There are some smart switches/dimmers that include a special mode of operation called ‘smart bulb mode’. This feature has to be enabled on the smart switch/dimmer, so that power is always supplied to the smart bulb that is attached to the smart switch/dimmer. This prevents the smart bulb from losing power. However, it definitely complicates the overall solution - as now you have to use some sort of HA Automation to sense the Smart Switch/Dimmer button presses, and then make the appropriate commands to control the smart bulb.
For now, to help get your Zigbee network under control, I would simply remove the smart bulb and replace it with a dimmable ‘dumb’ bulb. This is the much simpler solution to implement and maintain.
Not sure I understand what you mean by ”a” but a smart switch should not have a mechanical switch, it switch contain a relay that can controlled by switch if configured that way (usually the default) but you can also choose to not connect any load/lamp to the smart switch and instead only use it a remote control and that way it could control a smart light if you have it bypass the switch so that the smart light always have power (you can they setup a binding between the Zigbee devices via your Zigbee gateway or use an automation in Home Assistant).
So the two scenarios are to either connect a dumb lightbulb to the smart switch relay for direct control of that dumb light or you want to conntrol a smart lightbulb then you bypass the smart switch relay and just use the smart switch as a remote control, and dependibg on switch smart switch you get you will have a number of option.
Again I personally prefer to use the combination of a smart dimmer (not just an on and off-switch) with dumb lightbulbs. You can then connect multiple dumb lightbulbs to a single smart dimmer (or switch) to control them as they are a single light.
While way overkill unless you live on a farm or a mansion and want to have sensors a long distanse away, you might still be interested to check out this video about using a directional antenna on a Zigbee Router devices, but keep in mind that he is only showing line of sight without obsticles like walls:
thank you.
I was thinking that smart lamps are cool cause they work as routers when powered. When accidentally closed, i recently figured out the havoc they can cause.
what bothers me at the end: Replacing the smart lamp with a dumb lamp ends up increasing the smartness of the house.
The lamp that I replaced was working as a router when powered on. The sonoff sbminil2 smartswitch is not a router. So I ended up removing a router (smart lamp) and placing an end device (smart switch) and lost temperature control of the lamp.
when i went by the book, it asked me to connect my mechanical switch on the wall to the smart switch(in the manual).
For “a” (your preferred choice), i should disconnect the mechanical switch from the smart switch. But then, the mechanical switch is useless and can be removed from the wall completely.
Why not this:
just short circuit the wires under the mechanical switch. make the bulb always on. connect a smart lamp. smart lamp is always connected, temperature, dimming, and works well as a router too.
sonoff sbminil2 didnt improve the overall situation for me.
not working as a router
doesnt have dimming
one more solution is on its way (it has dimming, i hope to have routing as well).
since i dont have neutral cables, not a lot of room for experimentation. It looks like i will end up short circuting the switches and keep my smart lamps, but a few more experiments are due.
That is true, but now you are jumping in again and buying specific products before researching each of them first, you see, there are smart switches that are Zigbee Router devices and there are those that are Zigbee End Devices (non-routers).
Practically all Zigbee smart switches that require you to connect neutral will act as Zigbee Router devices, while practically all Zigbee smart switches that do not require you to connect neutral will act ts as Zigbee End Devices (non-routers).
So, buy just Zigbee smart switches that require you to connect neutral. Mayve that tip could have been given in advance to clearify this, but in my defence, no one said to go aheat and buy smart switches without neutral either, but we did mentiln to buy smart switches that acts as Zigbee Router devices.
The reason why Zigbee smart switches that do not require you to connect neutral will act ts as Zigbee End Devices (non-routers) is because there is go garantee that they always have power as they work by leakibg some power though. There is therefore also a risk that lightbulbs will glow a little even when powered off, because some Zigbee smart switches that do not require you to connect neutral leak power.
Of couse it is an option, just pull neutral wire to those switches, that is what I did (and it was not hard at all, using Wago connectors).
So it is a choice, if you do not then you need to compensate by adding other Zigbee Router devices, which is what I done anyway since my smart switches are Z-Wave.
The answer/solution to my original question (with all the great support i got from the community) is
yes, it is normal to have such high utilization even if
you move HA away from router as much as you physically can
disable ble dongle
add repeaters
replace smart lamps and replace with smart switches
seperate wifi and zigbee channels
The biggest finding of the whole experiement for me is to realize how toxic unpowered router devices are. This indeed seems to be vulnerability on zigbee design. re-routing for downed-routers could have been handled more gracefully.
I replied to this post indirectly in another reply. Just wanted to add that I had read all about leaking power and little glowing in some low watt bulbs etc. before i had posted my answer.
Then recommend jump on buying a few Sonoff ZBDongle-E USB dongles and convert them into dedicated Zigbee Router devices, as while it might aound complicated it is much easier than most think to flash them with Zigbee Router firmware and those will have a much greater effect than any other type of Zigbee Router devices
That doesn’t mean it’s always a practical and I’m not sure what Wago’s have to do with it. Binding the wiring is the easy part, pulling the cable, in some circumstances, can very well mean removing wallboard material to get access. Hardly a lightweight exercise.
Now that you mention it I did not consider that we do electical wiring in building way different in Western Europe compared to North America.
Here in in Europe we have for the past 100 years or so pre-installed pipes (usually PVC plastic pipes) in our walls between all junction boxes and the central curcuit box when we build houses. Inside those pipes the wires for phases, neutral and ground are pulled as individual wires. That makes it real easy to add or replace individual wires later, like simply adding a neutral wire (or a ground wire) if they have not already been pulled inside the pipes.
I believe in North America they more commonly use a similar all-in-wire which is similar to the electrical wiring we only use for outside installations in Europe. If such all-in-one wires are inside the walls then yes I understand it will be a much bigger task to add neutral later if it was not put that in the first place.
We’re ‘generally’ not required to push conduit in Northamerica. Almost all residential construction uses Romex It gets worse if the home was built between around 1950-1970 because you may also be dealing with fabric insulation, aluminum conductor or BX. And if you’re in anyplace under NEC jurisdiction - pulling a neutral requires rewiring the circuit to current code which may then require the panel which…
Yeah.
There are some jurisdictions that do require conduit but if you live i one of those places (greater Chicago for instance) you know the requirements exist.
Not completely correct.
I have three APs on my WiFi network, One on WiFi channel 1, another on WiFi channel 6 and a third on WiFi channel 11. Plus a dozen Zigbee devices all over the place. They all work just fine together.
Channel separation can help but it can’t be the total solution. The solution is to reduce the signal to noise at the Zigbee device. Unwanted RF energy is noise. Physical separation can reduce the noise. Another solution is to increase the signal with additional router devices between the controller and the end device.
I never said physical distance doesn’t matter. I said that what’s way more important (as documented by Silicon Labs themselves) is to maintain channel separation between Wi-Fi and ZigBee. Since OP had already physically separated the coordinator and AP, the next logical step would be for them to look at channel optimization.
Case in point, this LED controller is mounted to the underside of a desk about 6" away from a wireless AP. The AP is on channel 1 and ZigBee is on channel 15. This is about 20’ direct to the ZigBee coordinator through a wall and a closet door (ZigBee coordinator is in the closet on a shelf).
This is the simplest, and most reliable solution.
