I’ve got ZHA with a SkyConnect dongle, working fine for some Sonoff temp sensors. Bought 2 Zigbee bulbs on AliExpress, and they don’t work well. I can pair them, and they work for some time, but every couple of hours one of them stops responding. I have to physically turn the lights off and on.
Is it because they are cheap lights? There aren’t many options here in NZ. I’d like Zigbee lights but don’t want to pay NZ$50+ per bulb.
I’m hoping I can solve it with config.
Would changing to Z2M help? I’ve seen other posts about Z2M with similar issues with cheap lights.
For something that simple it is unlikely ZHA vs. Z2M matters. My guess is the bulbs are either bad or out of range. You can test by moving them close to the radio and see if the problem stops. My advice is to buy bulbs from IKEA if you can; they are cheap and pretty reliable.
-David
I’ve moved them into the garage, about 3m from the dongle, and still had issues.
Battery powered temp sensors are fine much further away, so guess it’s indeed bad hardware.
There’s no IKEA in NZ. Only option are Philips Hue and they are very expensive.
I’ve had similar luck with AliExpress cheap zigbee bulbs. I’ve bought twob different listings and both act exactly as you mention. Also I’ve recently bought a second zigbee dongle and now I have zha and Z2M and I have the same issue with both.
I believe there may be a less expensive but more expensive bulb sold by aubess ($5USD vs $10USD) that I’ve seen comments mention another issue I’ve had with the cheaper bulbs. It’s that the cheapest ones on Alibaba have less bright color LEDs than compared to warm and cool LEDs. The aubess should have similar brightness across all colors and temperature colors which is another issue I wanted to address as well.
Stay away from no name zigbee bulbs on AliExpress. I might try the aubess soon and I’ll try IKEA as well down the road.