New convert from Wink. Had 4 GE link bulb work fine on simple time routines. Problems after adding motion /lux sensors.
I bought One Hue Motion (new) sensor that also senses lux and a few Iris motion sensors IL07 (v3) off ebay. Things seemed to work fine for a day or two but then things started going weird.
Lights would just turn on at a times when I did not have a Simple Automation Rule (all I use) set up to control them. Motion sensors would not turn lights on, or would only turn on one light on when it was supposed to turn on two.
I would remove the offending Simple Automation Rule, Light, and Motion sensor and then add it again and it work but then another one would start acting weird.
I also tried changing the zigbee radio channel (20-14) to a lower channel and waiting 36 hours but didn't seem to help. Also rebooted the hub more than once.
Don't know how Wink handled the GE link bulbs, but I used them on three different systems and had trouble with every one until I took them off. They were problematic on my Iris system, Smartthings, and on a system I tried briefly SystronicRF. So you might want to try something else. The Zigbee repeaters cause a lot of problems as I understand it.
Many of us can completely understand your frustration, as many of us have a 'smart device drawer of shame' that includes old GE Link bulbs. These bulbs make for a very unstable Zigbee Home Automation mesh network, as they do a poor job acting as Zigbee HA repeaters for devices like your Hue Motion sensor and Iris Motion sensors.
Ogieeon, problem with the outlets is, if I'm correct, someone that doesn't haven't the app couldn't override the program and control the lights on the outlet by simply cycling the light switch. Correct?
The Smart Outlets do not need to be used to control anything at all. They need to be plugged into an always-on outlet so they can do their job as a Zigbee repeater.
Sengled Zigbee bulbs are not repeaters, so the outlets will fill that gap. The great thing about Sengled bulbs is that you can install them into light fixtures that might get turned off by a light switch - since they are not Zigbee repeaters, the Zigbee mesh network will not be negatively impacted. Powering down a device that acts as a Zigbee repeater (like your GE Link bulbs) will cause any other Zigbee devices that were routing their traffic through it (like your motion sensors) to get confused very quickly. Those devices will perform badly as their repeater has disappeared...
Ogiewon, didn't really clear it up. Maybe I don't understand the repeaters concept. All of my bulbs and sensors are within 20 feet of my hub so I am not sure not sure why they would need the signal repeated. Once of the sensors is actually closer than the lights it controls.
If I am reading it right, maybe I should completely start over. Hard reset. Add the motion sensors first so they only pair up with the hub, then add the bulbs. And wait a day before setting up any of the automation. Does that sound right? If that doesn't work then I either need to trash the GE bulbs or get a second hub to put the bulbs on.
I’ve already explained what recommend earlier in the thread. Buy some known good Zigbee repeaters, pair them first to the hub and be sure they are spread throughout the house. Then add some inexpensive Sengled Zigbee bulbs to replace the very problematic GE Link bulbs. Those bulbs are nothing but trouble these days.
Zigbee devices will automatically change their routes through the mesh based on what they perceive to be the best route. Those GE bulbs will always end up creating issues.
Search the forum for many threads exactly like this one over the years.
problem is HE has the weakest radio signal I've ever seen, compared with Iris, ST, Lightify & Securifi.
Hubitat definitely has the best platform and capabilities, minus the radios. We compensate by adding repeaters, which provide the end devices more than a single path back to the hub, should 1 path be compromised by other signals or building materials. And bulbs can cause issues, especially if they are ZLL and not ZHA. Even if they are ZHA, depending on the guts they can drop zigbee messages. Also be aware of the dreaded "zigbee network offline" issue, that I am plagued with currently.
Ogiewon, I guess that's what confused me about the ikea outlets/repeaters. I thought you meant to use them where I had my lights, not as something to act as a half way point between my motion sensors and hub to improve their radio signal. I guess I never consider the short distances I'm using would be a problem for the radio. 20 feet...maybe 25... and 2 walls is the furthest anything is from the hub.
It's all very confusing. Especially compared to wink. I hadn't touched my wink setup in several years and wouldn't have switched except for the new fees and the obvious signs that it was going bankrupt and would be completely gone soon. I probably should have gone the smartthings route for simplicity but wanted the local control so even if they started charging for cloud based I could let my automation still run until the hub got fried.
I'm not even sure what to search for half the time on the forums and get topics that don't really fit what I need when I do search. I'm do keep coming up with either ditching the GE bulbs or getting a Hue Bridge. I'm kind of leaning towards the hue bridge because I can get one on eBay for $20 or on Amazon for $80 with 4 hue bulbs. The sengled bulbs are twice as much as the other bulbs from what I can find.
I'm in the USA, I got the hue hub, only to find it only pairs with Hue devices. Now unless something changed within the last 15 months. Do your homework before going Hue, the Hue bulbs are insanely expensive. I do not know if the GE bulbs will pair with Hue. The folks in the EU or UK or whatever it's called this week, have options to pair more non-Hue devices to the hub somehow.
Since ogiewon showed me I was wrong on the price, that is probably the best choice. Won't have to mess with another hub/bridge. Quite a bit more complicated than I was expecting.
My next step after that will be to get a better handle on the repeater/mesh concept. I obviously an clueless on it.
Here's a good quick animation on wireless propagation and reflections in a house.
Mesh just simply implies a cluster of devices working together to get a signal back to the hub. If one of the devices along its path back to the hub disappears by being turned off (powered down) it gets sad and no longer has a pathway back to the hub.
Clusters of groups can intermingle their routes back to the hub so it can get pretty confusing trying to figure out how everything is routing back. The hub will try to resend commands several times or may have a rule trying to fire and attempting several times adding additional load for all the failed routes. This is why it's better to have routing devices powered up all the time and things like light bulbs that can be turned off at the switch to be non-routing devices.
That's great. My hub would be in the very center of that house and all of the lights and sensors are closer than the outside walls except maybe one motion sensor.
