C8 migration, several devices now failing! Help please!

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1

I migrated 2 c5 hubs to c8 a couple of days ago. On one hub (almost) everything went through without issues. I have a combination of zwave and zigbee, and no problems at all (except one minor one mentioned below).

On the other hub, one (very old) zwave door sensor just doesn't work at all -- I get nothing from it. It is an old Aeotec (?) sensor, probably 10 years old, but it worked perfectly with the c5. I tried a second identical one I had sitting in a box -- same thing. Pairs fine, and the indicator light on it shows it is detecting contact, but the hub sees nothing. Annoying, but I just ordered a new 700 series sensor from The Smartest House (SZE41), which I expect will solve this problem. Still, this should work, right?

The REAL issue is with the Hue Outdoor motion detectors. I have 4 of them, 2 on each hub. On the "good" hub, one worked from the start. The other I "paired' again (zigbee, so it just detected it was already there), and it has been fine since then, reporting lux, temp, and motion. (I love these sensors, they are the only ones I know of with such great range and speed, but I digress...).

But on the "bad" hub, in addition to losing the zwave door sensor, both the Hue outdoor motion sensors are having issues. One I had to "pair" again once or twice, and it worked for about a day but is now not responding. The other I "paired" again probably about a dozen times before it started working, and it worked for maybe 12 hours. Brand new batteries. BTW -- BOTH these sensors are probably less than 15 feet from the hub. Hub is in a room over the garage, one is IN the garage probably about 8 feet from the hub, the other is on the front of the garage. Both worked reliably with the previous hub.

The Hue are zigbee, but all the other zigbee devices are fine (a couple of plugs and several leak sensors). I didn't have to touch them at all. I did update the firmware on the really problematic Hue this morning, after I paired it again and got it working, but that seems not to have helped as it stopped working again after less than 10 hours.

Can someone from support log into my hub and check this out please? Or are there other suggestions?

2

Have you uploaded/installed the newest firmware release (2.3.5.113)? I have been having problems with Hue Outdoor motion sensors (dropping out) and it seems to be much better since I upgraded to this release about two days ago.

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Thanks, but yes both the hubs are running 2.3.5.113. Wow, this is BETTER? Must have been really bad before...

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It might help to send a direct message to support, and also get on the list for beta releases that will hopefully address zigbee issues folks are experiencing like you.

More info on next steps (when you message support, ask for access to beta builds): [RESOLVED] Zigbee issues following migration from an older hub

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5

After installing a C-8 and running into failures in all my Zigbe devices, I reverted to the C-7. I reinstalled the database from a backup only to find Zigbee device having difficulty connecting or staying connected to the C-7 hub. The problem started with the upgrade and was followed to the re-installation. Version 2.3.5.113

I hope a fix is found soon.

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I had the same problem with my Hue Outdoor motion sensor. It just wouldn't stay connected. What worked for me was to completely remove it from the C-8, factory reset it, and connect it as a new device. It's been fine for 5 days now. Others have reported that this worked for them also. And some have reported that it didn't. Still, might be worth a shot.

I used "Swap Apps Device" in settings to swap a virtual device into all of the apps that were using the sensor, and then swap the real device back in once it was reconnected.

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Thanks for the suggestion -- certainly worth a try. So, how do I factory reset the Hue Outdoor motion sensor? -- Nevermind, I found it. I'll try that right now and hope...

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This didn't work for me. Still falling off as bad as ever. I had no issues at all on my C-7. Should have just left it alone. Thought I was getting the same as my C-7 with the C-8, but with even stronger signal and upgraded chips, but that's not what I got. Now that I migrated, I'm trying to wait it out for some fixes. I don't think it's as easy to migrate back to the C-7.

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Your issues are unfortunately not unique. I’ve had similar problems with a variety of zigbee devices - ST water leak sensors, Senhled contact sensors, and of course hue outdoor motion sensors. Im also seeing z-wave issues similar to yours. Devices that connected fine to the C7 are unreliable on the C8. First among these for me are ring keypads but I have also had issues with a zoom zen17, a some water valve, ecolink contact sensors, etc.

Re-including the hue and Sengled sensors works for a few hours but then they fall off again. The z-wave issues seem to be the result of some overnight process that messes things up and then they slowly recover only to go through it again - though I have also had problems in the middle of the day. Some z-wave devices fail to report altogether, some are just really, really slow. And some Im just not able to include at all.

I ended up reverting some of my more critical z-wave sensors to a C7 and am still deciding what to do about my zigbee stuff. Some folks have connected their hue motion sensors to hue hubs and used the community supported advanced hue integration, which allows for near-instant reporting. That seems like a decent interim solution if you happen to have a hue hub.

The bad news is if this is the same issue others are seeing there doesn't appear to be a whole lot you can do to address the underlying problem.

The good news is that the Hubitat team is well aware of these issues and they are no doubt working furiously to find fixes.

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Quick update - I have a C7 that controls my Hue outdoor lights, manages the interface with my alarm system, and handles people and vehicle detection from my cameras. I've used this hub to manage a couple of critical z-wave devices that failed to work reliably on the C8. I just fired up its zigbee radio, moved it to a different channel (25), and added my most critical Hue outdoor motion sensor to it. It seems to be working just fine even though there are no repeating devices on that Hue mesh.

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Thanks folks. Kind of wishing now that I'd waited a couple of months before getting the C8. I guess I'm better off than some of you. I have a dozen of the ST leak sensors and all have no issues (I should test them all again in a couple of days..). Doing the full reset on my 2 Hue outdoor does not seem to have helped (1 has dropped, the other hasn't been dropping as quickly and I won't know until tonight). Other than the one old Zwave door sensor that just doesn't report AT ALL, I'm only having trouble with 2 of my 4 Hue outdoor. Perhaps I'll hook up one of the old C5 hubs and move them to that for now. I don't know though, I expect that that may involve some rule rewriting and dashboard fixes since they will now be coming in to the system from a different hub? Or perhaps the "swap sensor in apps" will make that easy.

I've got a total of about 45 devices, a dozen being ST leak sensors, a dozen light switches (zwave), the 4 motion sensors, a handfull of plugs, 2 garage door sensors (different kinds), zwave water main valve, and a zwave button controller. Guess I'm lucky that I only lost 1 zwave door sensor and the 2 Hue problems, but I still wish I'd waited a couple of months for the Hubitat folks to get this shaken out.

Sorry to come across as complaining. Overall I'm really happy with Hubitat and the support folks, and I expect they'll get this sorted out pretty quickly.

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12

Setting the Zigbee power level to 8 (same as the C7) solved this problem for me.

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@lcw731 , what is the "Zigbee power lever" ?

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Typo.. power level .. in the Zigbee settings.

By default, on the C8 its set to 12. on the C7 it was at 8. I saw in another post someone suggested setting it back to 8 might help. In my case it did. I haven't had the one sensor that was causing problems lock up since.

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ZigBee Power level - it's in the ZigBee settings.

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Could this be because your problematic sensor is now connecting to a repeater instead of directly to the hub? I can't see how otherwise it would make sense to decrease the power on the hub...

Sill, couldn't hurt to try I suppose. Guess I'll give that a shot. There is a zigbee plug nearby that it might repeat through I suppose.

But my c8 is currently at 16 (I never touched it, how is your default at 12?). I never had a C7, and have no idea what the C5 power output was like in comparison. I'd hate to set it too low and lose some of my other devices...

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Zigbee power is an option only on C8, correct? I don't see this on C7. I have a C8 but I'm waiting for migration a few more weeks. I'm in the 160 devices range so a bit nervous still to migrate.

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Correct.

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No. I don't have any ZigBee repeaters. I'm more of a Zwave guy, My zigbee mesh is pretty small, like 6 devices, 2 motion sensors and the rest are bulbs. I never had any issues with that sensor (A hue outdoor motion sensor known to be temperamental with the C8) until I migrated it to the C8. it was rock solid before. Its been stable since I dialed the power down. at one point I tried to dial it up. it didn't drop off, it just froze up.

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That's very interesting. Not at all what I would expect. Wouldn't that mean the sensor wouldn't work at all if it was too close to the hub? Anyway, I dropped my zigbee power to 8 now and reset that sensor (again). Won't know until later tonight or tomorrow if it is any better. It's been dropping after 4-8 hours or so. The other one was dropping around 12-24 and is still up since I reset it last night.