I’m slowly transitioning my zigbee devices off the C8 due to the radio online/offline events happening several times a day. I have a c5 and a c7 also.
Originally my zigbee network was rock solid on the c5. Problems happened when I moved the network to the c8.
I thought I’d transition the zigbee network to the c7 but noticed after adding several devices I had a single zigbee radio offline /online on the c7 also.
Is the radio offline/online issue also affecting the c7? Just trying to assess if it’s better going back to the c5 or whether it’s a firmware issue affecting all hub series at the moment.
As an interesting point, the zigbee online offline events on my c8 get far less frequent as I reduce the number of devices on the c8. I’ve dropped down to about 40 devices now and haven’t had an event for a couple of days (as opposed to several times a day).
The hardest part of this issue (for both us and for HE support/engineers, frankly) has been the inconsistency of experiences...some folks w/>100 Zigbee devices w/no issues others at that level rebooting regularly. Same w/other Zigbee device counts. This issue has been different and harder to understand than anything I've seen since I moved to HE several years ago.
The Zigbee channels overlap the 2.4 gHz WiFi channels. If you have a smartphone, download one of the apps that allows you to scan the WIfI Channels and find out which are being used by your router and access points (if any) and which are being used by nearby neighbors.
This reference shows the relationship between the WiFi and Zigbee channels in the same frequency space.
The most commonly used WiFi channels in the USA are 1, 6, and 11 since they do not overlap. Zigbee channel 20 fits into the space between channels 6 and 11, so it is often a good choice, especially if your own router is set to channel 1. However, if you or your close neighbors are using channels 6 or 11, you might be getting interference. In that case channel 15 might be a better choice. Some people try using channels 25 or 26, but not all Zigbee devices will operate on those channels.
True story (at least I hope it is). Friend of mine has a daughter who was a customer support agent for Cox Cable internet a few years ago. She took a call from some guy who was complaining about problems after he changed his Wi-Fi channel. She asks what he changed his Wi-Fi channel to, and customer says "Netflix."
Evidently it took several minutes for her to convince him that "Netflix" was not a Wi-Fi channel, with him repeatedly saying "I'm pretty good at this networking stuff."
Well friend we continue with this topic that is very strange. I tell you, I bought 5 C8 Hubs, I already installed two to a client and they both started with zigbee radio shutdown problems, I mounted another one and for the moment it has not restarted. I brought the Hub that was failing to my test bench and noticed that the reset of the zigbee radio is the devices that work as a router, specifically they are zigbee 1.2 devices. I have had to reduce the number of devices to 40 which is now working fine for me.
As I reduce the number of devices the resets get fewer and fewer. But I imagine this is to be expected because there is nothing really happening on the network so low likelihood for it to get overloaded. Right now I have one more device on the C8 - a Sinope Thermostat. Once I move that off/back to my C5 I will shut down the radio on the C8 and then follow this thread, waiting to see if it is safe to go back in the water again.
The 1.2 routers you removed, did you just happen to land on 40 devices, or did you intentionally bring the devices number down to 40 to stop the reboots? i.e. other devices were removed as well.
It is my understanding that the earlier HA 1.2 standard supported a maximum of 32 devices connected directly to the hub. The newer HA 3.0 standard supported by the C8 hub should be able to handle 64 direct connections. However, if you have repeating devices in the mesh, you should be able to connect more than 64 devices.
I am not certain what happens to the device connection limit if some of the repeating devices are HA 1.2. Fort hat reason, I have updated all my repeaters (mostly smartplugs) to HA 3.0 devices.
I'm a big fan of Innr plugs (they are 3.0) -- the 224 model doesn't do power reporting, but their 234 model does.
The 234 model initially had bad firmware that caused them to drop off the mesh, but they fixed that. Hubitat has the latest firmware-update file available for both models.
I'd originally mothballed my two 234s, but brought them back online a couple weeks ago and did the firmware update -- they are working great (including the power reporting features). I just use the stock "Generic Zigbee Outlet" driver for both models.
Here's one result that confirms it (224 mentioned specifically at bottom of page).
Innr also confirms it in the Amazon product listing.
Granted, I'd rather manus simply spelled it out more clearly in their own websites, but I suspect they think that level of detail will be TMI / induce confusion for the new average-joe consumer they are pursing (i.e. the "works with google/alexa" person)? Just a guess.
I have at least 22 mains powered repeaters, all 3.0 as far as I can tell from the specs. All direct to the hub is not an option for me due to the distance and construction of the house.
I started off with eWeLink smartplugs rated at 10 amps. However, after we had an ice storm that caused several power surges and an outage, several of those plugs were damaged. I replaced them with Third Reality smartplugs rated at 15 amps. Both the eWeLink and Third Reality seem to be good repeaters.
If you do decide on the Third Reality devices, be aware that they come in two versions. Gen 1 plugs do not have power reporting. They are less expensive and are ideal if you do not require power reporting. The Gen 2 plugs have power reporting. However, some have reported that the plugs send far too much data to the hub and can bring the hub to its knees if you have too many of them. Thus, get the Gen 1 plugs unless you need power reporting. I have heard that Third Reality is supposed to be releasing new firmware for the Gen 2 plugs that will allow you to set reporting intervals. Most of mine are Gen 1 plugs, so power reporting is not an issue.
