After the recent firmware update I decided to move my remaining zigbee bulbs over to Hubitat. And I'm noticing a ton of lag compared to when I had all my lighting on SmartThings. Especially with anything involving multiple bulbs at once. On/off, dimming, and color change all occur slowly. And first I though it was just Alexa, but things are just as bad using local routines and buttons.
As an example I've attached a video comparing my SmartThings and Hubitat performance. This is a routine where, when my doorbell is pressed all my lights flash pink. I'm just wondering if someone could tell me, is this normal performance or a problem?
Since everything has been moved over, my zigbee mesh should be similar between the two. I don't have WebCore or Other Hub installed on Hubitat, So neither of those are causing an issue.
I've got 22 zigbee devices. Mostly bulbs with a few contact sensors and peanut plugs. I've been using the peanut plugs as repeaters. They were fine with under SmartThings. You think Hubitat might be having a problem with them?
i have a similar number on hubitat though no peanut plugs but samsung outlets which i dont think act as universal repeaters. as i added more zigbee devices response times degraded. adding the xbee has improved stability and response times a great deal. now i have another one on order so i can start moving more of the devices to hubitat.
Sometimes "rebuilding" the mesh can improve the routing efficiency, especially if devices that have been added over time are no longer in their optimal locations, network wise. If you haven't done so already, try shutting down the hub for 20 minutes or so, then start it up again.
If things go well, the end devices should rediscover their optimal parent routers/repeaters over the next several hours . Note that sometimes (at least for me) a few devices may not reconnect automatically and may need to be rejoined. But if this is done 'in place' they should join their optimal parent router.
I have the same with zwave devices. Any rule that operates multiple lights suffers noticeable lag. I ended up having to split a rule into 3 so that the first one only operated one light. That then works instantly and I know the command has been accepted. When it was all one rule, I could be waiting several seconds for the light I could see to operate. It's the only disappointment of Hubitat for me so far. It behaves as if the commands are waiting in a queue for a response from the previous device, but I'm told that's not the case. It seems especially bad when dimmers are involved.
Agree with Tony. I've noticed this as well. Especially if you have recently added/removed or even moved any devices they need some time to remap and rebuild the mesh.
Sometimes even looking at the logs (have it opep during) while you execute the command tells you where a lag may be. I know you don't use webcore but it helped me when I was troubleshooting a lag in one of my webcore routines.
When I checked this morning, rebuilding the mesh doesn't seem to have helped. After that I changed to zigbee channel 25, There is a small improvement, but it's still really laggy.
Seems like the next step would be to try the Xbee devices bangali mentioned. They look pretty neat, but once you buy the programmer, a nice enclosure, etc. It's a bit more than I'd like to spend right now. Currently saving for a computer atm.
Geoff_T's similar experience is good info to have. I'm really glad he posted even if it's discouraging. To be honest, getting so close to the finish line only to find that things are slower has kinda burned me out. I think I'm gonna move my stuff back to SmartThings for now, just to get things working again. I'll probably give Hubitat another shot in a few months, and see what improvements have been made then.
Thanks again for your help everybody! Love this community, just not in a tinkering mood lately.
love that sentiment. I bought my first Z=something hub in 2014 and since then I can't remember a day where tinkering wasn't on the agenda. I have other things I'd love to be tinkering with, but this HomeAutomation stuff just INVADED my tinker time.
Are you using the same parts NoWon mentioned in his xbee parts list? The parts I ordered cost me about 90$ so just curious what cheaper parts are there that would work as well.
Assuming that adapter works, I'll use the antenna, case, and power adapter I have already to complete it. Potentially cost being just $39 CAD. A little different for me, since I'm really buying it to learn about the network topology first and strengthening the network second. Since I'm not running that many Zigbee devices, and they're all in close range, I'm not experiencing drops so far. The month or more it will take for this to arrive, and the potential of the adapter not working as expected isn't going to be that much of an issue, if I end up having to order the same adapter you did, I just will and wait some more.
love that sentiment. I bought my first Z=something hub in 2014 and since then I can't remember a day where tinkering wasn't on the agenda. I have other things I'd love to be tinkering with, but this HomeAutomation stuff just INVADED my tinker time.
