Writing with an issue that suddenly appeared after an office layout change. I rearranged the office and added a small server rack. All the smart home hubs reside i. The rack including the C8 pro. The C8 is connected via ethernet to the same switch as before the rearrange. In the server rack is the C8, Home assistant (raspberry pi5), philips hue hub, the 8 port switch, an eero and the Verizon internet modem.
After i finished connecting all the smart home devices i began testing various smart switches and motion sensors for the lights in the house. The list of devices is extensive but 95% of the 73 active devices are Zigbee and either connect directly to the hubitat or are imported from Philips.
Devices fail to respond to motion, button presses or door relay open/close actions. For clarity the door sensors are aquara, smart buttons range from sonoff to Thirdreality and a single Ikea button. The devices control lights or smart switches using hubitat Rules/Automations. Something to mention, the interface on the app decently changes but i dont know of that is relevant. For troubleshooting ive done a Reboot of the hubitat, a power cycle, a relocate out of the server rack and an update.
Extensive troubleshooting: I rebuilt the zigbee mesh from within hubitat, changes the zigbee channel and adjusted the power output. I've re-paired several of the sensors, switches and bulbs when quit working. This fixes the issue temporarily but it happens again. Additionally, there are times when i will walk in to one of the bathrooms and there will be a delay of 8-10 seconds before the light comes on triggered by a motion sensor.
A lot of info but Im stumped. When everything works, it smooth but this issue is so inconsistent I just cant figure out the cause.
This could have something to do with it, or at least some kind of interference could be what is happening. That said, delays in activation of a light would make this less likely the root cause.... I'll put this back on the table, see @danabw 's comment below...
You're using the original power supply that came w/the C8-Pro? Issues have been found when using other power supplies/POE
If you changed Ethernet cables connected to the hub could try swapping in a different cable just to rule it out
Move the C8-Pro out of the rack and see if that resolves things...lots of potential interference w/all the networking devices hubs in close proximity
Per @sburke781's comment...you do want to avoide Zigbee/2.4ghz network interference. See image below. Generally keep Wi-Fi down towards 1 and 6, and Zigbee on 25 works for many of us. Each time you change channels it can take a while for all devices to find their way back to the hub on the new channel, and in some cases you may have to power them down/up, or possibly re-join.
For the motion lighting example, you may want to clarify this...
e.g. are the motion sensors paired to the Hue bridge and then brought in via the built-in integration or Community alternatives, or are they paired directly to the HE hub. Similarly for the lights and any other devices involved. Then what apps are being used for the automation, though that is less likely a factor, I expect.
You may also want to look at the health of the zigbee network for the HE hub to see if there are any problematic devices involved in communication with the sensors and lights, depending on where devices are being paired.
Thank you everyone that posted replies. I'm planning on changing the zigbee channel to 15, 20 or 25. Wondering if anyone with a complex smart home has an opinion on the best channel and location for the hub with respect to the devices. For clarity, I have two streaming media devices that rely specifically on wifi and recently swapped the eero's for ASUS wifi mesh that incorporates a 2.4ghz iot_wifi network for certain wifi devices (still learning about that).
The last response mentioned motion sensors. Those and the door contact sensors are paired directly to HE, they are Third reality and Aqara. Incidentally, the buttons I have to include 3 Philips hue buttons, Third reality and one Ikea also connect directly to HE. Only the Philips Hue bulbs connect to the Hue hub and interface with HE using the Coco bridge.
Zigbee channel selection depends on 2.4 wifi in use around you (yours and any nearby neighbors). And of course any other zigbee meshes you have (e.g. Hue).
All things being equal, Channel 25 has been a popular choice for many of us using C8/8Pro. Though my Eero adjusts channels automatically, its 2.4 wifi consistently stays in in the lower channels and my Hue's forever been on zigbee ch 20, so although zigbee ch 15 always worked great on my SmartThings and HE C7, it was problematic with my C8/8Pro -- moving my 8/8Pro over to ch 25 was been solid for me.
Zigbee Ch 26 is commonly avoided as not all devices support it and it's limited to lower transmission power in North America.
I have three Unifi Access Points (2 for the house and one in my buildings which the signal reaches the house slightly). The house wifi channels are 11 for the main AP and 6 for the secondary AP. The AP in the building is on channel 1. Run three different zigbee coordinators. Hubitat C8 Pro on channel 20 with power level 8 (out of box setting). Aqara M2 Hub on channel 15. Home Assistant using Z2M on channel 11. The HA channel 11 does fall in the same range as my building AP on channel 1 but the WiFi signal is so week in the house from that AP I have zero interference. I wanted to keep channel 25 open if at all possible in case I had any issues.
Knock on wood to this point I have had zero issues out of any of the zigbee networks or issues with interference to or from my wifi. Been running 2 of three for about a year and half and added HA back in February.
