Xiaomi & Aqara Devices - Pairing & Keeping them connected

I just paired a Xioami round button to Hubitat. It paired as a Device; when I push the button it produces the logging below (is there a button driver to try?). Iā€™ve mapped the mesh with my XStick and see that it is routing through an Iris SmartPlug. Iā€™ll let you know if it stays paired.

Xiaomi Button 6, parse description: read attr - raw: 4D3C0100060800001001, dni: 4D3C, endpoint: 01, cluster: 0006, size: 08, attrId: 0000, encoding: 10, value: 01

For me, the Hubitat chose my new Xioami Door/Window device driver when I paired my Xiaomi "original" button and I can check the Events to make sure it's still connected and sending reports, but since the "Device" device handler produces log messages, you could keep your Log window open to watch for that. If left idle, it should send a "status report" message every 60 minutes which will look like this:

read attr - raw: 81470100003002FF4C0600100121BA0B21A813240100000000215D062058, dni: 8147, endpoint: 01, cluster: 0000, size: 30, attrId: FF02, encoding: 4C, value: 0600100121BA0B21A813240100000000215D062058

If the Iris SmartPlug can pass on all messages and allow Xioami devices to remain connected, that would be awesome. Thank you for the feedback, and let us all know how it does. I do wish the Hubitat could give ZigBee mesh routing information. I'm going to have to get a ZigBee sniffer myself.

Not yet. But I have already done all the testing I need to make it. The big problem is how to approach the functionality of the device driver, considering that the button's hardware supports multi-clicks, and sends unique messages for double to quadruple-clicks.

Please refer to my Xiaomi device driver forum thread for more detailed information on my findings with the round button. I'm hoping to get other user's input on what they'd like from the device driver before I sit down to complete it.

After about an hour it stopped logging button presses. I put the hub in add mode and did a short press which produced 4 blinks, then this was logged (subsequent presses produced the shorter log entry as in my prior post; Iā€™ll give it a couple of hours to see if it drops off again):

2018-02-25 14:44:37.871:debugXiaomi Button 6, parse description: read attr - raw: 7DB10100003002FF4C0600100021EC0B21A8012400000000002182002063, dni: 7DB1, endpoint: 01, cluster: 0000, size: 30, attrId: FF02, encoding: 4C, value: 0600100021EC0B21A8012400000000002182002063

dev:2442018-02-25 14:44:37.818:debugXiaomi Button 6, parse description: read attr - raw: 7DB10100002C050042126C756D692E73656E736F725F737769746368, dni: 7DB1, endpoint: 01, cluster: 0000, size: 2C, attrId: 0005, encoding: 42, value: 126C756D692E73656E736F725F737769746368

So, weird thing here. Of my two round Xiaomi Temperature Humidity Sensors (Iā€™m just gonna start calling them RXTHS from now on) one is still reporting temperature and humidity every .5C change or so, and battery reports every hour. The other one is only reporting battery, hasnā€™t reported a temperature or humidity change in 2 hours. Maybe the temperature has been stable enough not to report anything, but that seems unlikely.

2 of my 3 Aqara Temperature/Humidity fell asleep as well just stopped reporting after 14 hours. I pushed the pairing button a bunch of times to wake them up and off they went.
I did move them to their locations so maybe just to far away but SmartThings work in these locations but maybe Hubitat can not do the distance. Will put them back there and see how they do.
The third one is closer to the hub and it is still working fine.
All of the motion sensor are still working fine as well but they are still sitting on my desk next to the hub.

This is exactly the behavior I was experiencing before I applied Hub 698 update. Now, it's been connected and still working 17 hours later.

I assume you're running on the new .698 update, so the other thing I did that may have help was to remove all of my Xiaomi devices and Reset the ZigBee Stick (in Settings > Zigbee Information). If you do the same just be aware that all Zigbee devices will lose their connection, and need to be rejoined (though they will still be in the Devices list, so that should just involve using the "Discover Devices" mode and putting the devices in pairing mode).

That is the "status report" and your button's voltage data is present. I've boldfaced it. It's big-endian so the value is 0BEC, which is equal to 3052, divided by 1000 to give us 3.052 Volts.

That message is another kind of announcement message. ZigBee Cluster 0000 is for "Basic" information about the device, and Attribute ID 0005 of cluster 0000 is for the Model Identifier.

If you take the value 126C756D692E73656E736F725F737769746368 and convert it to ASCII text, it's lumi.sensor_switch.

Don't worry about sending more of the read attr - raw: messages for the button, as I've already got all of that from mine. Really what I'd like to help get working for you is the connection, seeing as my button is staying connect while your is not for some reason.

By they way, I've posted all of my findings on the button over here, and would love any input on what you think would be a good way to set up the device drivers' output of the messages received from the button.

Thanks again for sharing feedback!

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I'm not convinced of that. I've seen long periods of no temp/humidity reports from the two that I have. Also, just last night, with the two of them side by side (for testing the new Hub 698 update) the log showed that they did not track their reporting identically.

These are not scientific instruments, I figure, and each one will report a little differently from the next (though generally they are within +/- 1 or 2 degrees C and +/- 1 to 3 percent humidity of each other).

Youā€™re right. 3 hours later, it sent another temp/humidity update.

I would have to guess that the mesh signal strength of the USB-based ZigBee radio that Hubitat chose to use with their hub is perhaps not as strong as the ZigBee radio inside ST's v2 hub. I have read a couple of user reports which seem to indicate this. There are a lot of factors that affect signal strength, of course, so it's not necessarily just as simple as that.

Certainly the general advice here would be to consider adding mains-powered ZigBee devices that act as routers (repeaters) such as the Iris SmartPlug mentioned by @Tony, some posts above. However on SmartThings forum, there have been quite a few reports of repeaters not working well with Xiaomi devices. That still needs to be tested for the Hubitat, and we've only just possibly seen an improvement in the devices staying connected as of yesterday - so some time and more testing is needed to be surer about it all.

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After another hour it again became unresponsive, so I unplugged the Iris plug it was routed through and waited a bit. I did not push the pairing button on the Xiaomi; so its only possible route to the Hubitat was a direct connection. After a few minutes I pressed the button and sure enough it produced a log entry-- it had reconnected to the hub on its own. And within an hour or so after that I saw the battery report-type entry logged.

I expect it will stay paired (I am indeed on .698); if so this will be consistent with what I have experienced with my other 5 buttons that have been paired to SmartThings. They stay paired, but only if you ensure they are not initially paired through Zigbee routers. Luckily they seem to have decent range (at least I havenā€™t had any problems in the locations Iā€™ve used them in my house).

Iā€™ll keep an eye on it and post an update if it loses its connection.

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Thanks. I upgraded my hub to latest, removed the sensor, updated the driver and repaired the sensor again. Fingers crossed it stays connected. Will let you know!

I have read this as well, and it's definitely important information to know when working with Xiaomi products and Zigbee routers. Thanks.

@veeceeoh unfortunately mine dropped shortly after pairing it. Its the round temp/humidity sensor and itā€™s sitting on top of the cabinet which contains the Hubitat hub.

The round button I paired yesterday afternoon is still sending hourly logs. Based on what Iā€™ve seen, if there are any Iris repeaters nearby, even if the Xiaomi device is closer to the Hubitat it will likely wind up routing through one of them instead. I saw this with the SmartThings hub as well; I had an Iris plug located in the same cabinet as the ST hub and when I mapped the mesh it wound up with 4 child devices and the ST hub (inches away) had none.

@veeceeoh
Hi Keith, I got my hub plugged in and registered. I have not done anymore yet.

I have a separate Vlan for my IOT stuff and I think I want my hubitat on the 2nd floor and my ST in the basement to get better zigbee network coverage.

Therefore I need to program the cheap netgear device to support my vlan. Trouble is it only supports vlans 1-5 or something silly and I am using other vlans.

Once I get my LAN figured out I will start to connect my hubitat to my ST and put some Xiaomi sensors on the hubitat.

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Welcome. Glad youā€™re here Brian.

Thanks again for the Aqara Leak Sensor DH. Once again, just as I did with ST, I pressed the pairing button for 10 second and it appeared in Hubitat. It showed ā€œInitializingā€ and didnā€™t seem to be advancing, so I short pressed it and it completed discovery. Just for good measure, I short pressed it once more and then saved.

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Just re-posting with a little more detail what I posted on SmartThings forum in case no one reads it there.

These are working in Hubitat as ZigBee router/repeater for Xiaomi Aqara water and motion sensors

Orvibo ZigBee Smart Outlet 120VAC/15A

Model#: Cab-T10K2ZW-1UO

https://www.primecables.ca/p-360942-cab-t10k2zw-1uo-all-zigbee-smart-outlet-120vac15a-orvibo#sku374841

http://www.orvibo.com/en/product/productList.html#7

This is the only Zigbee router/repeater I have installed in Hubitat so far to test and these are new I have not tested them with SmartThings but I suspect they will work for it as well.

I bought the outlet to help extend the range for my sonā€™s SmartThings Arrival sensor V3 Zigbee key fob and I was also concerned with the limited range of my Xiaomi sensors (I needed them to go just a little bit farther)

I installed the Orvibo Outlet outside the front door in place of the Christmas lights plug which is also hardwired to a switch inside so I can kill power to it easily and test it.

for reference

  • the Xiaomi Aqara motion sensors had been previously paired directly to the Hub but then remove and paired again through the Orvibo outlet
  • the Xiaomi Aqara water sensors were brand new never paired before until going through the Orvibo outlet
  • when pairing through the Orvibo outlet none of the devices were recognized they showed up as ā€œdevicesā€ so I had to change their DH type.

I have Orvibo ZigBee Smart Outlet working as a router with Xiaomi devices (2 Aqara motion and 4 Aqara water sensors) I am sure there are other types/brands that will work unlikely Orvibo is the only one.
They worked for over 3 days no problems I killed the power to the Orvibo for 24 hours to see how the Xiaomi devices react.
As expected the Xiaomi devices stopped reading immediately.

after 24 hrs with no power to the Orvibo ZigBee Smart Outlet

  • the Xiaomi Aqara motion sensors 1 automatically re-paired by itā€™s self directly to the hub after 7.5 hours the other did not
  • none of the Xiaomi Aqara water sensor re-paired

After I re-applied power within 5 minutes all of the sensors (including the motion) that stayed offline automatically started reading again. (no pressing the pairing button)

I am going to remove all of the Xiaomi Aqara sensors then remove power from the Orvibo outlet again and add a GE ZigBee In-Wall Smart Switch 45856GE.
then try to pair all of the Xiaomi Aqara sensors through GE ZigBee In-Wall Smart Switch 45856GE and see how it does.
I will leave everything powered on and connected for at least 3-4 days.

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Thanks for the detailed report. I checked on Orvibo's smart outlet and their in-wall switch and dimmer, and see that they're out of stock with most sellers. Bang Good was selling some at a great low price, and it makes me wonder if there's going to be a stock refresh of an updated version of those devices. Also, I can't find any verification that any of Orvibo's 120VAC in-wall products are UL certified, and although it appears they claim some of their plug-in devices are UL certified, at least one of their devices was listed as banned by the European Commission.

I did not notice that
I do not see anything on the packaging
Which is strange as it is a very well laid out manual and packaging. Nothing about the device or packaging feels like some of the cheap stuff you buy out of China. No bad grammar and the device feels very well built better than alot I have bought from the local Homedepot.
I have sent off an email to them asking about the UL and CSA standards we will see what they say.