Xiaomi & Aqara Devices - Pairing & Keeping them connected

[Royski]

@lexoid I’m so glad someone else has found this. I had this happen on ST with the Ikea TRÅDFRI GU10s (have 10 of them). Back in the day I didn’t want this to happen, as the Xiaomi stayed connected without issue, but my bulbs were on a dumb switch, where family member kept turning them off. I’ve since changed this with Hubitat.

I also have several Osram B40’s but not sure if these could do the same. They’re currently on Hue, but if they helped, I’d certainly move them to the hub.

Can I ask what your method was for their pairing? I’d really like them to use these as repeaters, but I’m not sure if I’m accomplishing this. The issue I have is most do stay connected for a while, then an Xiaomi contact will drop, the buttons and motion sensors seem to stay connected, but an odd contact (not normally the same one) will just drop off.

Cheers

[veeceeoh]

@lexoid

I can report the following Zigbee Routers not working as Xiaomi parent devices

...

But when joining through these devicese, xiaomi keeps connection

Thanks for reporting on all of those repeating devices! I've added them to my opening post for this thread.

[lexoid]

@Royski

Can I ask what your method was for their pairing? I’d really like them to use these as repeaters, but I’m not sure if I’m accomplishing this.

@Royski I'm actually running on homeassistant, so my experience is not applicable. In homeassistant I've just modified the code to send ZDO mgmt_permit_joinin_req request to specific device (zigbee router) so only that device is opened for joining new devices.

Supposedly the "new device" should listen to the network and pick up a parent with the strongest signal, so you could try getting Xiaomy very close to Osram B40 and maybe moving both further away from any other routers & hub

[SmartHomePrimer]

Reportedly Osrams are terrible repeaters (and generally most bulbs are said to be quite bad at it). Probably shouldn’t waste your time there. Quite interesting that the Trådfri seem to work well (at least with Xiaomi devices).

[Royski]

Thanks for that. When the next one drops (just a matter of time). I’ll try pairing again but whilst as close to them as I can get. Whilst on ST they did stick like glue to the TRÅDFRI, hopefully I can get them doing this again.

[iharyadi]

@humac

So I have had my Xbee3 connected And all devices working for weeks but then I had a power outage and only a few rejoined automatically. All my non xiaomi sensors rejoined ok but I have about 1/3 of my xiaomi’s rejoin.

Any ideas on ways to improve the rejoining process with out me having to rediscover/pair them again?

@humac, I am building my own sensor/modules. I and a few member has tested the module to route Xiaomi sensors since the module is a Zigbee router as well. The latest iteration come with battery backup feature to help the case when the main power is down.

Hubitat with Homemade Temperature, Humidity, Pressure and Light sensor

Hi Everyone, The build for battery backup is completed. I am testing the unit at this moment. It will support one cell lithium polymer and lithium ion battery only. These typically translate to 3.7v lipo battery that you find in toys. It supports unprotected battery. My recommendation is to use unprotected battery. The module has under and over voltage protection. It should also work with protected battery. Here they are. The first variant is just like the old module with battery attachment. …

[bobbles]

I've noticed over the last couple of weeks that my original Xiaomi Contact Sensors are either going inactive or not reporting correctly. Is anyone else seeing strange things going on with these devices. I only have 3 of these and am happy to replace these with the Aqara version if they are more reliable.
BTW. I've replaced the batteries in case that was the issue.

[raidflex]

I always had issues with the original Xiaomi temperature sensors on HE. Originally they connected fine but after a couple days there would be no status updates. Recently i reset them and tried to re-pair but now they won't even pair correctly.

When I was on ST I had them working for years without issues

[brianspranger]

Today I finally migrated from ST to HE. I have a ton of Xiaomi sensors which is why I was originally developing the ST DHs.

We will see how they perform on HE...

[raidflex]

@brianspranger

Today I finally migrated from ST to HE. I have a ton of Xiaomi sensors which is why I was originally developing the ST DHs.

We will see how they perform on HE...

If you are successful with a particular driver please post.

[veeceeoh]

@raidflex

If you are successful with a particular driver please post.

Changing the driver wouldn't help, because the issues you are having are not related to the drivers.

Dropped connection issues are due to any of the following:

• Weak mesh network connection
• Network interference from nearby WiFi routers
• Xiaomi / Aqara devices connecting through an incompatible repeater device instead of directly to the hub

This thread contains a wealth of information regarding all of these issues.

[raidflex]

@veeceeoh

Changing the driver wouldn't help, because the issues you are having are not related to the drivers.

Dropped connection issues are due to any of the following:

• Weak mesh network connection
• Network interference from nearby WiFi routers
• Xiaomi / Aqara devices connecting through an incompatible repeater device instead of directly to the hub

This thread contains a wealth of information regarding all of these issues

This is not an interference problem as I have no other issues with any of the other 30+ zigbee devices I have. Plus I have ensured that my WiFi channels are not overlapping with my Zigbee channel either.

I also tried pairing 2 different temperature sensors within 3 feet of the hub with the same result.

I am not sure if the Iris plugs are incompatible, as they are not listed in this this thread as either compatible or not. But either way I was close enough to the hub that this should not be an issue.

I had no issues with these for years on Smartthings.

I have also tried new batteries.

Basically the sensors are seen as "device" and I have to switch the driver to the proper one. But even after this reporting is not working and in the logs it says "null" when refreshing the device.

Edit: I just realized that the Centralite 3210-L was listed as not compatible as a repeater, was looking for Iris but forgot this is the same device. I guess its possible that despite the temperature sensor being so close to the hub that it was still being relayed through one of my Iris plugs.

[gavincampbell]

@raidflex

I am not sure if the Iris plugs are incompatible

These are know to give issues with the Xiaomi devices. I had them at one point and had nothing but issues as they didn't properly route the Xiaomi devices. Once I replaced them things worked properly.

The latest devices that are getting good reviews for working with these devices is the ikea tradfri outlets.

[veeceeoh]

@raidflex

I am not sure if the Iris plugs are incompatible, as they are not listed in this this thread as either compatible or not. But either way I was close enough to the hub that this should not be an issue.

Sorry that they are not listed in the first post, but Iris plus are rebranded Centralite plugs, and the general consensus is that Xiaomi / Aqara devices won't work when routed through Iris / Centralite plugs. I've updated the first post to add Iris to the list. For more details, do a search for "iris" just in this topic.

Unless you have an XBee and are using the XCTU software to map your ZigBee network, there is no way to know whether an end device is directly connected to the hub or is routing through a repeater.

You mention you have 30+ ZigBee devices, so you are close to or over the 32 end-device limit, which means even if you are pairing close to the hub, the device could still be forced to establish its connection through a repeater.

In my extensive testing and reading of other people's reports, not only are some repeaters incompatible in that they drop the connection of Xiaomi / Aqara devices, but also in some cases, messages from Xiaomi / Aqara devices aren't forwarded to the hub.

@raidflex

I had no issues with these for years on Smartthings.

Well, a Hubitat hub is not the same as a SmartThings hub. The ZigBee hardware (and from what I understand the ZigBee software stack) of the Hubitat is different, so you can't expect everything to work exactly the same. The different signal strength of the Hubitat's radio alone means that the topography of the ZigBee network will also be different, because end devices will opt to connect to repeaters versus the hub based on signal strength.

@raidflex

Basically the sensors are seen as "device" and I have to switch the driver to the proper one. But even after this reporting is not working and in the logs it says "null" when refreshing the device.

The temperature / humidity sensor driver I ported over to Hubitat uses the same "fingerprint" data as in the SmartThings device handler to help the hub match the driver to the sensor being paired. I know this works correctly with dozens and dozens hours of testing with multiple sensors, both Xiaomi and Aqara, that I own.

If your sensors are being seen as a device then the data needed to match to the fingerprint must not be making it to the hub. This points to the possibility of routing through a repeater.

When you say that you see "null" in the logs after refreshing the device, I'm not sure what you mean. There isn't a refresh command built into the Hubitat driver. Also to understand better what's happening I'd need to see the log output.

[vjv]

I'm with you, there is no reason to change our working setup because the Xiaomi is incompatible, I have a very good working mesh, so I ended buying Iris v3 motions with temp and humidity, they work much better than those Xiaomi.

[raidflex]

@veeceeoh

Sorry that they are not listed in the first post, but Iris plus are rebranded Centralite plugs, and the general consensus is that Xiaomi / Aqara devices won't work when routed through Iris / Centralite plugs. I've updated the first post to add Iris to the list. For more details, do a search for "iris" just in this topic.

Yes I realized this after I posted that the Centralite 3210-L plug is the same as the Iris plug.

@veeceeoh

You mention you have 30+ ZigBee devices, so you are close to or over the 32 end-device limit, which means even if you are pairing close to the hub, the device could still be forced to establish its connection through a repeater.

I suspect this may be the main reason, its very well possible that Xiaomi sensors are routing through the Iris plugs.

@gavincampbell

The latest devices that are getting good reviews for working with these devices is the ikea tradfri outlets.

At this point I have too many of the Iris Plugs to swap them out and I do not believe that the Ikea ones have energy monitoring. The Iris plugs are also solid repeaters from my experience.

I think at this point since I bought a bunch of the Iris door and motion sensors on sale recently and they have temperature sensing built in I can use these to replace the Xiaomi ones.

The only places which I need something simlar to the the Xiaomi's would be in my Attic and Garage. Does anyone know of a sensor that does only temperature and humidity?

[vjv]

@raidflex

Does anyone know of a sensor that does only temperature and humidity?

Use the iris v3 motion, doesn't harm having the motion as an extra/future use...

[raidflex]

@vjv

Use the iris v3 motion, do not harm having the motion as an extra/future use...

This would work although kind of a waste for the Attic. Too bad the V2's I have do not do humidity.

[vjv]

Yep, but they work with your setup, no need to change your complete set of Iris/centralite plugs because Xiaomi doesn't use the same zigbee protocol/stack/whatever as everything else.

I wanted to do my own test, those Xiaomi are great for paperweights in my desk....

[raidflex]

@vjv

Yep, but they work with your setup, no need to change your complete set of Iris/centralite plugs because Xiaomi doesn't use the same zigbee protocol/stack/whatever as everything else.

I wanted to do my own test, those Xiaomi are great for paperweights in my desk....

I will probably wait for the V3's to go on sale, since now Lowes is selling off the Iris brand. The Iris sensors in generally have been solid for me, especially at the sale prices.