Greetings.
I am thinking on buying xiaomi devices, but can not decide about hub. Is it worth to use smth like zigbee stick and not to be worried about closing the protocols by xiaomi. Here is a guide.
Not sure if it will go smooth on Hass on Mac by my hands. May be add on is going to be for no hub using?
If no, how is working xiaomi via it’s hub and this component?
I use the regular Xiaomi gateway. Was easy to add to HA and i just plugged it into my upstairs hall. Makes a nice night light when guests are here.
I used gateway for several months and moved to cc2531 USB stick (zigbe2mqtt), I never user features like light, alarm or playing sounds, just used it as ZigBee hub
My goal is to minimize device count and communication protocols so instead of
RPi>Wifi>Gateway>ZigBee>Sensor
I get
Rpi>ZigBee>Sensor
Did you notice practical changes? Speed, stability?
My home network is not very stable, so all networking issues eliminated cause this way my HA server and Zigbee hub is same device
In ZigBee aspect behavior seems the same, sensor update immediately when there is significant change
In theory sensors should update faster cause there is no device in middle but actually it is not felt, it feels same
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Any other thoughts about probability of gettind xiaomi hub closed, so we will lose xiaomi devices?
Also keep in mind xiaomi own firmware cycle updates (for the hub) that could impact you
I have 2 gateways and balance the sensors between them. they are closed off from the internet and i haven’t updated firmware for a while and had no issues.
I did have issues with certain sensors becoming unavailable but after playing around with my wifi settings they have been rock solid. The inbuilt light and the inbuilt sounds also come in handy
i also have been tinkering with the zigbee2mqtt and think in the near future i will attempt to move some sensors over to it
I have the gateway. Disabled internet access. Haven’t updated the firmware. It’s in the hallway so i use it for a nightlight and i find the speaker useful sometimes.
What do you use the speaker for?
Door bell.
[One two three four five six]
Playing the siren as part of the alarm system
How do you disable it? From router settings?
I thiught it is working via cloud. If I can disable internet access, it will be pretty the same thing as zigbee stick if I understand right?
Once you set it up and enable LAN access, go into your router and create a firewall rule that prevents WAN access. You don’t need cloud access for Hass to control the Xiaomi devices. I do this. Every now and then I will go in and disable the firewall rules (also for Yeelights and LIFX), open the apps, and check for a firmware update, then re-enable.
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@aidbish yeah I use it for alarm siren
@kiwijunglist I also use the Doorbell sound I thought you might be doing something else I was missing out on 
like Chinese TTS to scare the crap out of my family
I used the gw for a year or so but recently changed to Conbee with deconz to get mesh from my hue and tradfri lights. Works like a charm. Still use the gw for light and sound though.
I have just migrated from the hub to the zigbee2mqtt sticks (really cheap option!).
I only use the hub for it’s night light and for a door bell, as i have stuck a round xiaomi button on the door.
Definitely makes it a bit cheaper to start getting sensors and switches!
I use the CC2531 with zigbee2mqtt, works great with the Xiaomi devices. I don’t see any reason to buy a hub.
I’m gonna try out this zigbee2mqtt soon too. About one per month I gotta reboot the gateway or hassio when all my devices become unavailable.
Don’t you know why they become unavailable?