slim hornet
Specifically, what are some good (and cheap) ways to extend your Zigbee network? I have a few devices on one side of the house that sometimes go "Unavailable" (one more than others).
What are some easy things to buy that will help them reliable communicate? I was thinking about just popping in a Zigbee bulb or smart plug. Do all Zigbee devices extend the mesh? Ideas or other suggestions for this?
silk lark
Specifically, what are some good (and cheap) ways to extend your Zigbee network?...
When I built out my zigbee network I used a bunch of smart plugs.
In general devices that are plugged into power e.g. plugs/bulbs tend to act as zigbee routers to expand the mesh but this is not necessarily a 100% rule.
whereas battery devices tend to be an "end device" only as they go to sleep to conserve battery.
Whilst perhaps not a cheapest option you can now use a ZBT-2 purly as repeater with the new repeater firmware as discussed HERE.
A few smart plugs is probably the "easy option" but there are various solutions to this problem.
dim sky
Basically the way to extend a zigbee network is to add more routers. As suggested plugs are an easy way to achieve this. Some but not all zigbee light bulbs can also extend a zigbee mesh.
Not all zigbee devices extend the mesh. Typically battery powered devices do not as a means of conserving battery life.