Mailbox Detection

Is there a driver available for that? :grin:

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There's a driver, only he's in that snowplow that knocked the mailbox into the ditch.

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I tried a z-wave motion sensor in the mailbox, with a z-wave repeater under the overhang of my roof, but the signal still couldn’t get through. I went with z-wave because supposedly it has a greater range than Zigbee.

Maybe I should try Zigbee?

Are those Z-wave or Zigbee binoculars?

I'm impressed with the distance SmartThings (zigbee) arrival sensor works.

LOL...I think we should be more worried about batteries than protocols. :wink: Those things look like they must need some serious juice.

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Honestly I don’t know if zigbee will work better. I never tried it with zwave.

fwiw, I painted the outlet black so it wouldn’t be noticeable. The motion sensor just sits in the back of the box attached with mounting putty.

This works well for me. I do have an Aeotec repeater in an outdoor receptacle to help my mesh extend to the road. Without it, my mailbox would drop off frequently.

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Don't know where you ended up with this project...but thought I'd offer the following for anyone with similar objectives.

I found that trying to rig anything with the standard mailbox was going to be fraught with issues. Changing out to a more secure mailbox like below (available at Lowes and elsewhere) opened up a lot of options. https://www.mailboss.com/

I have a Zigbee contact sensor (Visonic MCT340E) stuck to the inside wall of the box with the magnet on the underside of the pivoting door. Nothing can be seen from the exterior, door open or not.

Unbelievable to me this has worked THROUGH the metal side of the box to a repeater ~50' away. Furthermore, the dang box heats up to 120F in the sun. I think I've had to change the battery once a year!

Expanded information per community request: View is looking up into the unlocked bottom door of the box; sensor on left wall, magnet on bottom of the pivoting mail drop door above (slightly opened for this picture to show magnet separation from sensor). Sun had heated the metal box so hot it hurt to hold that drop door open for this picture. I'm still amazed this sensor survives these extremes. Been at least two years now.

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This looks interesting... but of course would definitely be visible.

Whatta hoot !

I'll note that I have not limited the notification window as "someone pulling that door" has been notification of everything from a neighbor dropping something off to middle-of-the-night mailbox checking which I want to know about for mail theft attempts or "casing" purposes.

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@PunchCardPgmr
Could you indicate on your mailbox picture where you have the magnet and the sensor?

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I've had an iris v2 motion sensor in the back of my mailbox for 5 years. Most mail carriers don't even see it and the ones that have think it's really cool.

Visonic FTW!!

@mfharper44
Do you have a metal mailbox?

Yes it’s a heavy cast aluminum.

I have an inexpensive lightweight steel mailbox and when I put the Iris motion sensor inside, the sensor is not able to communicate with my hub. As a test, I placed on the outside of the mailbox, and the sensor is able to communicate.

I wonder if aluminum (vs steel) is more apt to allow the signal to pass through?

I have a very heavy steel mailbox about 200 ft from the house and my Visonic Zigbee sensor works fine.

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I really wish we could offer a lot more quantifiable information as to why we have this kind of success with these sensors in STEEL BOXES that far away!

Is it because the sensors themselves have robust radios, the steel compliments antenna signal gain in some way, the airwaves between the sensor and the next hop are otherwise quiet in our settings, or....just shear luck.?

But it defies the odds that these serve as well as they do... and perhaps Visonic doesn't get the respect they deserve.

Just here to post some not-yet-peak-summer mailbox temperature readings.
I'm astounded that this sensor survives winter & summer in there.

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