How to: Flash SonOff USB Dongle to be a Zigbee Repeater/Router & Set Transmit Power

Ranchitat · March 13, 2024, 1:09am

I'm still using the Markus version on some, so looking at the forks, this must be the driver mentioned above. raw link

Zigbee - Generic Repeater (with healthStatus)

Ken_Fraleigh · March 13, 2024, 1:21am

You can find it in your friendly neighborhood Hubitat Package Manager.

Tony · March 13, 2024, 7:13pm

Strange; my stick had been showing a strike-through for a while (it wasn't plugged in, however). Just went to look at the details page and it's no longer showing that (it's still not plugged in; hub had been rebooted since I last noticed it though).

danabw · March 13, 2024, 11:14pm

One of my Sonoff dongles got into an odd state, I discovered it because of this discussion. I went to look at each of my Sonoff dongles to see what driver I was using with them. Turns out I was still using just the basic IKEA driver with one of them. So I updated to the Zigbee monitor driver, but then noticed no data was filling in on the device page when I followed the particular steps to get that driver up and configured.

Did a quick power cycle, and things work normally again. So I had lost one of my Sonoff repeaters for not sure how long. Never experienced an issue like this before, not sure if something just didn't connect back up after a reboot, or if a series of really quick power outages restores a month or so back left the dongle in a disconnected state.

kahn-hubitat · March 14, 2024, 2:56am

i use this driver and this rule to keep me updated.. none drop off.

i tried the monitor driver.. too much going on and not as reliable for me..

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/kkossev/hubitat-Markus-Li-fork/release/drivers/expanded/zigbee-generic-repeater-expanded.groovy

jasonbalsor · March 14, 2024, 7:58pm

Link to driver code doesnt seem to work @kahn-hubitat

danabw · March 14, 2024, 8:09pm

github.com

kkossev/hubitat-Markus-Li-fork/blob/release/drivers/expanded/zigbee-generic-repeater-expanded.groovy

/**
 *  Copyright 2020 Markus Liljergren (https://oh-lalabs.com)
 *
 *
 *  This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
 *  it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
 *  the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
 *  (at your option) any later version.
 *
 *  This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
 *  but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
 *  MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
 *  GNU General Public License for more details.
 *
 *  You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
 *  along with this program. If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 *
 *  NOTE: This is an auto-generated file and most comments have been removed!
 *
 *  ver. v1.0.1.1123 2020-11-23  (Markus) - Latest commit f0e09fe from Markus

This file has been truncated. show original

This is what I get when I go to his (Kkossev's) GitHub.

Ken_Fraleigh · March 14, 2024, 10:28pm

Works for me too. You just need to copy/paste the url into the import box after clicking "new driver" and hit save. Driver works well.

danabw · March 14, 2024, 10:36pm

I'd recommend the Zigbee Monitor Driver...available in HPM:

mluck · March 15, 2024, 3:51am

Definitely P. I’m using the Ikea TRADFRI Signal Repeater driver. I flashed from Windows using the instructions in the OP. Not sure the firmware version. Doesn’t show in the device details screen.

I tried the zigbee map*. One shows up as a repeater (but not repeating anything); the other doesn’t show up at all. I also noticed that there is nothing in the log when I invoke either command. Suspicious. Tempted to reset and repair as they are doing zero repeating for my zigbee mesh. Will try to power cycle first.

The question marks, when you hover, says: “the device had no activity since last radio reset”.

Is the new zigbee app different from the map available from Settings/Zigbee Details in the hub UI?

mluck · March 15, 2024, 3:52am

Ken, do you mean you use this driver instead of the IKEA driver recommended in the OP? Will probably give that a try, if so.

mluck · March 15, 2024, 3:56am

Thanks everyone for the input. I’m going to power cycle and try the new drivers to see what I can learn. Will share what I learn in the next few days.

BTW, the strikethroughs, at least for me, only show up in zigbee details. The device details page didn’t show any such weirdness. FWIW

danabw · March 15, 2024, 4:04am

I'd suggest that you use the Zigbee monitor drivers cuz they'll show you directly in the driver what the device is repeating etc.

As I had said, I had one that was not repeating anything, and a power cycle restored it to normal operation. Hopefully yours will be easy as well.

Ken_Fraleigh · March 15, 2024, 11:58am

Yes. This driver allows me to create a rule to notify my phone if one of the dongles has lost connection using the health check status offline/online. None of my 5 dongles have dropped since migrating to my C-8s, but they would occasionally lose connection when they were on my C-5s.

mluck · March 15, 2024, 8:22pm

You guys...Zigbee Monitor Driver is a total revelation. How did I not know?Thank you @danabw, @Ken_Fraleigh, and @kahn-hubitat for turning on the lights for me!

Digging in further now....

danabw · March 15, 2024, 8:31pm

Enjoy the rabbit hole...it is very deep.

JamesTX10 · March 21, 2024, 8:50pm

I see lots of back and forth. I am on a C7 about to migrate to a C8-pro. If I was looking to purchase one of these now, which do you recommend?

SONOFF-Zigbee Dongle P
or
SONOFF-Dongle-E

danabw · March 22, 2024, 12:54am

I'd say dongle P as it is better known, more people have installed them than the E version. But that's just me.

Ken_Fraleigh · March 22, 2024, 1:48am

I’d be tempted to get the Aeotec repeater zi off Amazon. If it’s as good as the outlet that’s no longer available, then it’s worth the money. My 3 Samsung zigbee 3.0 outlets still do the lion’s share of the repeating even with 4 Sonoff dongles on that hub. One of them currently shows 20 devices connected.

JamesTX10 · March 22, 2024, 12:42pm

Simple plug and play is nice. I will try it out.