I have a Third Reality zigbee smart plug that I paired to my C7. The reason I bought it was to use it as a repeater for some of my downstairs devices that are too far from the hub. The plug paired just fine, but no other devices will connect to it and use it as a repeater. Does anyone have any experience with these?
I've heard, IIRC, good things about these as repeaters...
When you add a new device to your mesh it can take a while for it to decide to switch to a new device for repeating. Your device needs to "see" the better path, and I believe the new path through the repeater needs to be "x" better than the device's current hub connection for it to jump over to use the new repeater.
You could try a reset/re-join of the device. You can reset and re-join Zigbee devices and they will slot back into their current name and automations they are currently in, so no damage to your setup.
I appreciate your reply, but ive had it for 2 weeks. I have also shut the hub down several times and deleted devices and re-paired them. The plug still wont work as a repeater.
Helpful to know...when posting a request for help it's best to include your timeline and what you have tried to that point, so people don't ask you to do things you've already done.
So next steps...your devices deciding to use a repeater is up typically up to them...I never asked you, just to confirm, are the devices that you want to use the repeater not working, or unreliable?
If you want to keep some tabs on your Zigbee network it can be useful to install the Zigbee Map App to take a look at routes your Zigbee devices are using?
You can take a look at this option below which may allow you to choose a repeater for your device(s). I have never used it, preferring to let my devices figure out their routes as much as possible, but you might want to try it.
https://dan-danache.github.io/hubitat/zigbee-pairing-helper-driver/
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I will try that. Thank you for your reply.
I have 5 of these throughout my house and they all work well as repeaters. As stated above your device will choose what it connects to. If they are close enough to connect well to your hub that can be difficult to get them to switch.
Something you can try is power down you hub completely for around 20 to 30 minutes. This will cause your battery devices to go into panic mode and look for a new connection. Sometimes this can help push things to repeaters.
Also, if your devices are working with no issues then don't worry about it. Put your repeaters in your mesh. Keep adding devices. Your hub when it starts to hit count will start shedding devices and pushing them to repeaters if they are in your mesh. At least that is how it was explained to me once.
Also, a wise man (@danabw ) once told me if your mesh is working fine then don't put a lot of stock in the zigbee maps. If it works it works and don't fix it.
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Thank you. The connection was sporadic, so I ended up installing a MOES zigbee light switch, and the devices are now using that as a repeater. The Third Reality plug i moved to the other side of the house, and I will try to shut down the hub for a while. Thank you very much for your reply.
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How do you like the Moe's switch? Is it UL or ETL certified?
If they are working on the switch I wouldn't mess with it.
I have lots of Third Reality Smartplugs, both Gen1 and Gen2. They are my goto plugs. If I look at my Zigbee map, most of my Zigbee devices are connected directly to the hub. Only a handful are connected via repeater. As long as all devices are communicating with the hub, all is well. If a device has difficulty communicating, the Zigbee network will reconfigure itself.
When I originallay purchased my C7, a number of devices did connect through repeaters. After upgrading to the C8 and now the C8 Pro, most of my Zigbee and Z-wave connections are direct due to the external antennas and the upgraded chips in the new hubs.
It is CE certified, and seems to be working well
I had two of these and experienced the same symptoms you described. I bought some of the IKEA ones that were about the same price and I could pick them up locally. They have been working great.
Thank you to everyone who replied.
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