Read signal strength of Zigbee (maybe Zwave too) device (solved)

🛎️ Get Help Devices
1

This is probably the wrong place for this, but here goes.

I have some MHCozy single channel switches, and note some seem more reliable then others.

Opening some of them up, I see an antenna shaped like a coil just hanging into space.

You see it here, the black coil at a 45 degeree angle.

Cozy
Cozy1920×1440 342 KB

In each of the devices, the orientation of the antenna, at least, is different. I suspect the length of the wire, and tightness of the coil and diameter is different also.

It occurs to me the variable dimensions of that antenna may make a big difference in the connectivity of the device to the hub.

I know, for example, that antennas do not work well along the axis of the coil, rather preferred is to have the other radio off to the side of the coil.

My question, does anybody know if a simple way (of course "simple" when dealing with antennas is relative) to change the shape, and maybe length of the wire to optimize reception.

I bet getting support from the manufacturer on this topic to diagnose at the Cozy end will be difficult, but maybe using Hubitat or another hub may work.

Does Hubitat have a signal strength variable for each device? I haven't seen one.

I suspect the diagnostic machine would have to be pretty sophisticated with the device ID and signal strength at a minimum.

I'm sure the manufacturers just pump these antennas out and they probably have a fairly wide tolerance.

Thanks, Mark.

2

If that coil is not being used for a remote you can just cut it off.

mhcozy
mhcozy856×475 154 KB

Edit: Remote example :arrow_down:
remote1

1 Like
3

Settings > Zigbee details > View Logs
Give it a few moments and it should start to populate with rssi and lqi information for your zigbee devices.

You can get simular zwave info with the Z-Wave Mesh Details app

4

@CoolJavelin

Just to expand on what @Ranchitat wrote. The MHCozy devices have two radios:

  1. Zigbee
  2. 433 MHz

That coil is the antenna for the 433 MHz radio, and not the zigbee radio, which has an on-chip antenna.

1 Like
5

Thank you sidjohn1.
This may help a lot placing repeaters an such.
Maybe I'll make a feature request to include that info in the Zigbee Network Graph.

New information from aalyar and Ranchitat. (thanks to both for clearing the antenna mystery.)

I use the ESP8266 and ESP32 a lot, and they have an on board antenna like the one in the red box. I wonder why I didn't think about that antenna (getting old I guess.)

Those "on board" antennas are pretty good and optimizing them would probably only yeald a tiny percent of improvement. Also it would be way out of my wheelhouse.

Of course now that you point out the possibility of a remote I'm not going to sleep until I get a couple of them and spend the next couple of weeks ingratiating them into my system. :joy:

(I think I'll mark this a solved. Thanks again.)

Mark.

6

If you want a ZigBee relay with a better antenna, take a look at the Aqara Dual Relay Module T2 that c/w an attached external antenna.
image
It's not part of the officially supported Aqara devices list yet :thinking: but there is a Hubitat community driver from @dandanache available HERE.