There is an ongoing experimental custom Matter Bridge project, the plans are to release it for wider beta testing after one week.
In case it's not obvious, please include me on the beta
Yes, as I said it's a small number of devices currently. I have not yet (and haven't tried) to get the camera view in my hubitat (works great with home kit though). You can connect the Aqara Hub to Hubitat via matter (in my case I'm using HomeKit on an apple TV). Once you connect the hub to your matter router, it can be bridged to Hubitat, and so far, it's working quite well for me.
Is this official an official Hubitat effort or community based?
Community-based.
No. Sengled bulbs do not repeat Zigbee signals, so they will not cause problems with the mesh. They are reliant on other repeating devices if they are too far from the hub.
I use them with hubitat, yes things are great now.
Are these what you are using? And are they acting as repeaters only for you to connect the Aqara motion to Hubitat?
SONOFF Zigbee 3.0 USB Dongle Plus Gateway, Universal Zigbee USB Gateway with Antenna for Home Assistant, IoBroker, Wireless Zigbee 3.0 USB Adapter(1 Pack) Amazon.com
I am hoping for some direction on expansion of my home automation.
Running HE (C5) and HomeSeer. Have lots of Zwave, Wifi, UPB automation but no Zigbee.
Want to expand into room presence automation for future in-home senior living safety monitoring (I'm 79 years well).
My research suggested that zigbee offers faster monitored automation than zwave and wifi so would be better for occupancy sensing to automate room lights and HVAC based on occupancy. Also, WAF won't allow sluggish response. So last black-Friday I purchased Aqara zigbee stuff (5 DoorWindow MCCGQ11LM, 5 Motion RTCGQ11LM, 1 Vibration, 2TempHumid). I'm just now getting around to installation.
But now I find on HE and HS forums many many complaints of Aqara/Xiaomi zigbee devices "falling off the mesh" even with Xiaomi/Tuya/Ikea Repeaters (most of which I find are no longer available). Not the reliability I need for my objective. Also, Presence Sensors seem now to be much improved and affordable so will add some brand tbd.
Possible solutions:
1. Trash the Aqara devices and repurchase more expensive Zigbee sensors that are reliable with HE native zigbee (suggestions?)
2. Create a Xiaomi/Aqara optimal zigbee mesh based on @SmartHomePrimer Grateful's recommended use of HA, Conbee2 and HADB bridge (or MakerAPI?) to HE
3. Xioami Mijia or Aqara gateway with "coming" Matter Bridge to HE @kkossev referencedā¦ released yet?
From what I've read, while more complex than I'd prefer, I think I can handle the above #2 optionsā¦ but I'm not ready to dive into even more complex options like node-red or other programming (old guy and new tricks). Any suggestions will be welcome.
I have no repeaters yet. Can someone point me to the "tuya mini USB repeaters" @jasonbalsor mentioned?
If you want very accurate presence sensing (people are in the room and can be very still/motionless) vs motion sensing (someone walked into or through a room), then I would go w/option 1.
Below is a thread w/many options and recommendations:
And another thread on a specific sensor that has been popular:
If you still want to use the Aqara contact and motion sensors for other purposes (or in concert w/the presence sensors - some of us have both in a room), these two repeaters are two known good w/Aqara devices. However, no guarantees w/Aqara devices, very much an YMMV situation...
SonOff Dongle P:
Tuya USB Repeater - tiny, inexpensive, and very effective w/Aqara stuff:
https://www.amazon.com/Repeater-Extender-Amplifier-Sensors-Expands/dp/B0CRH1CY34/
Another vote for option #1.
Time and effort spent getting the Aqara devices to work is better served other ways.
Hue motion sensors are great, but spendy. Third Reality sensors seem to work just as well but at a much more appealing price. There are also some new IKEA motion sensors (Vallhorn) that might be worth researching. All of these will take basic AAA batteries.
For repeaters you may want to look into something like the Sonoff S40 Lite... under $10 each on Amazon if you buy a 4 pack.
As you already have the devices, I will try to encourage to give them a try. I am using a lot of Aqara devices, mine never drop off the mesh, the MCCGQ11LM contact sensors batteries last 3 or more years and have the best WAF, the Aqara motion sensors RTCGQ11LM are lighting fast!
There is one very simple rule that must be obeyed :
Aqara old generation sensors must use a Zigbee 3.0 router (repeater) to communicate to the hub.
That's all - the rule is clear and proven many times, the difficult part is how to ensure that the Aqara battery-powered devices are really using a router (repeater) ? This is something that needs better documentation and better tools to verify and test.
The pairing of the Aqara Zigbee devices generally follow the same best practices that apply to the Z-wave devices:
- start with including the routers that are closest to the hub
- (pair) the end Zigbee devices slowly, one by one, ensuring they use a router to communicate.
The Tuya USB repeaters are cheap, convenient, and perform very well. So my advice will be to get at least 2 of these (how many depends on the distance/area covered), set them up, verify they work as expected, and then go to the next step. Until you have the repeaters working, keep the Aqara sensors in their boxes.
There's always this ... From another of our resident geniuses (like you).
I have about 30 of those Aqara for windows and doors.
I use several Sonoff S40 lite plugs as repeaters for the contact sensors.
They play and stay together well in the mesh.
Beware that you donāt purchase the āWiFiā version of the S40 nor the S31 version. Must be S40 Lite Zigbee model.
Thanks, thanks, thanks.... this is an awesome forum! I'm going to go the mmwave route and also get some of the Tuya routers to utilize whatever of the Aqara stuff stays connected reliably with HE.
VERY HELPFUL!
If youāre just getting started, it makes sense to incorporate mmWave sensors, since PIR sensors (of any brand) have long had a weak spot when it comes to areas that people tend to stay still in. So activities like sleeping or sitting on a couch (or a toilet), can be difficult to automate around.
mmWave sensors are nice because, as long as you place and configure them appropriately, they can act as true occupancy sensors, not just āmotionā sensors.
Which Hubitat hub version do you have. I had two Aqara devices working on a version 7 hub. When I upgraded to version 8, everything migrated smoothly other than the two Aqara devices. I eventually got both working again, but do not trust them. I replaced them with Tuya devices (Moe's House) and they have worked well.
Older Aqara devices are non-standard Zigbee and are particularly sensitive to the repeaters in the mesh. I had to replace two older Smartthings outlets and two older Centralite outlets before getting the Aqara devices to work. It would have been less expensive to replace the Aqara devices.
Good luck!
I have two Hue Motion Sensors (zigbee), One Aqara P1 motion sensors (Zigbee, but I use it as matter), Four Zooz and and about Six Ring Gen 2 motion sensors (zwave). the Zooz and Ring motion sensors are comparable if not slightly faster than the Zigbee stuff. As I find a need to add more, I will likely add more Zooz sensors. Of all of them the ones I'm least likely to add any more of are the Aqara motion sensors.
My best suggestion is for with what ever works best and gives you the best WAF.
Zooz Z-wave devices are excellent, but because Z-wave is tightly controlled by Silicon Labs, all Z-wave devices tend to be more expensive than Zigbee. For mission critical applications, paying more might be worth it.
Although there is a Zigbee Alliance (now Connectivity Standards Alliance) that certifies Zigbee devices, some manufacturers don't comply fully with the standards. Aqara is one of those who has is not fully compliant, although some more recent devices are claimed to be Zigbee 3.0 compliant. However, I have even heard Third Reality does not follow the rules perfectly. Because there is greater competition in the Zigbee market, these devices tend to be less expensive and are ideal for less critical applications.
I would be hesitant to use Zigbee wall mounted switches. I recommend Lutron Caseta Clear-Connect devices for that application. They are expensive, but will work even if connection with the Lutron Pro hub is lost. That helps the WAF.
I do use quite a few Zigbee plug-in smart switches as these are typically in less critical applications. They also make excellent Zigbee repeaters.