If you’re on the same network you will find Hub Mesh very easy to use and it’s built in. I haven’t noticed any lag time using this. I have rules on both hubs and can’t tell any difference with regard to this.
thanks... same network. do i just add the lights as shared then? i can keep all the rules, scenes, etc on the main hub?
Yes
Remove the lights from rules before deleting them. You can put a virtual light in as a placeholder and then exchange for the mesh device when it’s rejoined.
ok... so i got the 2nd hub installed and tried to move 1 light but I am having a weird issue. The bulb is an osram lightify on the latest firmware and works fine on the original hub using both generic and advanced drivers. when i remove it and add it to the new hub (both are c7 models and I just updated the firmware on both to the latest) it will only work with the generic driver and is not working correctly. it will always show CT mode not RGB. The color is off when I select one. If I switch to the advanced driver it stops working completely. The only difference is the original hub is on channel 20 and the new one is on 25. Any ideas what my issue may be?
ok... so it looks like the bulbs don't like channel 25 for some reason. i saw on the forums others have had luck with sylvania bulbs on channel 25 but maybe they were the newer ones. when i have them on 25 they don't respond all the time and when they do they will change to the wrong color or not work correctly. with the hub on channel 24 they seem to be happy and working as intended with both generic and advanced drivers, so channel 24 it is lol. I will move the original hub from channel 20 to 25 after I move all the lights. I have 4 access points and have restricted them to channels 1 and 6 on 2.4ghz now.
when i move the original hub from 20 to 25 should all my plugs, light switches etc automatically move? or will I have to remove and re-add them?
Thanks!
Everything should move over pretty rapidly. The only thing I ever have to rejoin is the dreadful Hue dimmers...EVERY TIME. Why don't you just try 24 instead.
Everythng I've read says that 25 is lower power, and my hubs are on 19 and 24 without issues.
One more question about groups... Does it matter what hub the groups are created on? Will the zigbee group messaging still work if the group is on hub 1 and the lights are on hub 2? Or will it not work and cause the popcorn effect? What is the best practice for the groups? Should they be created on the hub with the lights and shared or does it matter?
Yes
No
Yes
Create the groups on the same hub that the devices are on, at least the directly linked zigbee devices to take advantage of zigbee group messaging. You can then share the lights and groups to the other hub.
@slikone27 I'm assuming you don't have your wifi on channel 11 with these channel selections. If you do, you should put it on 1, or if that's not possible, channel 6 at the highest.
Thanks! Appreciate all the help. What is your suggestion for the 2 zigbee channels I should use? I have 4 wireless access points to cover the house so using a single channel is not an option. I can either use 1 and 6 for wifi which i am now and 24 and 25 for zigbee (the original hub could go to 25 and its light switches and outlets so not sure how low power would effect them) or I can change my wifi to 1 and 11 and use zigbee 19 and 20 (change new hub to 19 and leave original on 20).
Looks like the only way to avoid the side-bands would be to use 24 and 25 correct?
If it works then go with it. You can try 24 for the lights and that should be fine with them, but if not it is easy enough to change it to 20, or 21 for that matter. I have never had to rejoin any of my lights, Samsung outlets, or GE zigbee switches due to a channel change. I think most people here would agree and channels 1 & 6 are the first choice for your situation.
That should completely avoid them, but most people have good luck with 20. I have been lucky that my Velop AX placed in the center hallway of the house somehow has strong wifi all the way out to the road, so only using channel 1.
Also, make sure to place the hubs at least 3 feet away from the router, and don't lock them up in a closet or cabinet as they can get overheated. I tried putting one in the closet briefly and found out how much drywall weakened the network and caused unresponsive devices.
both hubs are located in the storage room which is where all my A/V equipment and other devices like rachio are. but there is no APs in that room at all. I have them mounted to the plywood but outside the metal A/V rack.
Unless you have repeaters on the other side of the wall they are mounted on, you may have signal issues. Zigbee is low energy, so it won't travel like wifi, even though it uses the same spectrum. I ended up mounting mine on the wall outside the closet using 3M picture hanger velcro strips. I put up a shelf under them for disguise.
mine are velcro'd to the plywood, but don't the sylvania lights repeat for themselves? so as long as it is all just sylvania lights (and there are lights all over every floor - 56 total) they should repeat the signal fine for themselves, they just cause issues with other devices in the mix, correct?
and should I leave the LEDVANCE smart+ bulbs on the original hub to avoid any issues with them messing up the old bulbs repeating? I am assuming yes but since I have a few scattered about and mixed with other osram bulbs in the same area, i may have to move those around a bit to get the groups to work correctly lol
But they need a good signal to start with. I had around 65 (of the newer version) with 14 within 10 feet of the hub and still added a few GE Zigbee dimmers in a couple of less densely populated areas to make everything work as I wanted.
No. They should help, and you don't want a lot of space between lights because they don't put out a strong signal (the recessed ones do much better in my experience). You will see on the zigbee log that a bulb 10 feet from the hub will have an Rssi of around -78 and one of your Samsung outlets 20 feet away will have an Rssi around -55. Maybe you'll get lucky and all of the old ones will die before the warranty runs out 
Try to keep Osrams in Osram groups and Ledvance in Ledvance groups. they don't behave the same dimming and on/off, or show warm color temps the same and it will look odd.
Edit: Even better, if you can replace any of them with the Sylvania Smart+ rt 5/6 full color lights, you will like them much better. I originally had bought 6 of the BR30s, but then needed some for the bathrooms, so I bought several rt 5/6 since they are certified for damp conditions. I will say that they obviously don't use the same leds in them. The rt 5/6 have much nicer light, deeper colors, and a CRI of 90+. I now have 15 of them and have not had to replace, rejoin, or reset a single one. They are hard to find now for less than $50 each except on Ebay. They can be had sometimes for $10 to $15 each. You do have to update the firmware on them.
thanks... but the warranty has definitely passed. they are all 3+ years old at least except for the few I replaced and got the smart+ bulbs. Zigbee wise all I really had on the original hub at the moment was the osram/ledvance lights and the ST outlets and I am having lights drop all the time. So I bought the 2nd hub to try just the lights this time. maybe i will grab a few LEDVANCE outlets and throw them on there to see if they behave any different. any opinion/thoughts on the newer LEDVANCE outlets?
They work well for me but don't seem to repeat for more than one or two devices. The Samsung outlets are the best I've found.
hmm... this is interesting.
the 4 media room lights (br30) work great and they are right on the other side of the wall from the hub. the group with group messaging work as expected.
the 7 den lights (also br30s) are not behaving well. they are about 20 feet from the hub and on the other side of the wall from the media room lights (even closer then the hub). only 2 were coming on using the group on but 5 out of the 7 worked individually. Then I went to group and set level to 80% and 6 out of the 7 came on. "Bulb 1" will turn off (on the bulb itself) but not turn on using the on switch. However it will turn on if I set the level or anything else. No matter how many times I reset and rejoin "bulb 3" and it does rejoin fine, it stops working shortly after or immediately after the first command it gets.
If I go to settings > diagnostic tools on either one of my hubs the page just fails to load and timeouts. what is the best way to troubleshoot this? even getting the media room lights working seemed a bit odd on this hub which was not the case on the original hub (and i added all lights first, before outlets etc when i setup the original - and everything worked fine). They are located next to each other so location shouldn't be an issue.
Wondering if something may be wrong with the 2nd hub and I should return it? also what should I get for the diagnostic page? did the latest update break it? what is it trying to load? Thanks!
