ZHA with SkyConnect or Z2MQTT with Conbee: Nothing works fine

Configuration Zigbee
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After migrating around 80 Hue lights and 8 Hue motion detectors from Hue Bridges to ZHA with SkyConnect, I ran into the two issues that I subsequently found as open Github issues in the core repository:

Both issues have been open for months, so I currently have no hope of a solution.

So I switched to Zigbee2MQTT a week ago. As the move had to be made device by device, I used a free Conbee II stick for Z2MQTT.

As a result, the pairing process was much faster and more stable than with ZHA and the two problems mentioned above did not occur here. Groups work rock solid and the Hue SML001s remain stable in the network.

However, I have now run into the problem that a few commands in the Zigbee network are not executed with “failed (no response received)”.

I found the issue in the zigbee2mqtt repository. (https://github.com/Koenkk/zigbee2mqtt/issues/11647) This seems to be a problem specifically with the Conbee stick.

As there is no “Change coordinator” function in Z2M, I would now have to redo everything for the third time. And great: The Conbee does not support the backup function of Z2M.

But I don’t know where to migrate now?

  • Zigbee2MQTT with SkyConnect with the option to migrate to ZHA later when the bugs are maybe fixed.

  • Back to ZHA with SkyConnect - means replacing 15 Hue SML001 and using HA groups instead of Zigbee groups (which is also not recommended).

  • or do I buy a SONOFF Zigbee 3.0 USB Dongle Plus -P and do Zigbee2MQTT with SONOFF -P

  • or go back to the Hue bridges

Any recommendations?

For whom does a large Zigbee network with Hue motion detectors and Zigbee groups work stable and if so, with which integration/coordinator combination?

And yes: Extension cable, 2.4 GHz WiFi overlap etc. is all clear and not the reason.

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Did you read all the comments related to those GitHub issues? (There are quite a lot of them, admittedly :roll_eyes:)

The “Failed to enqueue…” problem is caused by issuing commands to zigbee groups in quick succession, typically with an automation.

Group requests are network-wide broadcasts that are bounced back and forth between all devices to make sure every possible group member has a chance to “hear” the message. If you send this many at once, the network will become too busy, as the error indicates. The limit on the number of group requests/broadcasts is hard-coded in the firmware and can’t be raised. You may find it better to switch to a normal light group where each bulb is individually contacted concurrently, as this won’t have the same limitation.

The SML001 problem is caused by the motion sensor leaving the network and then trying to rejoin as a new device. It also appears in the SML002.

the motion sensor tries to re-join the network like before, but as a brand new device , without re-using the network key it already has. If the join is denied, the device gives up and will need to have its battery re-inserted to try again. This is when it stops working and becomes unavailable.

There is a workaround here.

I have used both of these workarounds myself and everything is stable with a network of about 50 devices.

Both issues are firmware related, so ZHA can hardly be expected to fix them. I imagine the designers of the Hue bridge used workarounds of their own.

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@Stiltjack Thank for answering.

Yes, I have read all the comments in the issues.

The SML001 workaround means a security breach, that is no option for me. And for me it is not clear, why the SML001s stay stable in Z2MQTT.

Regarding the Zigbee group problem:

I’m not sure if I had understood what the problem/solution is. Yes I have automations that sends light.on service calls to 3 Zigbee light group entities. Is that what is meant when puddly says:“If you send this many at once, the network will become too busy”?

And how have you solved this? Do you use HA helper light groups? If so, doesn’t it bother you that the lights don’t come on synchronously?

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I send commands to individual zigbee devices - and to be honest I haven’t noticed any difference. I only use zigbee groups for binding.