Cannot get a stable Zigbee network

[north moat]

Hi everyone. So I have been having issues since moving to my new house with my Zigbee network of HUE bulbs. I recently replaced the hue bridge (was having issues on it too) to an RPI with a Sonoff dongle.

I have the dongle on a 4ft usb extension plugged into a USB 2 port all downstairs in an unfinished basement and the dongle right below the floor.

All my 2.4ghz networks are on channel 6, Zigbee is on 25.

My bulbs don't seem to be creating a mesh and the 2 lamps: lightsaber and floor lamp are literally right above the dongle in my office.

Right now everything is working but throughout the day alomost everything will become offline for random amounts of time.

I am at my wits end and don't know what to do anymore.

[sharp river]

What about your neighbours WiFi?

[north moat]

The closest is channel 9 but that signal is at -85 to -90 db

And not available most of the time, in addition it doesn't line up with when things go offline.

[quick tundra]

Hello @north moat,
Are the bulbs always powered on and controlled by zigbee, or do any of them get turned on and off with a power switch?

By the color those bulbs appear to be the kind that have routers. Some bulbs are end devices but you look OK there.

[north moat]

Hi @quick tundra they never get turned off. They are always powered on, only turned off through HA

[quick tundra]

Then my guess would be that it needs more devices. The mesh is probably weak.
Here are some things members of the community have written about Zigbee and Zigbee Mesh Tips.
https://community.home-assistant.io/t/the-home-assistant-cookbook-index/707144#zigbee-20

[hollow ravine]

Get some ikea tretakt or inspelning smart plugs.

Add one to each room to help with your mesh.

[sharp river]

Innr plugs are great routers