Hi, I just got my Sonoff Zigbee dongle which I have integrated with ZHA.
I´ve added my Hue Gradient Signe floor lamps as well as my Hue Surimu. However it seems that in Home Assistant I´m only able to set a single light for the Signe floor lamps. They should have 3 individually controlled zones.
Am I missing something here? Do I need a Hue Bridge to be able to get all the functionalities with my Hue devices?
No, see → Migrating from a Philips Hue Bridge to the ZHA (Zigbee Home Automation) integration
But there is always a but, you need to understand that the officiail Zigbee specification guidelines are very flexible and it allows for custom non-standard functionalities (those are often added by the product firmware developer as manufacturer-specific clusters and attributes) and those will not be supported and exposed by default in all Zigbee gateway applications out-of-the-box, so the developers of the Zigbee gateway applications therefor first need to add custom Device Handlers (sometimes referred to as custom converters, translators, or interpreters) for each new feature and function for that specific device if they have previously not been exposed in the Zigbee gateway application implementation.
This means that basic devices with standard featues and functions will normally fully work out-of-the-box in all third-party Zigbee gateway applications, but any custom non-standard functionalities that a manufacturers add to make a device feature unique functions will need custom code to work, read below.
Non-standard Zigbee devices need ZHA Device Handlers (also known as “quirks” in ZHA). Read this section in ZHA integration docs to understand why custom ZHA Device Handlers (zha-quirks) need to be developed/written for some but not all Zigbee devices → https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/zha#how-to-add-support-for-new-and-unsupported-devices
FYI, there already looks to be an existing device feature request submitted for that specific device here so you can add your details and feedback/input there → [Device Support Request] Hue Ambiance Gradient Lightstrip · Issue #2488 · zigpy/zha-device-handlers · GitHub
For backstory also read this section ZHA integration docs too → https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/zha#knowing-which-devices-are-supported
More details here → https://github.com/zigpy/zha-device-handlers/blob/a4c15ef5510564d2fe02794be6cfaebc04f7f44b/README.md
Note that for more advanced features that have not previously been exposed in the ZHA integration then also the device type code of the zha component inside the Home Assistant core needs to be extended with custom functions as well in addition to also adding a ZHA Device Handler (a.k.a. zha quirk) for that specific device. If you are a Python developer see → https://github.com/home-assistant/core/tree/dev/homeassistant/components/zha
Great answer Hedda!!
So it seems there is not a high activity around that request.
When searching for my devices in blakadder’s unofficial Zigbee Device Compatibility Repository](https://zigbee.blakadder.com/) I see that my devices show up with the icons 1) Tasmota 2) Zigbee2MQTT & 3) ioBroker.zigbee.
So since, if i interpret it correctly, there is not any solution at the moment for me to get the functionality to controll 3 colour areas with my Hue Gradient Signe floor lamps I am wondering what my options could be. Is it to sit tight and wait until the commuinty find a solution that i could use? Or, could I pay a few extra bucks to get the Hue Bridge, connect it to my Zigbee controller and use that to get the functionalities. My main concern is that I would like to avoid having several phone apps to controll my lights. I would like to have all the controll in one app (Home Assistant android app).
In the link Migrating from a Philips Hue Bridge to the ZHA (Zigbee Home Automation) integration, if I am not missing anything, it looks like the hue devices have been connected and are being controlled (but only with the basic functionalites). If this is the case, this is the same situation that I am in now, being only able to controll the lights with one colour.
Sadly I am not a Python developer so cannot do it by myself.
Regardless of which alternative you take I suggest that you first help the community by collecting all details and debug information and logs asked for in the Device support request template yourself and post that there to try to open up a dialogue with quirk developers there → [Device Support Request] Hue Ambiance Gradient Lightstrip · Issue #2488 · zigpy/zha-device-handlers · GitHub
Could be that users actually owning such a device just need to provide much more detailed information. Anyway, it usually help the ZHA developers to get more information and that in turn can maybe help someone else even if you decide to move to a different Zigbee gateway application/solution.
I suggest that you also buy another Zigbee Coordinator USB adapter and install Zigbee2MQTT in parallel (as you need a dedicated Zigbee Coordinator adapter for each Zigbee gateway host application solution), that way you can continue to test the ZHA integration and use both it and Zigbee2MQTT at the same time (with the limitation that any Zigbee device can only be joined/paired to one of them) → Home Assistant addon | Zigbee2MQTT
For Zigbee2MQTT I recommend buying ITead’s “Sonoff Zigbee 3.0 USB Dongle Plus” (model “ZBDongle-P” based on Texas Instruments CC2652P) → ITead's "Sonoff Zigbee 3.0 USB Dongle Plus" (model "ZBDongle-P") based on Texas Instruments CC2652P +20dBm radio SoC/MCU
That or any other CC2652P-based adapter are relatively inexpensive and those work great with Zigbee2MQTT as long as you try follow all these best practices and tips for each Zigbee Coordinator and each Zigbee network → Zigbee networks: how to guide for avoiding interference and optimize for getting better range + coverage …which also include upgrading the firmware → https://github.com/Koenkk/Z-Stack-firmware/tree/master/coordinator
You could alternativly buy a Philips Hue Bridge and connect that to Home Assistant via the Hue integration but I do not recommend buying that if you do not already own one → Philips Hue - Home Assistant
So I have currently ITead’s “Sonoff Zigbee 3.0 USB Dongle Plus V2” (model "ZBDongle-E") based on Silicon Labs EFR32MG21 +20dBm radio SoC/MCU as my Zigbee controller.
Do I get this right. I can buy another Zigbee dongle, either e-version or p-version you linked, and add that to the 2nd USB 2.0 port on my RPI. Then I install Zigbee2MQTT on that one, and from there I should be able to controll my Hue Gradient Signe floor lamps?
And the lamp can only be connected to either the USB dongle with Zigbee2MQTT or my normal Zigbee controller. So in this case i disconnect them from my normal controller and reconnect them to the one with Zigbee2MQTT installed on the USB stick?
So the gain here, is that I save a few bucks instead of buying a Hue Bridge in which i connect to my main Zigbee controller?
Maybe stupid questions, but since i am new i rather ask one time to many.
My setup of today is: RPI 4 with HA 11.5 OS, and a ZBDongle-E (with an extension USB cord to minimize disturbance).
Yes that is correct.
Zigbee devices can only be connected to one Zigbee network, and it is generally recommended to put all your Zigbee devices on a single Zigbee network if possible, but that might not always be possible (such as when different Zigbee gateways does not fully support the same devices). The benifits with having all your Zigbee devices on a single Zigbee network if possible is not only easy of management but Zigbee also relies heavily on Zigbee network mesh technology for range and coverage. Again read this → Zigbee networks: how to guide for avoiding interference and optimize for getting better range + coverage
So while not optimal you can indeed use the ZHA integration and Zigbee2MQTT at the same time if they each have their own seperate Zigbee Coordinator adapter, just as you could also use a Philips Hue Bridge and a IKEA Trådfri Gateway at the same time, and it is of course possible to connect all to Home Assistant at the same time using different integrations, but none of them will be aware of each other at the Zigbee level, only at the Home Assistant application level.
Just to clearify; you want a Texas Instruments CC2652P based adapter (like the ZBDongle-P) for Zigbee2MQTT since it only has experimental support for Silicon Labs based adapters (like ZBDongle-E). Check out this recommendations thread:
I have this sort of setup - a RPi with a SkyConnect (ZHA integration) and a Sonoff ZBDongle-P (Z2M). The Sonoff/Z2M is only there to run a couple of problem devices that I couldn’t get going with ZHA. Devices on the two networks can’t interact directly, but they can via HA - so a Z2M switch can turn a ZHA light on an off, for example, via an automation.
The only additional thing I would suggest is that you plug both the dongles into a powered USB hub. My RPi also has a SSD and a fan, and it was struggling to power everything.
Yes and best is to buy a powered USB 2.0 hub (and not a USB 3.0 hub as those cause interference), as well longer USB extension cable(s) for optimal placement.
Again, more about that and related advice here → Zigbee networks: how to guide for avoiding interference and optimize for getting better range + coverage
If you get the ‘P’ dongle, it is of course also possible to completely switch over to Zigbee2MQTT instead of ZHA. It depends on whether all your other devices are supported in Z2M. I know that there are a number of devices that have more extensive support in Z2M than ZHA, the other way around is also possible but my impression (not fully data-based) is that that is less frequent.
it depends on how many devices you already have whether such a switch is worth while.