Really Really dissappointed in Zigbee implemenation -

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Trying to remember why I left ST now - Hubitat was fun in the begining but am very disappointed in lack of Zigbee stability. First the GE link bulbs stopped working, everyone said get a hue hub or GE-Link are garbage, so I got a hue hub and 6 weeks now not one bulb has dropped off, if Hue can do it, why can't cant Hubitat?

Then my iris motion sensors keep dropping off and I a constantly adding them again, and now wait for it the a Sengled bulb 15 feet from the hub is not responding - what joke this zigbee implmentation is.

Oh yeah not to mention - people said get repeaters, so did that too... yeah sure. Never had these issues with ST. Yeah lack of local control and cloud dependency was annoying but not this level of unreliability.

Very dissapointed

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Hi there, sorry for the troubles. Have you reached out to support@hubitat.com? We would like to take a look at what might be the problem. Many people are using Iris sensors without any problems. Adding repeaters is indeed the quickest way to strengthen your Zigbee mesh, but if you have heavy interference on the 2.4Ghz band, repeaters may not be enough.

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I am just starting to understand zigbee but one thing to check is what channel zigbee is running on.
Go to settings; zigbee Details. There you can see what channel its running on.
There is a zigbee logging button that you can click to see signal quality and signal strength.
Then there is http://[hub_ip_address]/hub/zigbee/getChildAndRouteInfo

There you can see how devices mesh with one another.

It could be a simple matter of the channel it is running on. Zigbee uses the same zadio band as WiFi so its something you want to check. There is a free app for your phone called Wifi Analyzer that will show you the Wifi networks around you. Angain, its another tool to help you solve the problem.

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You had or have GE Link bulbs connected to your Hue Bridge or you're now using Hue bulbs? Just curious.

Doesn't take much searching of the forum to realize this isn't the norm. Something in your setup is causing an issue, or you have a fault in the Zigbee radio of your hub. However, I would echo the suggestions to continue to look at environment variables. What Zigbee channel are you running? Is the SmartThings hub still active, and if so are you experiencing interference from its Zigbee radio (is it on the same or a channel too close to the HE hub)? Do you have a mesh WiFi system with nodes very close to the Zigbee devices (possibly on a conflicting channel). What repeaters are you using and how large of an area are you trying to cover? One bulb not responding, does not mean you have a bad hub. Sengled bulbs don't try and repeat, so they're good in that way, buy my own personal experience with the Sengled Element Plus bulbs has been that, from time to time, they don't respond properly, and I do get one dropping off, despite an IKEA Trådfri outlet between them and the total distance from hub to bulb only 20 feet. But that's just those bulbs. No other Zigbee devices act that way. In fact, I have more Xiaomi Zigbee devices now than anything, and with the Trådfri outlets, they are as stable as devices that cost 3 or 4 times as much.

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Good thread...

I ran the http://[hub_ip_address]/hub/zigbee/getChildAndRouteInfo and found 1 device is not talking to it's nearest neighbor, guess it's time to rebuild the network and see if it helps

Rick

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I never knew that command existed. It is interesting to see the results.

Child Data
child:[SR V1 Outlet Button, 170C, type:EMBER_SLEEPY_END_DEVICE]

Neighbor Table Entry
[MBR CF Dimmer, 00B5], LQI:254, age:3, inCost:1, outCost:6
[LR CF Dimmer, 7315], LQI:254, age:3, inCost:1, outCost:4
[Iris CR V2 Outlet, 9F91], LQI:255, age:3, inCost:1, outCost:1
[Iris LR V2 Outlet, D36F], LQI:255, age:3, inCost:1, outCost:1

Route Table Entry
status:Active, age:64, routeRecordState:0, concentratorType:None, [Iris CR V2 Outlet, 9F91] via [Iris CR V2 Outlet, 9F91]
status:Unused
status:Active, age:64, routeRecordState:0, concentratorType:None, [Bosch CR Motion, 5E3B] via [Iris CR V2 Outlet, 9F91]
status:Active, age:64, routeRecordState:0, concentratorType:None, [Iris LR V2 Outlet, D36F] via [Iris LR V2 Outlet, D36F]
status:Active, age:64, routeRecordState:0, concentratorType:None, [LR CF Dimmer, 7315] via [LR CF Dimmer, 7315]
status:Active, age:64, routeRecordState:0, concentratorType:None, [Bosch MBR Motion, BBA7] via [Iris LR V2 Outlet, D36F]
status:Active, age:64, routeRecordState:0, concentratorType:None, [MBR CF Dimmer, 00B5] via [Iris LR V2 Outlet, D36F]
status:Active, age:64, routeRecordState:0, concentratorType:None, [Kitchen Light, 1E3A] via [Iris CR V2 Outlet, 9F91]
status:Active, age:64, routeRecordState:0, concentratorType:None, [Iris LR Keypad, EB53] via [Iris LR V2 Outlet, D36F]
status:Active, age:64, routeRecordState:0, concentratorType:None, [Zen Thermostat, BF93] via [Iris CR V2 Outlet, 9F91]
status:Active, age:64, routeRecordState:0, concentratorType:None, [Bosch LR Motion, 9ACF] via [LR CF Dimmer, 7315]
status:Active, age:64, routeRecordState:0, concentratorType:None, [Bosch Kitchen Motion, 2726] via [LR CF Dimmer, 7315]
status:Unused
status:Unused
status:Unused
status:Unused

It is interesting that most items go through one of the Iris V2 outlets but three of them are going through the NUE 3A dimmer switches that are in my ceiling fans. I don't see some devices (Iris V2 button switches in the list. I''m not sure if that indicates a problem though. I just tested two of them and both work as expected. They just does not show up in the list.

One other thing is that it is interesting that the thermostat is routed though the Iris V2 outlet, even though the hub is physically closer to the thermostat than the outlet, but by only a few feet.

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That's the Mesh Build effect.. we all want our mesh to cover the largest area.. using only devices close to the hub, doesn't increase the area by much. Picking repeaters far out near the edge and then the next one far out from the repeater, creates the largest mesh.

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I have GE-Link bulbs and Hue bulbs on the hue bridge. Used to have GE-Links on hubitat and they kept dropping off, and people suggested putting them on the Hue bridge, and then using the Hue/Hubitat integration. I use them exclusively through Hue.

Thank you - will start digging. I don't have a ST hub active any more only Hubitat and Hue on different channels

Good to know that about Sengled - although until now I hadn't seen this.

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Thanks for sharing this, didn't know this was there.

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Those bulbs gave me trouble on SmartThings and Wink too. Sengled replaced one of them under warranty, but it hasn’t made a difference in reliability at all.

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After reading my original post again, I realize that I was a bit harsh. Waking up to lights that should have turned off and not being a morning person did that to me...

note to self :slight_smile: - dont post before morning coffee.

That said - I really appreciate the community and all the responses. Several avenues to pursue now to figure this out.

Thank you everyone for your responses and suggestions.

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I didnt read the whole thread but I have read that others have stated that the iris v1 stuff introduces reliability issues. My zigbee was extremely stable until I added 2 iris v1 motion sensors. I soon plan to take them off soon and replace with smarthings sensors when I have some spare money.

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I ended up getting a separate hub to which all my Iris V1 devices are linked. Since doing that, my Hubitat has been very stable. Depending on the relative cost of additional sensors compared to the cost of an additional hub, you may wish to do likewise.

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Sounds like a bad hub man. I don't have any of these issues. I have zigbee all over my house.

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Impressive. I didn't know you could do this! Can you do this with zwave too?

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Not sure actually, maybe @an39511 might know since the other tip about zigbee came from there :slight_smile:

Rick

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ZWave is different and there is no similar "report". You can use an additional ZStick and a tool such as OZWCP to get the Neighbor's table, and then extrapolate the routing. Non-trivial.

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I have two locations with hubs and dozens of v1 and v2 zigbee devices and I have never had any issues with them. Maybe it is my environment, but Zigbee FAR outperforms my zwave plus devices, in speed, distance and reliability. I do not have any bulbs of any kind on either system. I think there is a problem with your radio or a device in your mesh... just my experience..

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It's funny you say your ZigBee works better then your zwave. This is my experience too.

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All my Iris stuff is V2

Seems more and more that way - I am making one last attempt and separating wifi form zigbee channels. If that doesn't work, perhaps its time to start a support case for replacement. I have now relocated my routers to channel 11 and channel 6, Hue is on zigbee channel 11 and Hubitat is on zigbee channel 26. I did a site survey and there is no other wifi signal that overlaps with zigbee channel 26.
Let's see if that helps.

Running this command I only see 50% of my devices, and looks like only one repeater is being used. Not much of a mesh.

Parent child parameters
EzspGetParentChildParametersResponse [childCount=4, parentEui64=0000000000000000, parentNodeId=65535]

Child Data
child:[Hall Motion Sensor, 353C, type:EMBER_SLEEPY_END_DEVICE]
child:[Bath Motion Sensor, 32BA, type:EMBER_SLEEPY_END_DEVICE]
child:[Hall, 1A8C, type:EMBER_END_DEVICE]
child:[Attic, 02A5, type:EMBER_END_DEVICE]

Neighbor Table Entry
[Environment Sensor, 1E80], LQI:80, age:7, inCost:7, outCost:0
[Washing Machine, 2337], LQI:113, age:4, inCost:7, outCost:0
[System, D029], LQI:254, age:3, inCost:1, outCost:5

Route Table Entry
status:Active, age:64, routeRecordState:0, concentratorType:None, [Entrance Motion Sensor, 7A7E] via [System, D029]
status:Unused
status:Active, age:64, routeRecordState:0, concentratorType:None, [System, D029] via [System, D029]
status:Active, age:64, routeRecordState:0, concentratorType:None, [Washing Machine, 2337] via [System, D029]
status:Unused
status:Unused
status:Unused
status:Unused
status:Unused
status:Unused
status:Unused
status:Unused
status:Unused
status:Unused
status:Unused
status:Unused

Yeah looks like I need to do that too.