I am still wondering and curious mostly why the device I mentioned above wouldn't work. You said you have a plastic enclosure with AC. A regular AC receptacle inside the enclosure with this device and it would act as a repeater. It is basically an Xbee that everyone uses but in an plugin case.
@thekidb The specs says this "Extends signal strength and range of an XBee Zigbee mesh network"
Maybe someone with the knowledge of how these Xbee devices work could take a look at the specs for this device and tell you if it will work.
That looks to be the goods, eh.
Maybe ask the ‘will it work’ question in the Everything Xbee, thread. @vjv, what are your thoughts on this one ? @thekidb, repeaters are typically placed between the hub and the ‘extended’ sensor location. Think of the sensor signals, hopping through the repeater and onto the hub.
Unless you have zigbee scanning tools, the location for placing a repeater will be a bit of trial and error.
@njanda, true about having it in-between the hub and the outlying device. Placing it at the end may not due the trick. I was under the impression @thekidb had a power box somewhere in the middle. Maybe one closest to the door going out (line of sight) and one of these on the other end.
Almost a year later, but I finally got around to playing with this. I put a Iris V2 ZigBee outlet/switch and a lamp on the end of 200' of extension cord and started walking. It lost connection about 60' feet from the house. Disappointing.
On a whim, I replace the Iris V2 with a Sylvania outlet and did the same thing. It responded immediately all the way to the well head (~175' from the house). I proceeded to wire it into my relay system that controls the well pump, placed the sealed container in the top of the well casing and tested again. Nothing. Turns out, I had pushed the sealed container that contains the relay and switch below ground level and blocked the signal. Once it was back above ground, it worked fine...……..and inside the PVC well casing.
So I thought I would push my luck and try to use the newly installed switch as a repeater for the next 275' jump to my barn. Worked like a champ.
I live in a very rural area with no interference whatsoever, so that's probably why I can push (or exceed) the limits of ZigBee. 275' for now, and I may just see how far beyond that it will go. The whole picture may change when the leaves come out this spring. It's a straight line of sight shot, but one never knows!
Bottom line: Try outlets as repeaters before you spend a lot on long range stuff that you might not need.
@thekidb This may work for now but if these are critical, you might want to add additional devices between the end devices and wherever those devices connect to in the home. Stretching things to the limit won't help if anything were to change even slightly.
Not critical......just for convenience and experimentation at this point. Final solution may still be Xbee. If it works reliably for a few months, we'll call it a success.
I haven't measured exactly, but the second jump may be more like 250'. I also tried an Iris V1 outlet there last night, and it worked just fine. I also tested both the Sylvania and Iris V1 outlets inside a plastic junction box and inside my barn. That amounts to 2 layers of "stuff" in between the two units...…..the plastic box and 1.5" of wood. Both units functioned perfectly.
The Sylvania 72922-A as the repeater seems to be what is making this work.
You'll have to drill for wire entry and use a waterproof clamp where the wire enters. My repeater is actually mounted in the top of my well casing, so it's enclosed by that. I have had no issues with the signal on the outlets mounted in plastic. I have two that are mounted in the boxes and secured to 2x6 rafters so they have 1.5" of wood plus the box that the signal has to travel through. I held up a piece of roofing tin in front of the outlet and it dropped out immediately. Plastic and wood.....OK. Metal.....not so much, as would be expected.
I have also added a contact sensor in my barn that is repeating through the outlet. No issues with it so far.
I followed your suggestions with the double gang Cantex Box. I was shocked by how little room was in the box after using the Sylvania 72922-A and a male plug and wiring to complete the circuit. (should have take a pic of the guts but I was on a ladder and glad to be finished). That Plug is operating some Dekkor Dock Dot Lights that I am installing into the boards on the dock.
In regards to the signal repeater, I am trying to get a signal out to the end of my dock. The 72922-A is located at the beginning of my dock on a post 100+ feet from the hub and then the dock is approx 250' long (see pics). I have tested the signal to the end of the dock with an Iris 3210-L and the app on my phone and it is probably the quickest connection in the whole house that is approximately 350' away from the hub, it just amazes me.
My concerns are many as this is a coastal saltwater environment and it eats up any material that is not built for the saltwater environment so this is a test to see how long the switch/repeater will last. I am shocked that I cannot find any Zigbee outdoor switches/repeaters, it just seems like there would be a market for that product.
Also on the pole where I have the cantex box I also have a Phillips Hue Outdoor motion detector and Gledopto RGB zigbee light that I use for some late night motion detection and subsequent lights that come on around the house. This project will continue to grow as I still have to outfit the end of the dock with some smart features and I really haven't decided on how that will end up.
Very nice, checking in 100 years later. How is the Iris plug holding up? In my limited testing, the Iris plug has an incredible signal, both send and receive, making for a very strong mesh.
