I've been experiencing poor Zigbee performance (devices dropping offline or status taking too long/not updating on device page) since replacing my Belkin Wemo in-wall switches with 21 Enbrighten Zigbee switches.
I tried two differen't hub locations (different floors of the house), three different channels (with adjustments to WiFi accordingly) and two soft resets. This is with 4 Xbee repeaters and 10 outlets used only as repeaters.
Nothing was helping so I ended up basically (still have 5 to do) putting all the Enbrightens on my old ST hub. I didn't even bother adding repeaters to it (other than the switches themselves) and didn't even shut down the Hubitat Zigbee network or adjust my WiFi and all the switches have been working for over a day now (been using HubConnect to share the switches back to Hubitat so I could still use my rules).
I was going to try migrating them back 2-3 at a time to see what happens but maybe I should just swap the hub out (it was in August)? Not sure what else I could try at this point.
I'm quite sure that the Zigbee radio hasn't been changed in a while.
With that many Enbrighten switches, you would expect a very strong Zigbee mesh.
The only thing that I'd like to suggest is changing the Zigbee channel - there may be interference from other wifi's in the neighborhood. There is a chart around which shows the cross reference between wifi channels and zigbee channels. MANY people I know have strong zigbee meshes, but have made sure they are not in conflict with neighboring wifi signals. I use WiFi Analyzer (a free Android App) to make sure that the channels don't overlap.
What Zigbee channel are you on? That can make or break things. Zigbee and Wifi are on similar channels, except Zigbee 15, 20, and 25. Most people use 15 or 20.
I just put in a Zigbee contact sensor at least 100 feet from the Hubitat Hub (I myself couldn't believe it!).
It's at least a good 70 feet (as far as the crow flies) from that contact sensor to the nearest zigbee repeater (a Sinope switch in a bathroom).
Yes, it can be done.
Have you tried powering down the outlets or xbees to see if one of them is causing problems? I believe BobbyD said that one can have too many repeaters. The Enbrighten Zigbee devices all repeat already.
What outlets are you using?
What other zigbee devices do you have on the hub?
I already tried 3 different channels (11, 15, 20). Hubitat is currently on 11 (with wifi at 6 and 11) while ST is using 19 and working fine. I would expect the hubitat to at least match the ST after giving it all the advantages (proper channel selection, repeaters, etc) but it has a hard time keeping everything online and updated.
The xbees were added well after the fact, one at at time in areas where I started noticing issues. Most of the outlets were already online but I've moved them around quite a bit trying to get a good mesh. I'm using the old iris outlets (that also do z-wave repeating but I don't have them enabled for that since I have no z-wave devices) and these: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07DFPYV4K/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
If I were you, I would slowly remove the Iris outlets while adding the Enbrighten switches. I’ve not tried the Enbrighten zigbee devices, but I have a bunch of the previous model dimmers and never ever had one drop off. I also don’t have any Iris outlets, but have seen a couple complaints on here about them not playing nice with newer zigbee 3.0 devices. I am currently using channels 20 and 24 for my 2 hubs, 25 for Hue.
I suppose it would be good to try without the zbee. You could always add back if necessary. It takes several days for the mesh to stabilize, so don’t get too worried if you have a couple devices drop off.
i usually have several dropped, several more slow to update or don't update status and other devices that get affected like motion sensors which then affect motion rules. I waited for two days each time after making a major change (like adding a xbee) and that was after shutting the hub off for 30+ mins.
You should able to watch the Zigbee network using your Xbee device and see where the problem is. I haven’t had to do this, so don’t know it’s done, but others on here have, and one of them has Enbrighten zigbee devices and NYCE and has said they work well. I would put my money on the old Iris devices as the culprit.
Xbee's come with the XCTU software which is nothing short of amazing.
There are instructions here on this forum on how to use the XCTU software to map out your mesh.
If you want to see the last hop of your mesh, look at http://hub ip/hub/zigbee/getChildAndRouteInfo
Please note: this is only the last hop (to the Hub).
Hello again.
I just noticed that you said in your inventory list:
5 Lightify
AHA!
We know that zigbee lights are TERRIBLE repeaters, and cause all sorts of issues.
May I suggest that you leave those bulbs off, and use the following integration to put them on Hubitat:
You are me. I have similar problems, and 4 Xbees. I notice the xbees for some reason can drop, and when they do, they take many devices with them. I use markus's driver that has presence and lets me know when an xbee drops and I can fix before it starts the avalanche.
Both Ken & I have lots of newer Smart+ bulbs without issue. Check your FCC-ID on the bulb, and use your ST hub to update the firmware if needed. The newer (ZHA) bulbs are DZO-AETHER, the older IQ_Home will cause issues
PS- The hub has a nasty habit of changing the PAN ID, and when it does, you're in for hell. Take alook at yours and write it down, watch to see if it changes
Haven't had mine drop yet about the only thing that didn't when everything thing was on the hubitat. In the next couple days I'll shut off the xbee and start moving the switches off ST and removing outlets that are only used for repeating as I do.
Looks like the switches are the problem as they started doing the same song and dance (dropping offline, working but without correct status). Can anyone recommend a good in-wall Zigbee switch?
You want your Zigbee channel (as mentioned above by @neonturbo) on CH 15, 20 or 25 (I use 20). You state you are on CH 11 which is a shared WiFi channel, maybe your issue? -Joel
