Hi there everyone. I’m trying to setup a new Hubitat system in a cabin. Power consumption is critical so ideally I’m trying to find a WiFi Mesh that also acts as a Zigbee repeater. Requirements would include…
Can establish both a WiFi and Zigbee mesh
Low power
Doesn’t require permanent Internet connection to run
If such a device doesn’t exist ( and I don’t think it does from browsing around ), can anyone recommend a cheap USB Zigbee repeater with a wide range of device compatibility that I could plug into the WiFi Mesh nodes so that I achieve the same thing albeit that it’s not integrated.
I’ve been using Tuya USB zigbee repeaters. They’ve worked with every zigbee end device I have in my mesh. And are much more resilient to network issues relative to Ikea Tradfri USB repeaters, which I used previously.
I guess your idea of a cabin is different than mine. How many sq. ft. is this cabin? I have a single WiFi router and three Zigbee repeaters in a 2500 sq. ft. home. The repeaters are the type that plug directly into a USB port, so if your router has a USB port you aren't using, it could power one of them up. Not sure you need the mesh wifi.
A reasonable assumption that I wouldn’t need a mesh for a cabin . The “cabin” is spread across 3 separate buildings which is why I need the WiFi mesh. I want to be able to cover the same area with my Zigbee mesh. If there is no integrated unit (and I would love to hear from anyone that knows of one) then these USB repeater recommendations from yourself and @aaiyar are the next best thing.
If distance is great enough between buildings as it is at my house (separate garage and shop buildings), extenders won't work. I installed a Hubitat at each location and used Hub Mesh to make them look like one hub, sort of.
Great idea about the Hub Mesh. One of the buildings is very close to the main cabin (few meters) and the other build might be about 10 or so. For all buildings I have only one AP at the moment but it’s unable to fully cover all three. For the first building, which is quite close to the main cabin it’s the wall which is attenuating the signal. I don’t have many devices either in the main cabin or the satellites to act as repeaters hence the desire for dedicated repeaters. Understand the risk with the repeater that it might not cut it and if that’s the case I have Cat 6 running to one Satellite that I could use for your Hub Mesh idea. Thanks!
First, I seriously doubt any mfr makes a combined wifi and zigbee repeater. Next, we have three buildings on our property, which was originally our "camp" here in Maine. I found that even though these buildings are only about 50-75' apart, I couldn't get zigbee or z-wave to work with a single hub, even using repeaters. Having a separate Hubitat in each building, plus two repeaters in each of the larger buildings for z-wave, resulted in a rock solid system. I don't yet have much zigbee but am adding temp/humidity sensors, so zigbee repeaters (likely Tuya) will be added soon. Anyway, +1 for the multiple hub approach. It added a bit more expense but sure made life easier and more reliable.
The only two systems that I know of that have integrated both WiFi Mesh and Zigbee radios into their devices are the SmartThings WiFi Mesh system, and the Amazon Eero 6 system.
The SmartThings WiFi system is not something I would recommend to anyone. You'll get a router that relies on cloud connections, and a SmartThings hub that relies on cloud servers for just about everything. Neither half of this solution is very well regarded these days, and is unlikely to be well supported by Samsung as they have stopped manufacturing SmartThings hardware, instead choosing to allow 3rd parties like Aeotec to do so. This solution would be a complete replacement for Hubitat, as the Zigbee radios in the WiFi mesh nodes cannot be used as Zigbee extenders for other systems. All automations would need to be accomplished with the SmartThings system.
The Amazon Eero 6 and Eero 6 Pro solutions are much better received by users. Each Eero 6 node can handle up to 50 Zigbee devices, paired to that specific node. If a node goes down, those devices are no longer available to Amazon Alexa, until they are paired with another Eero 6 device. See https://support.eero.com/hc/en-us/articles/360051885311-What-is-Zigbee-Smart-Home-Hub- for more details. This solution would be a complete replacement for Hubitat, as the Zigbee radios in the WiFi mesh nodes cannot be used as Zigbee extenders for other systems. All automations would need to be accomplished with the Amazon Alexa system.
Thus, if Hubitat is your home automation platform of choice, then I would look at using either multiple Hubitat Hubs OR the small USB Zigbee repeaters that @aaiyar has mentioned. However, if you plan on installing mains powered Zigbee devices in each of these buildings, then those devices will also be Zigbee repeaters and may eliminate the need for dedicated USB repeaters. Also, please make sure that the Mesh WiFi solution you choose allows the selection of the 2.4GHz WiFi channel used. This will allow you to ensure that there is no significant overlap with the Zigbee 2.4GHz channel. Some Mesh WiFi systems make this decision for you, unfortunately.
I would also consider using hard wired backhaul for whatever your mesh ends up being. In my experience even within the same house wireless backhaul is not optimal. You can't run cat6 in the same conduit as electrical but you can definitely find cat6 that can be run outside.
. The “cabin” is spread across 3 separate buildings which is why I need the WiFi mesh. I want to be able to cover the same area with my Zigbee mesh. If there is no integrated unit (and I would love to hear from anyone that knows of one) then these USB repeater recommendations from yourself and 
