I've got some Aqara contact sensors... I think they MCCGQ11LM but I don't know how to tell the difference in the 3 relevant generations of the units that all share that form-factor.
I have strong Z-network meshing (both flavors).
If I understand correctly, with the right driver the MCCGQ11LM are reasonably reliable presuming they are directly radioing to my hub (which is nontrivial for Zigbee in some homes, like mine). Is that true, that reliability for these is essentially directly correlated to their being non-meshed?
If so, are there specific devices I could add to make these also mesh well?
I have about 30 of those for windows and doors.
I use several Sonoff S40 lite plugs as repeaters for the contact sensors.
They play and stay together well.
Beware that you don’t purchase the “WiFi” version of the S40 nor the S31 version. Must be S40 Lite Zigbee model.
It's mostly about your repeaters. This topic is a bit old but as far as I know is still the best place to find repeaters that people have mentioned to work well (there are not a lot), as well as related discussion:
I said "mostly" because the hub plays a similar role, but Hubitat made a change early on in the C-3/C-4 that allowed these to work when directly connected without "falling off" that has carried over into at least the C-7, as Zigbee is the same (aside from internal vs. external) in all. It's possible the C-8/C-8 Pro (which has newer Zigbee) may have inadvertently changed something here if you have one of those, but I don't remember hearing anything in particular.
I took a sensor off and can confirm MCCGQ11LM is printed on the bottom, so yeah, "that model."
Noted! I'm looking to buy another 20 or so sensors where I've got like 10 now. Of my 10 I'd say 3 are reliable and I'm trying to understand why the rest arent... I think it's physical placement and repeaters. Maybe I'll pick up a Sonoff S40 to see what that does to the mix, thx!
Interestingly my situation is that every single MCCGQ11LM pairs instantly but they drop off quickly. In the back of my mind I figure that's because they probably push the radio to 100% power for pairing and back off over time and/or try to mesh, effectively breaking the RF link.
My power is at 12 without issues.
The Tuya repeaters are really strong. They cover my shed out back and still talk to my entrance hall one; they are separted by 35 meters passing through 2 wood frame buildings.
I have had newly joined Aqara drop off within hours and I think it's all down to a trick when pairing.
Even though they say Found and come up asking for the new name after a while I find that doesn't always stick.
When I get the Found I wait 5-10 seconds and touch the pair button once quickly, get a blue LED flash and keep on doing that until the pairing name question shows up.
After stopping the ZB join mode they seem to stay.
You can also install Zigbee Map in HPM to show any ghosts that may be causing the issue.
Zigbee Map will show a node with no label; hovering over it will just give you a 4 digit hex address.
Try shutting down and removing the power from your hub for 5-10 minutes.
If that doesn't work I have created a virtual device with the proper driver tyep slected and modified the DNI to match the ghost address.
After saving I have deleted the device and sometimes that will purge the ghost.
It's not always clear how I get rid of them but eventually I do.
