Zigbee Outdoor Motion Detector - Tell me what to buy?

Hardware
1

Keen to introduce some outdoor motion sensors, and also thinking of going with zigbee instead of wifi. Have read a number of posts regarding this topic, but with the speed of new products the posts I’ve read seem to be reasonably outdated.

Have also looked at a number of products from Tuya and some Hue items. Because I dont have any zigbee now I am thinking I will need some kind of hub?

So, what should I buy? Tell me what you think, and why I should buy the product you are recommending. All feedback welcomed and greatly appreciated.

2

Any adapter from here (but a CC2652x based one, not a CC253x one)

For the outdoor motion sensor, most will answer hue.

3

Hi Francis,

Thanks for the info. I took a look at that site. I’ve worked out I will need a hub, but unfortunately Tube’s ZB Store doesn’t have anything available. Could you possibly recommend a decent hub please.

Thanks, Mark

4

Put yourself on the waiting list. I did, and after a day there was already one ready for me.

5

I run all kinds of Zigbee devices using native ZHA, no MQTT required.

I just checked, Amazon is showing two sellers offering HUSBZB-1 sticks.

I think you’re on the right track going Zigbee for devices in places where your WiFi coverage is anything less than ideal. Most mains-powered Zigbee devices will act as repeaters in a mesh network. If you want to “light up” a remote area, stick a smart plug or something halfway between the end device and the rest of your Zigbee gear.

6

Hi Francis, I assume I need to purchase a coordinator and not a router?

7

indeed, a coordinator.

8

Hello everyone,

I took a leap and purchased a CC2652P2 Based Zigbee to Ethernet Serial Coordinator from Tubes ZB. I hope the integration into HA is reasonably straightforward via the ZHA integration.

I looked at the ZHA integration just now and it was asking me the radio type? Since the coordinator will be connecting via ethernet, is there a radio type I should use?

Thanks in advance, Mark

9

Yes and the choice of radio type is explained in the ZHA integration’s documentation in this section: Configuration - GUI

Press Submit and the integration will try to detect radio type automatically. If unsuccessful, you will get a new pop-up asking for a radio type. In the pop-up:

Radio Type Zigbee Radio Hardware
ezsp Silicon Labs EmberZNet protocol (e.g., Elelabs, HUSBZB-1, Telegesis)
deconz dresden elektronik deCONZ protocol (e.g., ConBee I/II, RaspBee I/II)
znp Texas Instruments (e.g., CC253x, CC26x2, CC13x2)
ti_cc Texas Instruments (legacy)
zigate ZiGate Serial protocol (e.g., ZiGate USB-TTL, PiZiGate, ZiGate WiFi)
xbee Digi XBee ZB Coordinator Firmware protocol (e.g., Digi XBee Series 2, 2C, 3)
1 Like
10

Thank you Taras.

11

I know most people on here are telling me the best zigbee motion sensor is the Hue Motion Sensor.

At $85 AUD it seems really expensive. So I have to ask… is there really no other moderately rated zigbee motion sensor?

12

Well, I use an IKEA motion sensor outside. It is rated ip44, did not have any problems with it yet.

13

Thanks Francis. The IKEA TRÅDFRI motion sensors look ok, and at $20 AUD they are worth a try. In fact I’ll probably grab 2 of them to trial.

14

My last question… honest :slight_smile:

There’s loads of threads in this forum that discuss zigbee temperature sensors, and of course the most popular are a handful of products, like aqara, sonoff, etc.

Any suggestions on which zigbee temperature sensor might survive being placed inside a refrigerator, or even a freezer?