I have a few Aqara sensors working well with RaspBee and ZHA but some can’t be reached from the Pi so I just spent an hour flashing tasmota on a Sonoff Zigbee Bridge hoping to use it to extend the network to those sensors. However, when I went to configure the bridge I find that ZHA only allows one config and the bridge will not pair with the existing config. The setup for the bridge configuration appears to be different than the one used by the RaspBee. So are these mutually exclusive of is there some way to make them work together?
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I believe that you can only have a single Coordinator (gateway) with ZHA so it is either the RaspBee or the Sonoff Zigbee Bridge and not both. However, the advantage of the Sonoff is that it is not a USB stick that needs to be plugged into your HA hardware but as it uses WiFi to connect then you can place it centrally in your home to optimise the coverage.
If you want to extend your Zigbee network then you can use mains powered devices like plugs ot bulbs at strategic locations which act as extenders (these are “Routers” in Zigbee speak).
Another option might be to use a different integration to ZHA on one of the devices e.g. Zigbee2MQTT as these can coexist as they would be different Zigbee networks each with their own Coordinator.
Thanks for this, Mark. I’ve been trying to avoid Mqtt but your suggestion of Zigbee2MQTT is a good one as it will allow me to utilize the bridge and extend the network. Thanks again.
Is there a way to flash the sonoff bridge as a router instead of coordinator? As I understand, having two coordinators means two zigbee networks which could compete/interfere in each other if not carefully configured.
Why go through all that trouble? Just get a lightbulb or power plug, those will act as routers as well. For instance: https://zigbee.blakadder.com/Ikea_E1746.html
Here you can see all devices supported by ZHA: https://zigbee.blakadder.com/zha.html (or other Zigbee gateways).
I don’t think so with the Sonoff Zigbee Bridge (although I might be wrong), there’s a lot of information available here however the process of pairing with ZHA is very simple in practise i.e. you just click the orange plus circle from within the integration.
https://tasmota.github.io/docs/Zigbee/
The Itead CC2531 dongle is different and that can be flashed with either the Coorindator (gateway) or Router (extender) firmware. There is a guy selling these on Ebay with optional extras like a longe range antenae and 3D printed cases:
Thanks. Much simpler solution
Good point. I already have had problems with sensors too close to the router. Thanks
Am I correct that one of the CC2531 USB sticks can be used for either a ZHA Zigbee coordinator or a Zigbee router/repeater (firmware dependant) in the newtork?
router/repeater firmware: https://github.com/Koenkk/Z-Stack-firmware/tree/master/router/Z-Stack_Home_1.2
You probably already sorted this out but, for the record, I researched these and found they are apparently not very strong and you need an extension cable to get it away from the pi to avoid interference. That leaves it just hanging out there unless you diy or print a custom case for it. I chose to go with the sonoff zb bridge. Place it wherever you need it, strong signal and protective case. Flashing it is a piece of cake. Good youtube videos walk you through it.
Yeah, I loaded one up with the Z-Stack 1.2 code and it is now my Zigbee coordinator.
I can tell the RF is weaker than the Sonoff Zigbee Bridge, but it is RELIABLE - no Zigbee device disconnections!
I downloaded .stl files from here and had them printed.
HA is running in a VMware virtual machine inside a Lenovo ThinkCenter.
The Lenovo has a metal case the so RF interference will likely be much less than RPi.
So far, it’s had solid performance, which I could never say about the Sonoff Zigbee Bridge.