I have several Samsung motion and contact sensors. But now I want to add a few more.
So I am looking for cheap alternatives that I can get. (maybe Amazon.com or Aliexpress)
what would you recommend as a price/performance product ?
Can I use Tuya or Aqara zigbee devices with Hubitat hub directly ?
I mean without using Mi Home, Mi Hub or Mi_Connector app ?
In the UK, Paul HIbbert was reviewing the Zignito Zigbee 3.0 devices. They look nice and a good replacement for SmartThings sensors. I would like to try them out if they ever come to the US:
One thing to throw in the mix with the cheap requirement is to also consider the battery life of the sensors as well. Not saying I can provide any suggestions on this, but something to consider... Needing to replace batteries more often could quickly erode any up-front savings you may make with the initial purchase.
Yes Aqara can be used directly but there are a couple threads on here about what other devices can and can not be present in you mesh for them to behave properly.
I like the Sonoff as well - I have a bunch of the plug in outlets (S31 lite) and the inline switches (zbr3) i bought one motion so far and it is working well but the temp/humidity sensors only report humidity for me. But they stay connected.
Most Aqara and Mi devices can be paired directly and work perfectly with Hubitat. Additional to HE drivers you will find lots of community developed drivers that cover a lot of alternative devices.
Bonus is they also report temperature. I've actually used a few just for the temperature without the magnets feature since they were so cheap. Pair as generic Zigbee contact sensor with temperature
The ones I received looked brand new and had 100% charge on all the batteries.
I think the seller has a listing for 5 sensors also
That's a contentious statement. These devices will not communicate through many bog-standard ZHA1.2 routers like SmartThings outlets, Iris v2 outlets, and Peanut plugs.
Maybe newer generation xiaomi sensors work perfectly but the experience with their standards non-compliant sensors depended heavily on how much one was willing to bend over backwards to create a zigbee mesh they’ll play nicely with.
I was not willing, although that was at a time when iris sensors or ST sensors weren’t hard to get.
thanks for all your help. I just ordered Sonoff sensors to test. If it goes well, I may be ordering more.
Hopefully battery usage is as good as Aqara motion sensors...
I've gradually moved to Sonoff sensors and sold all my Xiaomi/Aqara sensors on ebay.
I don't get any issues with them staying connected to my HE hub.
The only thing I have found was a couple of my Sonoff motion sensors gave false motion detection. In a separate thread someone mentioned tweaking the battery contacts to give a more 'solid' contact. Since I did this I've not had any.
Just thought I would mention it in case you get the same issue.
I know I'm lucky, but I've a whole bunch of Xiaomi/Aqara sensors and in the last 3 months (since I've been using and then released my driver ), only one has fallen off. That said, I do have ikea and sm repeaters dotted around to keep things moving smoothly.
The biggest issue I have found that interferes with any of my zigbee sensors is WIFI. Overlapping channels, or very high powered wifi devices can cause my mesh to become reliable. Just today I installed a WIFI repeater as I was having issues with a network device and wanted to boost the signal for it. Nearly crippled my zigbee mesh. I turned the repeater off and everything has settled back down - most likely a channel conflict, but the headache of the zigbee mesh going smelly was greater than the need for the repeater, so I didn't try moving things around.
All I can comment on is how I use them.
In my rules, when motion goes inactive I put in a delay before the rule turns a light off for example. This gives time for the motion sensor to retrigger and show motion and keep the light on. I haven't actually checked if the sensor does what you have described or not. No reason to. Not an issue as far as I'm concerned.
I don't understand, this is how motion sensors are supposed to work...
Something in the field of view triggers motion active, the object in the field of view leaves, the retrigger timer starts, and when it expires the device sends motion inactive...
OK. Here you go.
These sensors will report motion and 1 min later report inactive. This may be set by the driver as to when it will reset to inactive but also the device will only report motion every minute to stop continuous reporting and save battery life.. (I believe).
From this screen shot it shows that motion went active and didn't go inactive until 2.5 mins later. Then it did the same with a 1 minute gap. Don't ask me how and to be honest I don't really care. They just work as far as I'm concerned.
I’m trying to be objective. I have no complaints with the Xiaomi or Aqara devices that I have installed.
To really be accurate it should be stated that when they present problems it is when the existent Zigbee mesh is incapable of transmitting the signal, and not because they pair or work badly when paired directly to HE, which was my point.