I’ve been attempting now for 6 months to try to get a more reliable connection with Devices in Home Assistant, but it seems to have got a lot worse since changing from Smartlife App to Tuya App and using Sonoff - E
Its weird how the device is saying off line I go to the Tuya APP and see its off line so I select it and then come back out of it and its back connected but only in the APP and not back working as per normal with Alexa or Google or Automations which in return stops things working all of the time around the house.
I was originally using Smartlife APP and was better but device like plugs would still go off line.
If there anyway I can get a more reliable setup its really getting confusing now on all the many ways I have tried to stop it from doing this. With changing the Hub to a different one and routers but its still the same.
Any help much appreciated on your views or hint to what I can try to do to stop it.
I’m not clear about your setup, I’m afraid. Looks like you have 45 Smartlife devices, 27 Tuya devices and 24 Zigbee devices… These are all different devices, right? And the Sonoff is the ZHA coordinator?
I get funny things happing all of the time all over the house including bulbs not all coming on e.g 5 bulbs in the kitchen 1 or 2 of them go off. so I turn the switch on and off and they are all back on for a day or so.
I don’t mind trying a different method if its going to greeatly improve this but as it is now I feel its not worth my time and easier to just pressing a switch on!
Yes I think ZHA is the coordinator but most devices using the ZHA are Aqara sensors
I’m sure you know most of this already as you’ve obviously been grappling with it for a while, but a few general points (assuming all the devices you’re talking about are Zigbee)…
You can run ZHA alongside a proprietary hub that also uses Zigbee, but a device can’t be on more than one network.
By spreading your devices over more than one network you may be weakening all of them. A Zigbee network needs as many mains-powered devices as possible to create a strong mesh.
If you do need to spread your devices over more than one network, make sure you have a good mix of mains-powered and battery powered devices on each one. The mains powered devices are the ones that form the network.
If you’re going to have more than one network, you need to make sure that they are on widely spaced channels. The Zigbee signal is very low powered and vulnerable to interference.
For the same reason, all your Zigbee networks need to be well clear of the channels your wi-fi is using. Your wi-fi (or your neighbour’s wi-fi) will swamp them all.
For ZHA, your dongle needs to be on the end of a long USB extension lead so that it can be kept well clear of other devices, and the lead needs to be plugged into a USB 2 socket (not USB 3).
Also, if you pull a routing device from one hub and move it to another, the devices that used to route through it need to find another path. Some devices, such as Aqara, do not do this, so they will need to be paired again. All with less routers to pick from.
No I did not know all of this until now but I have kept them away from one another with a USB extentions cable, will make sure its in a USB 2.0 but when PC is off line it come from main power source to keep the hubs running!
The plugs are also right next to the Hub, why it should not really be DC at all but they are.
What I’m noticing is that the plugs seem better in smartlife. I cannot just install them in HA as they will not detect so I have to do it in the APPS to get into HA not sure if this is th ecorrect aproach or not?
Not fully sure what you mean on the same network? At a guess they are all on my home network at moment but in the process now at trying to setup Proxmox but I want to see the devices more stable before I attemp to more frrom Yellow to a Ikoolcore R2
I’m also setup in Modem mode from router to a Asus RT AX82U router in a Mesh setup to another RT AX82U
Hope this help give you a better picture of my issues.
I’m also not sure if its the devices them self that are at fault here too or the USB cable extention, do you know of any tried and tested and good for me to experiment on? Thanks!
This is not your lan we’re talking about, and also not your wifi mesh. Each zigbee hub creates its own zigbee mesh network, and devices only talk to other devices in the same mesh, using router devices as gobetween. The more routers (most mains powered zigbee devices) are in a mesh, the more stable the communication. By dividing the routers over three hubs, you are weakening each mesh network because they all have less routers to work with. And besides that, if the different hubs are on the same frequency they may hinder the communication on the other mesh. So the best advice is one zigbee hub to rule them all.
Yes I know Aqara need to be re paired I have done this many times! Also the devices are not far from the hubs to lose connections! So I see no drop in strenth being any issues in my setup at all!.
If it was downstairs Id would be then thinking like you are! But they are more or less with in the same room.
The drops out are like the day after happening.
I also have router to turn on and off at midnight
so not sure if this can be causing it?
But how can a network strenth effect my going into Tuya app me seeing its off line, but me come back oout of that device and its connected again except its not fullly back connected.
I have to forget devices and reset again this is daily!
Hubs are no where near Routers or any interference unless you class a Plant interference I don’t know but I woudl guess not
Yes I do forget device in Tuya App then add into smartlife! but then it get it happening n smatlife too!
Thanks for the links will have a look through though I see way too many devices to get any good standards here! Which someone like myself needs good standards for medical reasons! though many will not like this.
I was also thinking with the bulbs that is might be that I need a switch putting in like a did on my stairs to help it keep a better connection, as it needed a Capitor installing in the wireing so not sure to do this too to make sure and try to prevent the Bulbs from Disconnting.
This may be too drastic, but in your position I would consider removing all the hubs and putting all the Zigbee devices in a single network on the Sonoff dongle.
I would consider using the Zigbee2MQTT integration rather than ZHA. You seem to have a lot of Aqara devices and I believe some of these work better with Z2M.
Pair the mains-powered devices first, starting with those closest to the Sonoff and working outwards. Mains-powered devices have to be powered on all the time to avoid breaking the network.
Wait for a couple of days to make sure they are stable and working, and appearing properly in HA before you add the battery-powered devices.
Turning your wifi router off should not be a problem, unless hubs depend on it to connect to HA. Do you also turn off hubs or cut off the power to mains powered zigbee devices? Because you should not. The zigbe mesh is supposed to run 24/7.
i have never said they are zigbee or wifi Im sayign they keep disconnecting on the network withing such a short distance too! they are all conneced in Tuya and smartlife and withing Home Assistance. what they say on the box is a different matter! Nothing is on seperate networks. The hubs are setup seperate too
I’m tryign to get rid of the problems not cause more problems!
You start a topic about ZHA and are talking about Sonoff-E and a Tuya zigbee hub. We’re not talking about zigbee reliability, then all above advice is meaningless. Wifi plugs are an entirely different matter. If wifi plugs are disconnecting too, chances are you have massive radio interference affecting both Zigbee and Wifi. In that case, if trying different channels does not help, you need to look for outside causes.
Every zigbee hub, thread border router and every wifi access points are fighting for the same frequency space, along with bluetooth, dect and god knows what else.
The Aqara ones don’t seem to be dropping out anyway its the plugs ones and the bulbs that are and I cannot find any Zigbee bulbs to get! I have found better plugs so Im slowly changign them over to the zigbee plugs they have not dropped connections yet!
If there any better hubs I could try not to buy
Is it possible to have ZHA setup as Im and add the Zigbee2MQTT add on?
I dont want any rings! 
