So I started with the Conbee II and ran ZHA. Everything I’ve heard says the Sonoff ZBDongle-E is better, so I bought that. I am now thinking swapping them out and implementing Zigbee2MQTT at the same time. Advice? Caveats? Links to FAQ’s or Walkthrough videos?
A few points of the top of my head:
- note down the device names so you can name the devices the same when you pair them to z2m
- pair mains powered devices first (bulbs, thermostats, everything not using batteries)
- remember to remove ZHA before you start running the Z2M addon
- use device by id, not TTYUSB0 etc.
Are you planning to move evrything to Z2M, or are you planning to run both networks at the same time? Running both at the same time can give you the best of both worlds. Just ensure ZHA and Z2M use different channels and neither conflict with nearby Wi-Fi channels.
I have ZHA on a Conbee II and Z2M on a Sonoff Dongle P.
My thought was move everything but that is just because I didn’t know there were other options. I understand one could run the Sonoff Dingle P as a router/repeater and not the main thing – I am not happy with performance and not happy with the visualization of the network in ZHA. So can I run ZHA and Z2Mqtt at the same time? I only have one HA instance (not sure if “both” meant run a whole second HA instance or if there was some way to run ZHA and Z2Mqtt at the same time).
So devices have to join one or the other right? So how do you decide which devs on one and which on another?
Should I assume many of my scenes (and some automations too ) will be botched and need to be totally rebuilt?
should be fine as long as you keep the device names. You can install Spook, it will notify you of devices missing from automations etc.
Remember that you need to remove device_1 before you add the newly paired device_1 again (needs unique names). (or you could rename them to device_1old if you don’t want to remove them straight away.)
So devices have to join one or the other right? So how do you decide which devs on one and which on another?
Correct. I would use one coordinator, Z2M largely supports the most devices ZHA does so you shouldn’t have too much trouble. Makes it easier and probably gives you a more robust mesh as well.
Check Database of Zigbee devices compatible with ZHA, Tasmota, Zigbee2MQTT, deCONZ, ZiGate and ioBroker or https://zigbee2mqtt.io for device support.
So it sounds like I can install the Sonoff and Z2Mq and just start experimenting by adding a few devices to the new Sonoff/Z2M combo and take it slow to make sure I like it – just need to space the channels so they don’t compete?
Yes that would probably work. Remember to use extender cable on both adapters.
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Mostly I use ZHA. I use Z2M if either: the device isn’t performing well on ZHA; or, the Z2M exposes more features for the device.
Do it slowly. 
Keep your existing one via ZHA and add the new one. Then you can move whatever you want whenever you want. So simply spend an evening removing a few and re-adding them to the new one. The two networks will not interfere with each other any more than any ZigBee device, so there’s no need to take down the old one first.
-David
It is how I started my z2m experimentation, didn’t take long before I had moved most everything over.
I actually run three zigbee integrations on my HA - ZHA, Z2M, and Z2M-edge, but Z2M is my primary.
Depends on your goals. If you intend to run both indefinitely, then yes, plan on separate channels. Now that channel changing works on ZHA, you can always change ZHA’s channel later without re-pairing everything (but expect some devices to need re-pairing).
If the intent is to settle on z2m, then put z2m whatever channel is the best for your environment long term. Any short term interference likely won’t be meaningful. ZHA can be changed after most devices are moved off it to minimize any re-pairing.
AFAIK, Z2M doesn’t support changing channels without re-pairing.
Up to a point.
There WILL have to some automations changed.
At miniumum, anything that uses device triggers, zha_event triggers, or zha service calls will need updating. Other automations may need updating simply because data and events are sometimes presented in differently.
Don’t be scared off by these prospects. The beauty of running both at the same time is you can move things piece by piece without worrying about doing mass changes to everything all at once.
I get an error when I try to install Zigbee2MQTT … not sure what the issue is (running HASSIO on a Rasp Pi 4) … Can’t install zigbee2mqtt/zigbee2mqtt-aarch64:1.33.0-1: 500 Server Error for http+docker://localhost/v1.42/images/create?tag=1.33.0-1&fromImage=zigbee2mqtt%2Fzigbee2mqtt-aarch64&platform=linux%2Farm64: Internal Server Error (“Get “https://registry-1.docker.io/v2/”: net/http: request canceled (Client.Timeout exceeded while awaiting headers)”) I have a docker account but I think it’s an authentication issue.