Zigbee2MQTT paired devices not found after moving

Configuration Zigbee
1

Hi,
I bought some new IKEA devices, and managed to pair them with ZigbeeMQTT. When moving the device to another part of the house, these devices are no longer reachable, even though there are already paired devices (powerplugs) in the same room!
How can I enforce the new device to connect to the closest known device?

Thanks in advance.

2

Re-pair in their final destination.

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Thanks for the quick response @francisp
Unfortunately, the re-pairing turns out quite cumbersome.

Additionally, after moving the new device, I find the existing devices become unresponsive. It looks like the intruder is corrupting the existing setup.

So basically the question is: what is the recommended way to introduce a new device, without messing up the existing situation?

It was my understanding that Zigbee is learning and self-healing, but that seems to be less transparent than expected. Should I lower my expectations?

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It is, but probably not so fast as you expect. It can take a day or two before all routes are stable again after major changes.

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5

Yes - very much.

You said ‘other devices’ but don’t specify what they are - only line powered devices repeat and some of those don’t. What are they?

You should also be cognizant of any sources of potential interference:

  • Wifi sources on an overlapping channel
  • Pretty much ANY Wifi sources within a few feet of your device
  • USB3 devices
  • SSDs

In theory it should take a ZigBee endpoint about 20-30 minutes (Spec says 20, but we’re allowing for slop) to determine something’s ‘wrong’ and go into panic mode and start hunting for a route to the coordinator. But what’s the radio spectrum look like where you parked the device? Can the device see the coordinator or a repeating endpoint? If not - it’s stuck.

What if other devices were using this device as a repeater and you just moved it? Now they need to fix themselves. (See the issue?)

For these reasons I ALWAYS try to pair as close to my physical install location. If it refuses to pair there my repeater mesh isn’t strong enough. Need Mo Power!

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I meant powered devices. There are a number of battery devices as well, but I do know these do not act as repeater.

Thanks all for the feedback. I do realize that :
a) I should be more patient.
b) pairing at the eventual install location is good practice.

I’ll give it another try!

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