I´m finally looking into adding a couple of Sonoff USB Dongles as routers to my Zigbee network since although I´m living in a rather medium sized flat, neighbours recently seem to have discovered 2.4ghz WiFi is a thing
Also, walls are old and thickkk here.
I´m running ZHA with ZBT-1 as coordinator.
So, I wonder whether I should prefer the P or E Dongle as routers?
Also, I´m using 2m USB extension cable to bring distance between the HA Pi5 and a WiFi router that is also very close but those 2 meters are not enough to also get away from the wall. So, can somebody please recommend on like a 4 meter USB extension that is well shielded? I should still be fine with 4 meter without the need for additional power for the ZBT-1, shouldn´t I?
I am using these type of USB 2.0 to RJ45 Ethernet Converter Adapters pair to convert a 10-meter standard CAT6 (or shielded CAT5) cable into very long USB extension cable, (there are many brands/models that do the same and use can use a short or a long cable up to around 25-meter / 100-feet), it is a very flexible solution since you can replace the cable to change the lenght:
I am now removing two dongle P devices from my network , they are flashed as routers but there is a defect, battery devices that are using them as routers sometimes go asymmetric, HA receives packets ok but cannot contact the devices. Examples include sonoff TRVs and thermostats.
I have seen this over an extended period of time (2 years) and only just isolated the issue to these routers. They can go in a drawer for now. Posting as this may help others, the debug seems very limited to find these glitches, the zigbee mesh otherwise seems very resilient in my experience. I have enough routers now to not require them anyway.
I wanted to bump this thread, not because I have a question or problem, but because this thread is such a great resource for learning and understanding Zigbee mesh networks.
Thank you @Hedda for starting such an informative thread on Zigbee!
I have SLZB-06M on the latest firmware (tried rolling back too) and 35 end devices (mostly Aqara and Sonoff) in ZHA. It used to be working great, devices did go offline, but very rarely, and I was quite happy and excited about my setup.
Up until recently, when the Zigbee network became extremely unstable out of nowhere. Devices keep going offline so often that there is no way I can keep up re-pairing them. Right now I have 19 devices offline out of 35.
I deliberately did not want to introduce any router devices as I have my Zigbee coordinator, HA server, wifi router, etc. powered via a UPS, allowing them to run even when the power goes down. Having routers that are not backed by a UPS would take whole bunch of Zigbee devices (connected to the router) offline when the power goes down.
Has anyone experience the issue? It feels like something broke in my Zigbee coordinator.
If your network becomes unreliable out of nowhere, chances are it is facing interference from neighbours or some other wifi devices you may have added. I would suggest you get a wifi analyzer app for your mobile and see what channels are in use.
I do not understand your thoughts behind not using router based devices. Sure, they will go offline if they loose power, but the rest of the mesh should stay up. It all depends on what the devices are doing and I would highly recommend adding a couple of energy monitoring plugs that can act as routers - anything connected to them would obviously not be working in a power cut with or without these energy monitoring plugs.
Are yih talking about dedicated routers or line powered devices that also route. Because if you don’t have enough of the latter it’s definitely part of the issue.
It takes quite a while (few hours sometimes) for the end devices to go to a different router or coordinator after the one they were connected to goes offline. I wanted all my “security” battery-powered devices to stay on the coordinator that will run for a few hours in case of a power outage.
It’s just a two-bedroom unit with only 35 devices not too far away from the coordinator with a huge antenna. So I was hoping it’s enough. Some devices that went offline are in direct sight from the coordinator.
I tried to disconnect all my tapo wifi smart plugs. And I did check with wifi analyzer to make sure the zigbee network is on a channel that does not interfere with 2.4Ghz wifi channels around.
How many devices are too many for a single coordinator?
All devices I currently have are ~10 light switches without neutral (not a router) and the rest are battery powered door sensors, buttons, etc.
Depends on the coordinator older ones 32 direct connections. Newer 64 if I’m not mistaken.
No neutral does not mean they do not route.
In fact it’s odd. The only one device I’ve ever installed that is hard wired and not a router - Sengled bulbs and I did that on purpose.
The point is zigbee is a mesh network. If you’re designing it likestar point to point you will suffer anytime your network blinks.
Routing devices typically parent up to four children so one routing device will clear JUUUUUUST enough headroom. You should really consider one per every 5 endpoints. 35 in two rooms. That’s DENSE.
It’s 5 rooms technically (2 bedrooms, living, kitchen, bathroom + a bunch of balconies).
It’s weird that it worked fine for quite a while (1 month at least) before it started to fall apart quite badly.
I thought the router just extends the coverage, but they still need to transmit to the coordinator. Adding devices with router capability just for the sake of having a router would just increase the load on the coordinator.
Having said that, I added an Ikea bulb and a USB plug that can act as a router to see if it helps. Plus removed a few devices for now.
Originally, my Zigbee network was on 14, so far tried 16, then “Smart” select in HA set it to 25, and I have also tried 26. Did not seem to make much of a difference.
Avoid 26 many devices don’t recognize it as valid and may not work. stick to the 5s 25 is fine.
Also zigbee is a freight train NOT a sportscar. You will need HOURS for the network to stabilize before you feel or see diffences after a change. Make change. Sit and wait.
It takes at least 20 minutes before a zigbee end device goes into panic mode (start hunting for new parent) when it can’t find its parent - if it’s following spec (and some don’t)
Also a network channel change is a major event. Some devices don’t negotiate the change well and yih may need to rejoin some. Which one is yours. That big one in the middle?
I see, I’ll be more patient when it comes to testing out things with Zigbee.
Set it to 25 and leave it like that.
I checked the history for one of the entities for an offline device, looks like just started to happen a couple of days ago, and the other devices look very similar:
Sorry I do not get your reasoning. What I hear is that you are basically saying that you will not even try following these tried and trued best practices for Zigbee because of Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt (FUD). Just add some ”known good” Zigbee Router devices, or better yet get some ”known great” Zigbee Router devices (whuch yes there are now such PoE-powered devices today too so you can power them with PoE-switch that has UPS). Personally I would them also consider replacing any devices that do not move to a different Zigbee Router if one goes down because that means it has a crappy firmware.
Did you read the full original guide and understand how important network meshing is for Zigbee to work properly?
(2 bedrooms, living, kitchen, bathroom + a bunch of balconies).
