Request for Assistance: Zigbee Issues

For nearly two weeks, I have been experiencing significant Zigbee issues that have progressively worsened. Upon rebooting my Hubitat hub, Zigbee devices either take an extremely long time to reconnect, fail to reconnect entirely, or intermittently drop offline. At this point, I can no longer re-pair any existing devices or add new ones.

Background and Initial Diagnosis

With the help of community members (@thebearmay, @kkossev, and @jtmpush18), initially it was suspected that three Tuya Zigbee mmWave Sensors were overly chatty and potentially flooding the Zigbee network. However, after removing them, there was no improvement. This was from the post ZigBee Device Connectivity Issues. I started this new post as this was resolved.

For over six months, my network has been supported by three Zigbee plugs—one in the middle of the house, one at the front, and another in the basement, where my Hubitat hub (C-7) is located at the back. These, along with the three recently removed Tuya mmWave Sensors, previously provided a stable network. I have since replaced the removed sensors with two Linptech mmWave ES1 sensors, which also act as repeaters.

I currently have 38 Zigbee devices, including:

  • Battery-Powered Devices: Buttons, light bulbs, door/window contacts, humidity & temperature sensors, water sensors (leak/moisture), and motion + Lux sensors.
  • Repeater Devices: Three Zigbee outlets and two Linptech mmWave ES1 sensors.

My Zigbee channel is set to 20.


Troubleshooting Steps Taken

  1. Initial Logs Review
  • Checked live logs—only standard "info" messages were present.
  • Found a "warn" message for the kitchen plug: "No response received (device offline?)." Attempted to re-pair, but it would not reconnect. The plugs now seem to be going off and online.
  • Other plugs remained online but responded very slowly.
  1. Hub Reboot
  • Rebooted the hub and waited 10 minutes for stabilization.
  • No improvement—some door contacts failed to report, buttons were intermittently responsive, and many Zigbee devices remained unresponsive.
  1. Reboot with Database Rebuild
  • Performed a database rebuild and rebooted the hub.
  • No resolution—issues persisted.
  1. Hub Power Cycle
  • Powered off the hub and unplugged it for 20 minutes to reset the Zigbee network.
  • After powering it back on and waiting an hour and overnight, there was no improvement.
  • Zigbee device statuses remained unchanged.
  1. Device Discovery/Rediscovery
  • Tried removing and reinserting batteries or unplugging devices to force reconnection—no success.
  • Within close proximity to the hub:
    • Attempted to rediscover unresponsive Zigbee devices, but they would not pair.
    • Attempted to pair a new Zigbee device, but it would not connect.
  1. Review of Zigbee Devices (Hubitat Hub > Zigbee Details)
  • Many devices report messages, but some do not.
  • Several devices have a message count below 8, and those tested fail to communicate consistently.
  • Example: A door contact may show as "open" but does not update to "closed" in real-time or only changes status after a significant delay.
  1. Review of Zigbee System Logs (Hubitat Hub > Zigbee Details > Logs)
  • After removing the Tuya mmWave Sensors, log activity significantly decreased to light/moderate levels.
  • Only a handful of devices are reporting here.
  • Discovered a potential Zigbee ghost device—a log entry referencing "Device 0 does not exist on this hub. It was most likely deleted at some point. Please update your links."
  1. Zigbee Mapping via Community App
  • Zigbee Neighbors Map (after 30 minutes): Only 4 out of 38 devices appear. Many devices in the "Devices" tab show a red circle with a line through it.
  • Zigbee Routing Map (after 30 minutes): Only 12 out of 38 devices appear. Many devices in the "Devices" tab show a red circle with a line through it.
  1. System Stats Review
  • No abnormalities detected in system stats.
  • Reported values are within expected ranges.
  1. Hub Utilization (Overnight Data)
  • Devices: 35m 44s / 16h 58m 0s total (3.5%)
  • Local Apps: 1h 8m 7s / 16h 57m 55s total (6.7%)
  1. Scanning Zigbee Channels
  • All channels have RSSI = 0, LQI = 0, Pan ID = Blank, Extended Pan ID = Blank.

Observations

  • Despite previous stability, most Zigbee devices are now failing to communicate effectively.
  • No apparent heavy load on the hub.
  • Some Zigbee devices never reconnect, while others frequently disconnect and reconnect.
  • A few devices appear to be functioning normally.

Request for Assistance

I would appreciate any guidance or troubleshooting steps to resolve this issue as only about a 1/4 of my Zigbee devices are working reliably.

Additional Information

  • Hardware Version: C-7
  • Platform Version: 2.4.0.151
  • Connection: Ethernet
  • IP: Static (set on the router)

Is your zigbee Channel 20 well deconflicted with your 2.4 wifi's channel?

Do you have any other zigbee hubs (Hue, Tuya, Aqara, etc) -- if so, on what channel(s)?

3 Likes

I wonder if you've added any wifi devices since zigbee started screwing up?

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Thanks @hydro311 for the suggestions.

Yes as it is on Channel 20. If there was an issue would I not see that when I scan Zigbee Channels.

No just Hubitat's hub.

Thanks @velvetfoot for the suggestion.

No have not added any WiFi devices in months.

Hubitat's Zigbee Channel Scan is not a reliable tool -- unfortunately, it's very patchy and inconsistent.

Given that you have no other zigbee hubs, what channel is your 2.4 wifi on?

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Well thats disapointing news. I always trusted that.

The 2.4 is on Channel 1 and Sonos is on 11. I double checked this with WiFi Analyzer.

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IMO, 5 zigbee routers for 33 end-devices is too few. My zigbee mesh has been very stable - I have about 1 router for every 3.5-4 end-devices.

5 for 38 devices overall is also low because not every potential router will function as one.

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Hi @aaiyar,

Thanks for following up—I appreciate your insights. However, that ratio seems a bit excessive to me. My Zigbee mesh has been rock solid until now, so I’m scratching my head as to why issues would suddenly appear. Given that my home is only 1,400 sq. ft., I’m not sure where I’d even put enough repeaters to meet that ratio—unless I start stacking them like a game of Jenga.

My experience has been that I can't manually allocate Zigbee devices to specific repeaters. On top of that, I can’t even successfully pair new devices just a few feet from the Hubitat hub, so I’m not sure how I’d even add another four or five repeaters. At this point, I can’t help but feel like this is either corruption or a hardware issue with the hub’s Zigbee radio—because if it’s just my mesh rebelling, I’d love to know what I did to offend it!

Your experience (sudden instability) is a symptom of mesh insufficiency. If you cannot change the number of routers, then use routers of higher quality.

1 Like

I’m happy to replace the repeaters, but as I mentioned, I’m unable to pair or re-pair devices at the moment. Before proceeding with any replacements, I was hoping someone could help me identify why the Zigbee radio isn’t allowing pairing. Apologies, but could you clarify what I might be overlooking.

Hi @bravenel, would you be able to provide some insight into this issue? I’d really appreciate your help.

Try 15 or 25. We've seen issues before with Ch. 20. I've passed your post on to the Zigbee team. When you change channels, allow about a day for everything to settle, although in my experience it settles pretty quickly.

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Thank you so much for getting back to me so quickly, @bravenel! I will try channel 25 and will report back here in a day or so. Thanks again for passing this on to the Zigbee team

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What changes were made 2 weeks ago when the problems started? Did you added or remove devices around this time?

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can you PM me your hub id?, I'd like to look at your engineering logs, thanks!

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Hi @tony.fleisher,

There were no changes made—that's actually the point, as everything had been rock solid until then. However, as mentioned a few days ago:

With @bravenel's help, it now looks like @mike.maxwell is looking into it.

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Usually sudden instability coincides with router failure or something new in the RF environment. Have you checked if all of your zigbee routers are still online?

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@DGBQ you've got a lot of the top people here looking at your problems, (I'm not one of those), but I have a suggestion.
I suggest that you go out and buy 3 "good" Zigbee repeaters, and pair them with your Hub, and give your mesh 24 hours to settle down.
What are "good" repeaters? I know of a few from personal use, but I'm sure there are others.

  1. The simplest one is the tiny USB adapter,bought from Aliexpress: ($5.57 Can)
    https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005007444439101.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.main.17.3112sh06sh06Mr&algo_pvid=5d514cf8-c835-49a4-a824-7ece68853117&algo_exp_id=5d514cf8-c835-49a4-a824-7ece68853117-8&pdp_npi=4%40dis!CAD!10.02!5.57!!!49.32!27.42!%402101efeb17385206638696531e3bbf!12000040777906475!sea!CA!0!ABX&curPageLogUid=oOkqTCDwOzW9&utparam-url=scene%3Asearch|query_from%3A
  2. Sonoff ZBMicro (also USB adapter): ($11.79 Can)
    https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005007422593140.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.main.1.29124be9Lwkezc&algo_pvid=f57014fd-2593-46d1-b77f-b7193a78263b&algo_exp_id=f57014fd-2593-46d1-b77f-b7193a78263b-0&pdp_npi=4%40dis!CAD!39.37!11.79!!!26.57!7.96!%402103241117385208065643351e44b0!12000040691925904!sea!CA!0!ABX&curPageLogUid=P41Kgwm1a350&utparam-url=scene%3Asearch|query_from%3A
  3. 3Rd Reality Zigbee Outlet Plug ($42 for a 4 pack)
    THIRDREALITY Zigbee Smart Plug 4 Pack, 15A Smart Outlet with Timer Function, ETL Certified, ZigBee Hub Required : Amazon.ca: Tools & Home Improvement

This is certainly a low cost way of determining if it's your repeaters that are causing the issue.
Furthermore, as @aaiyar has said, maybe you need more repeaters anyway.
(This suggestion is probably from the old days, when we used to say: "Throw hardware at the problem!)

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I wonder if maybe a neighbour might have added a device that causes a conflict?

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