I have a question about the zigbee child data table. I have one iris plug which is the device that is furthest from my hub. It shows up the router child table as follows:
[Garage Board Power Supply, E748], LQI:233, age:4, inCost:5, outCost:3
Now, there are 3 repeaters taht all have LQI values of 255 that are between this device and the hub, all of which are also the very first hop. So, this device could get to the hub with one additional hop. Is that the route that it will take? Or does this table indicated that it is connecting directly to the hub? I don't udnerstand why it is doing so. It was paired in-place and the other routers were powered on and connected to the hub when it was joined (because I just reset it). So, I'm not sure why it refused to route through one of the other repeaters. Anyone have any clues?
So, 3 days later, 49 people have read this and not one comment? After all the help I give to everyone else, no one is going to help me? Okie dokie. Thanks community.
I wish I knew more about that table in general. I guess I think I understand what the numbers are supposed to represent, but the reality doesn't match the table.
I have devices that are 100% reliable, but with bad numbers, and conversely good numbers but drop off the mesh in a heartbeat. My lowest is a LQI is 66 and it is literally surrounded by 5-6 repeaters, and only probably 10 feet from the hub. It is a RGB Genie LED controller that never fails to operate. Another low one, an Osram Lightify RGBW bulb at 77 LQI is also 100% reliable.
What I can't figure out is the routing (or maybe mesh) connections. If I can get my two Aqara devices to join as Child devices, they stay on the mesh. They are the only Child devices I have ever seen for some reason. Why aren't any of my other 50 or so devices Childs (Children?) I have devices routing to themselves instead of other devices.
Also, where are the half of the devices that are missing and not in the table, or drop in and out whenever they feel like it?
I gave up on reading the table, and if things work, I just leave well enough alone.
You mean children in the routing table? That's because this table only lists those devices connected directly to the hub. That's why mine has zero. I don't have any end devices connect to the hub because i have a bunch of repeaters.
I appreciate the attempt but I really am just giving up on getting any of these questions answered at this point. As with everything, I'll figure it out on my own. Thanks.
One thing I've noticed in my mesh is that I have repeaters with all of the possible child slots taken.(Ikea outlets have a max of 6). So as I add devices, there are some really interesting paths taken to get around them. I don't know how many children Iris plugs are capable of. Possibility?
Zigbee mesh and the routing table info really is black magic to me. When I first transitioned my devices from wink (which was rock solid) to HE everything was working smoothly. As time passes, devices keep falling off the mesh. I initially started by adding the ikea repeaters and built outwards from there based on the community recommendation. I’ve also bought a second HE to move the Sylvania lights to. Many times people say that the Sylvania lights are bad repeaters, but if they were so bad why did they work perfectly on Wink? Hopefully the second hub will resolve my issues I really wish there was a better way to diagnose exactly what was going on on the zigbee mesh using Hubitat only without having to buy more devices to troubleshoot. Sorry I can’t help.
Up to 32 devices can be paired directly to the zigbee coordinator. One possibility is that Wink treated Lightify devices as non-repeating zigbee end-devices.
Just saw your post today; FWIW here's my two cents based on my mental model of how this stuff works:
So if a device appears in the Neighbor table, by definition it is a router and it is reachable from the hub as a single-hop routed destination. Packets outbound from the hub will be sent directly to it without going through any intervening router, as long as it maintains it status as a neighbor. But with the Zigbee 2007 and Pro stacks, routes can be asymmetrical, so it is possible that in the reverse direction the device may not transmit to the hub in a single hop (each routing device maintains its own next-hop neighbor table and link status).
Also, the table is dynamic and maintaining neighbor status depends on metrics in the periodic link status exchanges between hubs/routers (the LQI and link inCosts provided to the hub by the neighbor and outCost computed by the hub). This doesn't mean that the neighbors will always change; if the environment is stable the only changes in the neighbor table you would see would be the age figures which periodically increment (or get reset) as the status reporting intervals elapse. But the hub can only consider a max of 16 routers as neighbors and always evaulates their status; if the table is full and there are routers in a one-hop radius with better link metrics (or if a neighbor entry is considered 'stale' by virtue of the hub not receiving timely link status updates) a router in this table can be evicted in favor of a 'better' neighbor. So if network conditions change this device could conceivably pop in and out of neighbor status (in which case the hub would transmit to it through a different next-hop router (and that router would either see this device as its neighbor, or as a device in one of its Route Table entries).
Regarding the 'where are all the other devices in my network' question, the ChildandRoute info is not a static picture of the mesh routing and all reachable devices; think of it as a 'one hop radius bubble' that is a snapshot in time of where the hub has directed a recent message destined for a router or end device appearing in a Route Table Entry. If you keep refreshing the ChildAndRouteInfo page, at some point every device that is communicating with your hub would appear in a route table entry (along with the neighbor router that the hub used to communicate with it). There is routing information maintained by the hub that is not visible on this page (and none of the routing info used by other repeaters in your network is displayed here).
But it is informative... you can get a fair idea of what your mesh map looks like (at least for a viable 1-hop radius from the hub) and by examining the 'next hop' destinations for devices that happen to appear in the Route Table entries, you can get a sense for how things map out a bit further into your network. Also, from how dynamic the neighbor table is you can get a pretty good indication of the RF environment around the hub.
Before that, try rebuilding the mesh once (especially because you added the Ikea repeaters after the bulbs). For this, turn off the zigbee radio for ~20 minutes and then back on again.
@aaiyar actually the first devices I added were the repeaters then I migrated devices one by one moving outwards from the hub. A rebuild may help as well.
How much of a concern is it if this route changes rapidly for any device (lets say 4-5 times within 2 minutes)? I've just seen that with some Peanut plugs:
I don't really know; I have a pretty benign environment RF-wise with very little traffic on 2.4Ghz (aside from my own wifi and a rogue Zigbee network set up by my Echo Show that I can't do anything about). My neighbor table never seems to change. My Zigbee routing devices are primarily Iris V2 plugs (with a lone Sylvania and GE in the mix). I'd say my Zigbee network has been very stable with these.
Just remembered I also have a few (4 or 6?) Cree and Osram Lightify's in the mix; none of them have caused any issues (they don't appear as neighbor routers in my Hub's table; that is probably why).
I don't believe this is a problem. I have 8 other zigbee repeaters and a 30 other zigbee devices. And I believe the Iris plugs, which are all 9, can handle up to 8 devices each.
Taking another look at the post you linked, I realize I might have missed the point of your question. I was referring to the stability of the Neighbor Table slots in my network, not the route table entries. I would expect those to be a lot more dynamic.
Thanks, I was referring to the route entries. For most of my devices, they are also fairly stable (haven't changed a few hours at least). For a subset of devices (Securifi Peanut plugs), they change every time I reload getChildAndRouteInfo .....
