Hubitat Hub as Zigbee/Z-Wave Repeater?

[Busthead]

Can a second C-7 be configured as a Zigbee or Z-Wave repeater supporting a first hub?

If not and the Zigbee and Z-wave radios on the second hub are left enabled, will the signals from the second hub interfere with the first hub's Zigbee and Z-Wave networks?

Finally, which is the preferred USB Zigbee repeater these days?

Sounds like the SONOFF Zigbee 3.0 USB Dongle Plus Gateway is supported by Hubitat if flashed. Does anyone know where to find the flashing instructions?

Thx

[erktrek]

@Busthead

Can a second C-7 be configured as a Zigbee or Z-Wave repeater supporting a first hub?

Short answer is no..

@Busthead

If not and the Zigbee and Z-wave radios on the second hub are left enabled, will the signals from the second hub interfere with the first hub's Zigbee and Z-Wave networks?

They can if hubs are too close. With Zigbee you can change the channels as necessary. In the past I've used a multi-hub setup by location and it worked great. You can use HE's HubMesh to share devices as needed or something like Node-RED as a central controller.

If going to a multi-hub setup recommend you keep rules pertaining to each hub's devices local to that hub. That way if one hub goes offline the other will keep working.

@Busthead

Finally, which is the preferred USB Zigbee repeater these days?

There are a bunch of different ones.. check the forums.. these are nice:

Looking for good Zigbee repeaters - THIRDREALITY Zigbee Smart Plug?

These are the best repeaters that I have come across. And I've tested at least a dozen on my zigbee2mqtt mesh. They are small and inconspicuous - they need a 5V USB power supply (I use in-wall outlets with USB). Also, you'll find them for a much better price on AliExpress. Here's an example of how well they function from my zigbee2mqtt network. That's a single repeater supporting 10 devices. I have several repeaters on that mesh with the same performance. And I've had zero devices drop off m…

@Busthead

Sounds like the SONOFF Zigbee 3.0 USB Dongle Plus Gateway is supported by Hubitat if flashed. Does anyone know where to find the flashing instructions?

Flashing the firmware via cc2538-bsl | Zigbee2MQTT

Although I think you want the "router" firmware not the "coordinator" - someone else can confirm I guess.

[aaiyar]

@erktrek

you want the "router" firmware

Correct. Flashing takes less than a minute. I’ve done a bunch of these - they’re good indoors and outdoors.

[Pantheon]

How do I know if my mesh is "better" when I move devices to a second hub?

[kkossev]

I can think of only 3 scenarios, when moving part of the Zigbee devices to a second hub will be a good idea:

1. If you have a dozen chatty Tuya mmWave 'presence' sensors or a dozen Tuya spammy CO/CO2 sensors that bombard the Zigbee network with unnecessary data packets every second. It is better to isolate these chatty devices on another Zigbee channel and use the HE hub mesh to bring the useful data to the main HE hub.
2. If you have problems with Aqara older generation battery-powered sensors dropping off the Zigbee network. There are many confirmations that when the old Aqara sensors are isolated in a separate network with compatible repeaters, they are very sold (no matter what the Zigbee hub is - Hubitat, ZHA/Z2M or any other Zigbee coordinator).
3. If you have a lot of Zigbee bulbs that are often accidentally powered off by the wall switches. If these Zigbee bulbs function as routers (repeaters), the stability of the network will suffer from the frequent route changes.

In all other cases, it is, of course, much better to have a common, strong Zigbee network built on one hub.