Anyone interested in contributing and adding to a database of problematic Zigbee devices? There are a lot of players in China coming out with new cheap Zigbee stuff, and not enough information out there on what works and what doesn't. Could either just be a google sheet that's constantly updated, or a wiki.
I'll start with a list based on my long term experience with these devices and mapping out my network:
Battery Powered:
Xiaomi Aqara Sensors - Non standard Zigbee implementation, you might get lucky if these devices either pair directly to the hub or route through an Ikea repeater or Digi XBee/iharyadi multisensor.
Mains Powered:
Note: Mains powered device are a little more difficult to troubleshoot reliably, since if a child device has repeated issues routing through it, it will just find a new mains powered parent.
Peanut Plug - After much extensive testing, these seem to crash after an extended time, causing child devices to drop off completely or drop messages causing delayed responses. Edit: Need more input from others on this thing.
Cree, GE and maybe other ZLL bulbs - do not repeat messages reliably. Avoid putting on main hub. Sengled bulbs are an exception since they do not route
Things that would help with solid data - you know how your zigbee mesh looks, either by mapping out with Digi XCTU or lots of refreshing on the Hubitat getChildAndRouteInfo page.
Yeah, I got a few of these cheap because of the people's experiences here, but I noticed that my Iris motion sensors DO NOT like being routed through these. I updated the firmware on these with an Almond, but still no change. They also spit out weird error messages in my Zigbee logging.
Tried the same plugs on a different platform - same kind of issues. I'm open to opinions from others, I'll take the plug off the list if I'm the only one experiencing issues.
Do you know if they're routing through the plug? Like actually verified it. The thing is, if the sensor starts routing through the plug and repeatedly fails, it will find a new parent.
While I think this is a great idea, unfortunately peoples experience maybe differ to yours.
I have lots of Xiaomi/Aqara devices and never have any issues with them.
New ones always pair OK and the only time I seem to have issues is when the batteries start to get low.
Looking at the zigbee routing table I have none going through repeaters.
I have issues with ST outlets as repeaters but others don't it's very strange. I fitted one and my zigbee devices started dropping left right and centre. Removed it and everything was hunky dory again.
I'm not trying to put a damper on your great idea but it could possibly be misleading.
I'm not sure what the answer is TBH.
The Peanut plugs are the only "repeaters" I use on my zigbee side of the hub so even though I haven't physically verified the routing there is no other possible way for them NOT to be routing through them as my total zigbee devices exceed the 32 max direct connects to the hub so every one of them would have to go direct connect to the hub which is highly unlikely given the distance from it.
Not a bad idea, but I agree that it could be misleading. The Xiaomi problems are well documented, and we understand what makes it happen. Problems with Zigbee bulbs are are equally well documented and also understood to some extent. (Hubitat more or less already addresses both of these: the former are not officially supported for that reason, and the latter issues are mentioned in their Zigbee documentation.)
For comparison, if there are problems with the Peanut Plugs, I don't think we know why (I know a lot of people like these). And in contrast to the experience above, the new (v5?) ST outlets work great for me--they are the favored repeater for nearly any of my devices in range.
Oh yeah, I fully agree - this is a difficult thing to do. I'd rather keep the list to KNOWN bad actors, like devices that are obviously out of Zigbee spec or things with firmware issues. There are a bunch of new cheap Chinese sensors from Aliexpress (ORVIBO, Heiman,sonoff) that I've been testing. They claim full Zigbee 3.0 compliance (FWIW), we'll see.
Xiaomi sensors work great paired directly to the hub, but it's very much a do it at your own risk kind of thing. This is why Hubitat doesn't have an official driver for these.
This is mostly for newbies looking to get in on the cheap Zigbee sensor action without realizing a lot of the cheap stuff can wreak havoc on their network.
I'm hoping to add to this list not just from anecdotal experience, but by studying LQI values over time and also verifying what the actual child/parent relationships in the mesh look like. None of this really accounts for RF interference from WIFI networks, but that's never caused devices to drop off the mesh for me.
