 4 hours total power-loss, when i got power back, everything came online, alive and well, same with my Ikea-Hub(Zigbee) all device …no problems, + other wifi device (PLuggs Bulps Cams) No problems.
The point would be to mix and match products from different vendors and apparently Xiaomi doesn’t play nicely with others.
I just want to have a single coordinator and some routers (which work fine with a network with devices from various vendors).
You are saying “I bought everything from one vendor and it all works”, which seems superfluous to even mention.
Also, you are contradicting the experience I have with (while the signal is like 130/255 (after installation)) with multiple devices. As such, even if it works fine for you, it doesn’t mean it works well for everyone (which is the only valid interpretation of “it works”). It’s also possible that you don’t have some devices in your network that I do have.
If a sensor picks a router, which fails to get the signal across, it should pick another one.
If it doesn’t you don’t have a mesh network; you have a broken network.
I have actually tried to read a Zigbee standard and I consider it to be an awful standard.
Beside your topic indicate you have problems with zigbee devices,( dropping out and never “return” in your Coordinator ), then you have an awful negative attitude to just about everything … I was just giving you an example of how things can work well) and in regards to signal strength ( which you first complains about in your answer) i can mention 1 Coordinater, covering 3 Floorplans, 100sqm each, And yes obvious signal strength is essential , and not very relevant in a tech-spec as some people tend to complain, without thinking about they might live in a concrete bunker, and they are not aware that Zigbee talks on 2.4GHz, just like any Wifi device, CPU’s, even Harddrives in a usb 3.0, can spin up around 2.4GHz, Microwave ovens, etc. etc. etc., bunch of devices talks on ( or interfere) 2.4 GHz at the same time, Mesh AS you mention, doesn’t exactly “take away” the Signal interferrence, AND there a few other things to take into account in regards to Signal strengh, so im pretty glad im not a Vendor, for any product that you might have, and yes it would be kind of a mystery if you didn’t have some devices that i don’t have.
But i do have a Network, with 1 Router (mesh capable, if it matters) 2 Zigbee hubs covering 3 Floorplans, 100 sqm each AND no broken network … and i have not read in details about about the Zigbee standard, as i use plain logic, and basic understanding, beside listen to others experience and recommendations, and my own environment, facilities taking into consideration,instead of complaining about vendors and standards
PS: I do have a vast mix of “vendor” devices in my 2.4Ghz “Network”, as you might understand if you read about Zigbee, or 2.4Ghz in specific
You might wanna read about 2.4Ghz instead, or also, maybe that would clear out some doubts or culprits
PS: i know it’s wiki, but im sure there are more comprehensive “studies” by some vendor independent engineers /scientists
Using that definition, nothing will work. There will always be unique problems for some people caused by interference, unclean power supplies, building materials, etc.
I also don’t have any issues with Aqara devices, which in my case are being routed through devices from IKEA, Lidl, Heiman and various cheap Chinese LED strip drivers. Aqara devices are known to be stubborn, so yes, they’re not great, but OTOH, once they are “settled” in the network they work flawlessly for me, and have for years.
The issues with the Xiaomi devices (a.k.a., the “reparent bug”) are not of that nature and even then a good vendor would ship a product with debugging tools such that you can have the device itself report a self-status and an environmental report spitting out a ton of equations for why it doesn’t work.
That level of technology is only found in military applications. The stuff “we” can get just sucks.
A form of capitalism in which shitty products never even hit the shelves would be much more preferable to me.
Who buys shitty useless cheap products … and then complains about them being shitty useless cheap products … i just wonder ?
I am sorry for not knowing people that know more about this stuff than I do.
Maybe with alittle more positive attitude, you will learn more, and maybe from people that know more than you, im sure there are alot of them in here
You should really think about your attitude towards other people. Nobody here is the manufacturer of something.
And that you don’t like how you have setup your devices in your home, is foremost your problem, not that of other people. This is a friendly forum, and people can rightly expect you to be friendly. Otherwise go and search for a forum that tolerates your unpolite behaviour.
Oh, and just one thing: there are numerous solutions out there, that work very well, you’d just need to know what these are. I can asure you, numerous people use these sensors without any problems, as they seem to be able to find the corresponding support threads.
But let’s be honest, with this attitude, you can’t expect people to really help you. At least I won’t! I know how this has to be setup to work, mine work great. Good luck in finding the solution for yourself, with this kind of behaviour and tone, I highly doubt you will get any good help!
Have fun looking around and buying stuff you wouldn’t need, if you’d be just a little friendlier. 
Have a good day!
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