So call it lack of knowledge of ZigBee, but my ZigBee experience has been subpar at best. Even with the zbt-1 dongle. Devices kinda interview and are somewhat reliable but not something I can depend on in my current network. I have a smattering of Hue bulbs, Sonoff plugs, and hue motion sensors. All connected to the Zbt-1 controller. I live in a 4 story townhouse and i know I am limited by walls and communication across floors. What can I do to mitigate that and can someone explain to me how ZigBee works in comparison to Z-Wave's mesh and long range?
#ZigBee kinda sucks for me. Zwave has been solid. How should I strengthen my ZigBee network?
fervent oak
As an example, I've added more and more to my zwave network and I feel like my mesh is even stronger now.
As I've added to my ZigBee network I feel like stability took a back seat. Interviews fail often. I constantly have to reset devices to get them added. Sometimes they just drop off completely without warning.
I know it's hard to get around not having both protocols so that is why I'm here. I recognize that I will want both. So now I need help from you all to understand how to strengthen things
ebon lily
Make sure that you have always any type of mains powered Zigbee devices located through out your house to server as relays. Set your Zigbee controller to channel 25 to avoid interference by Wi-Fi. Put your Zigbee dongle on a two foot cable away from other electronics and mounted high. If possible try to locate your HA server near the geometric center of your house.
sleek citrus
one of the main differences between the two protocols is simply the frequency band used. zigbee is 2.4ghz, zwave is 800 or 900mhz. the higher frequency means zigbee isn't as good at penetrating walls, and zigbee has overlap with frequency bands used by wifi and microwaves so those can interfere.
if you want zigbee to work in your setup, you're probably going to have to strategically place reliable zigbee routing devices :/
static axle
Hi @fervent oak, that's a jump link to the Zigbee section, bunches of info there.
Extender on the usb to the dongle, routing devices, frequencies, things to avoid (moving devices or powering them down), etc...
sly rock
I think in practice the biggest issue that you might be facing is just how noisy the 2.4GHz bands can be. That's particularly troublesome if you're in a townhouse with neighbors being so close.
fervent oak
Well I changed the channel today to 25 and it bricked my ZigBee installation in HA. I had to edit the configuration.yaml to change it back to channel 11. I think the stick was stuck on channel 11 and didn't know how to handle the channel 25 input. How's the best way to change the channel on an existing setup in ZigBee2mqtt?
fervent oak
I think in practice the biggest issue that you might be facing is just how _nois...
I don't have more than like 10 devices on my ZigBee network right now. And I only have like 30 devices on my wifi network. None smart. Mostly end user devices of some kind.
My neighbors could be an issue but they are almost never home. Their houses are their second homes.
fervent oak
if you want zigbee to work in your setup, you're probably going to have to strat...
So I have realized this in the last 24 hours. I've reconfigured some lights to go through dedicated Sonoff switches for routers vs just expecting ZigBee2mqtt to handle the association for me. That's taken some getting used to because Z-Wave just works ™️
I've been pretty strategic in this new house about only using Z-Wave or ZigBee devices and keeping my smart tech off my home wifi. I made that mistake in my last house and my wifi was noisy with lots of cross talk and chatter. I've been pretty successful with Zwave and been very impressed with the new 800 chip. It's been seamless. And for the most part I guess the mains powered devices in ZigBee have been okay. But the hue bulbs are hit or miss. I need to get smart switches on them asap and configure scene control so my family quits taking them off mains power.
sleek citrus
yeah, if you have routing devices (like hue bulbs are) and they get unpowered, that will destroy your zigbee mesh :(
ebon lily
Well I changed the channel today to 25 and it bricked my ZigBee installation in ...
Strange. I've changed channels on two different Zigbee controllers and didn't brick the network. It takes while for the nodes to figure it out and reconfigure. Some devices may not support channel change and need to to be re-paired. None of mine needed re-pairing (Hue bubs, INNR outlets, Third Reality leak sensors, garage open sensor, outlets, LUMI temp sensors)
sly rock
Ah, yeah -- if you have hue bulbs that are getting powered off by the switch that will definitely lead to you having a bad time. 😅