Can people recommend a Zigbee signal repeater that can be attached to power, hanging from a ceiling, but not a lamp, spot etc.? I have an empty connection on the ceiling that is ideal for signal repeaters.
My hub is Sonof USB 3
It does not really c for me, read
https://community.home-assistant.io/t/ha-with-zha-keeps-losing-a-signal-repeater/578911/2
If you have heavy interference, then you may need more repeaters. What is the LQI for the one you have now?
This handy chart can help with making sure your ZigBee channel and WiFi are not overlapping.
Last, be sure your dongle is not on/near a USB 3 port as they’ll cause interference (I didn’t see mention of what you have HA installed on). A good 1M USB extension cable can help here.
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You might also have a look at Guide for Zigbee interference avoidance and network range/coverage optimization
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Smart plugs and bulbs (usually) also act as repeaters and can give you other functionality at pretty much the same price.
I have a couple of spare smart plugs currently unused, but located in specific areas of my house to help strengthen my network. Given that plug sockets are pretty much everywhere in your house this seemed a good option for me.
Is there a repeater that can be used on a ceiling? A plug would look rather weird connected upside down )
The HA stick and the repeater near HA Rpi have no issues. It’s the one on the other floor that keeps loosing the network.
What’s the way to measure inteference?
Put a bulb on ceiling or anything which is not powered by battery as mention above will normally act as repeater.
FYI, all devices are not equal and it is by now well known within the community that dedicated Zigbee Router devices do a much better job at acting as a Zigbee signal repeater / range extender than any standard Zigbee outlet power-plug or lightbulbs does at routing.
Dedicated Zigbee Router devices also have optimized firmware that allows you to connect more devices to them compared to a non-dedicated Zigbee Router device which will have a lower limit set in their firmware (with most non-dedicated Zigbee Router device firmware only allowing 5-20 devices to connect via them while many dedicated Zigbee Router device firmware allow 20-50 devices to connect via them)
Also, some bad devices do not support Zigbee routing for other brands → https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/zha#best-practices-to-avoid-pairingconnection-difficulties
Yes a Zigbee network will become stronger the more Zigbee Router devices that you add but until you built out a large network it can be a very good idea to buy a few dedicated Zigbee Router devices → Zigbee networks: how to guide for avoiding interference and optimize for getting better range + coverage
As an example; IKEA’s Trådfri Smart Outlet Power-Plug is known to be much worse than their IKEA Trådfri Signal Repeater, both in signal reception and the amount of devices that it can support routing for.
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I don’t disagree with your points especially things like IKEA smart plugs, they are not great at all.
However, my own experience using a variety of devices from Tuya, to Aqara and others, is that generally the range and number of connected devices is not an issue as I only have around 50 zigbee devices in total, and about a third of those act as routers and are dotted around the house.
I think your mileage will vary depending on your local environment, and whether or not those factors are a deal breaker for you.
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Great insight. Which router devices would you recommend, giving the fact the Ikea reapeater is not really stable in my case?
I posted my recommendations in Guide for Zigbee interference avoidance and network range/coverage optimization (trying to collect all related info there so the next person do not need to hunt through many other threads.
Summery; Top-of-the line is using Sonoff ZBDongle-P and ZBDongle-E or similar adapters with Zigbee Router firmware in USB-chargers for a great result, but the dedicated Zigbee Routers from IKEA and Aeotec are still very good and much better than non-dedicated Zigbee router devices.
I’m also a fan of the Xbee modules:
Are these any instructions on how to add these to HA as repeaters?
Thank you.
You just join them like any other device, but they do have to be programmed using the XCTU software first.
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ok. do you have instructions handy for config to set with XCTU?
thanks.
To give an update on my question. I solved the coverage by adding more Ikea Signal repeaters to the Zigbee network. While one and two repeaters did not really work and kept falling out of the network, four signal repeaters are quite stable now.
Actually, even three worked ok, but I had another one anyway.
The devices are on different floors and even with remote placement of the Sonof dongle, the network has been stable for several months.
Another update. I added the Sonof Zigbee smart plug and it fits well in the network as the repeater. Model SONOFF S26R2ZBTPF ZB Smart Socket or comparable.