Zigbee issues

There's only one of me. That's someone else who happens to also have been around long enough to learn my real name. :slight_smile:

I'll add my woes with GE Link bulbs. Dropping off and turning themselves on in the middle of the night, condensation inside the dome, and what I now realize to be making my zigbee mesh a mess. A couple Cree bulbs were contributing to that mess, and the Wink relay at the front door was also a nightmare needing constant care and feeding. I'd reset and reloaded that thing and the one in my office countless times when they would stop working or freeze on boot.

Hubitat is SO much more stable and reliable and FAST than Wink could ever hope to be under the current ownership.

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Actually, the Link lamps continued to get firmware updates until earlier this year.

Folks,

I now have five repeaters, all Zigbee smart plugs, none of which are not repeating, and they're scattered around my house, none of them blocked entirely by plaster walls with wire lath. Two are Sylvania Smart+ outlets, in the two most central locations, and the other three are Ecobee Smart Plugs, manufactured by Computime, left-over from an Ecobee beta test from years ago. Happily, as I say, all are repeating. I will let the system settle-down and try adding some Zigbee lamps back in or, in a few cases, replace them either with recently purchased Sylvania Smart+ and Sengled Zigbee lamps. I will post my Child and Route report later today, along with my progress getting back to my normal number of Zigbee lamps attached.

Thanks again for all the help,
Jeff

OK. I added back all of the missing lamps, little by little, after removing four of the seven GE Links from the kitchen and replacing them with Sengled Element Classics. The Sengleds were all detected properly, but they are, as of now, functioning erraticly; If I tell HE to turn off the kitchen group, the remaining three GE Links, which I added back after swapping the other four for the Sengleds, work properly, but the four Sengleds seem to decide at random which one or two won't respond. I'll just leave them all on overnight and see how it looks in the morning. Meanwhile, a couple of the re-added GE Links, which were fine this morning, fell off as I added back the others. I'll leave them alone, too, and check again in the morning. The mesh certainly hasn't had a chance completely to update, but here is the diagnostic Child and Route report as of this moment. Again, more tomorrow. I did note that, though it's working properly as a switch, the "repeater, dining room" doesn't appear to be repeating, though it was for some time after I added it this morning. Note that it's the same device type (Ecobee Smart Plug) as "repeater, radio" and "repeater, Jeff bedside lamp." Note that the repeaters are all out in the open and that my house is as open-plan as houses got in 1900.

Parent child parameters
EzspGetParentChildParametersResponse [childCount=2, parentEui64=0000000000000000, parentNodeId=65535]

Child Data
child:[Living room SW lamp 1, 0E44, type:EMBER_END_DEVICE]
child:[Living room SE lamp 1, 2390, type:EMBER_END_DEVICE]

Neighbor Table Entry
[Den desk lamp, 12D9], LQI:254, age:4, inCost:1, outCost:7
[Kitchen above sink one, 17F6], LQI:255, age:4, inCost:1, outCost:7
[Upstairs Hall, one, 2C1A], LQI:253, age:4, inCost:3, outCost:7
[Kitchen above sink two, 51BE], LQI:240, age:6, inCost:5, outCost:7
[Rotunda entry one, 6218], LQI:251, age:5, inCost:3, outCost:3
[Repeater, rotunda, 67A9], LQI:254, age:3, inCost:1, outCost:3
[Repeater, radio, 99A3], LQI:255, age:3, inCost:1, outCost:1
[Repeater, dining room, 9F9C], LQI:243, age:2, inCost:5, outCost:0
[Living room floor lamp.1, AC26], LQI:188, age:3, inCost:7, outCost:7
[Living room floor lamp, B797], LQI:244, age:3, inCost:5, outCost:7
[Repeater, upstairs hall, B818], LQI:255, age:3, inCost:1, outCost:1
[Den fan light, C98F], LQI:254, age:4, inCost:1, outCost:7
[Lavatory, D3E0], LQI:254, age:5, inCost:1, outCost:7
[Living room SW lamp, DED5], LQI:75, age:3, inCost:7, outCost:7
[Repeater, Jeff bedside lamp, F853], LQI:255, age:4, inCost:1, outCost:5
[Upstairs Hall, two, F97F], LQI:158, age:4, inCost:7, outCost:7

Route Table Entry
status:Active, age:64, routeRecordState:0, concentratorType:None, [Kitchen fan light four, 0B46] via [Repeater, radio, 99A3]
status:Unused
status:Unused
status:Unused
status:Active, age:64, routeRecordState:0, concentratorType:None, [Den desk lamp, 12D9] via [Den desk lamp, 12D9]
status:Active, age:64, routeRecordState:0, concentratorType:None, [Living room floor lamp.1, AC26] via [Living room floor lamp.1, AC26]
status:Active, age:64, routeRecordState:0, concentratorType:None, [Living room floor lamp, B797] via [Repeater, radio, 99A3]
status:Active, age:64, routeRecordState:0, concentratorType:None, [Upstairs Hall, one, 2C1A] via [Repeater, rotunda, 67A9]
status:Active, age:64, routeRecordState:0, concentratorType:None, [Upstairs Hall, two, F97F] via [Rotunda entry one, 6218]
status:Unused
status:Active, age:64, routeRecordState:0, concentratorType:None, [Living room SE lamp, 439D] via [Rotunda entry one, 6218]
status:Active, age:64, routeRecordState:0, concentratorType:None, [Rotunda entry one, 6218] via [Repeater, rotunda, 67A9]
status:Active, age:64, routeRecordState:0, concentratorType:None, [Living room SW lamp, DED5] via [Repeater, rotunda, 67A9]
status:Unused
status:Unused
status:Unused

Careful, these are not ZHA 1.2 - my recollection is that they are ZHA and compatible with the ZHA module for the original ecobee Smart thermostat. I don't know if they will function as repeaters for ZHA 1.2 devices.

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Also a specific model of the Sylvania Smart+ outlets as repeaters are possibly not compatible with certain devices. Im fuzzy on the details now.

You are likely thinking of the "new" Sylvania outlets (the "-A" model) not working well with Xiaomi devices. This is otherwise nothing you need to worry about, but I don't blame you for thinking otherwise since some people seem to have taken this information, mis-remembered it, and run with it everywhere from forum posts to Amazon reviews, leading to a lot of confusion. :slight_smile: (Most repeaters don't work well with Xiaomi; only a few are known to work well. If you thought smart bulbs were problematic, then...you're right. But so are the non-standard Xiaomi devices.)

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Actually, one has been functioning for quite some time as a repeater, when I added today is functioning as a repeater according to the child and route list, and only one seems not to be repeating.

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I have several of the Sylvania plugs and they have behaved better for me than the peanuts that everyone raves about. Plus they are smaller and much more aesthetically pleasing. They don’t seem to repeat for as many devices as the Samsungs, but they have great range and are often on sale, making them about half the price.

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Looking at some of the figures in your route info data and comparing it to mine I notice a few things (which may or may not be relevant; I'm still struggling to learn how this stuff works and just going by what I read):

The following are reporting regular link status (age figures between 3 and 5, same as what I typically see; they should always periodically reset to 3); cost figures typical of what I see on my network:

  • Rotunda entry one
  • Repeater, rotunda
  • Repeater, radio <<< looks like 'best' radio link to hub, along with the following
  • Repeater, upstairs hall <<< also one of the best links to the hub, with the previous one
  • Repeater, Jeff bedside lamp

These devices seem to be in the game (reporting link status regularly) but repeaters above have better radio links (outCost:7 is the poorest classification other than zero):

  • Den desk lamp
  • Kitchen above sink one
  • Upstairs Hall, one
  • Living room floor lamp.1 << marginal, lots of retries indicated by low LQI)
  • Living room floor lamp
  • Den fan light
  • Lavatory
  • Living room SW lamp
  • Upstairs Hall, two << marginal, even worse link than 'Living room floor lamp.1'

This one is trying to establish a link but can't do it reliably (it went too many intervals without reporting a link cost- 'age 2' is in the probation period-- maybe interference, maybe something reflecting signal?? Mirrors can be bad news.):

  • Repeater, dining room

This one seems to be providing link status updates less frequently than the others (age 6 is on the threshold of being counted out):

  • Kitchen above sink two

You may get additional clues by refreshing the childRouteinfo page and see how/if the age counts change. Also, I'm curious about "Repeater, radio" and "Repeater, upstairs hall"; what type of devices are these? You might do well with one or two more of them. Perhaps some of your problematic Sengleds are struggling to use one of the marginal devices as a repeater?

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Most of my incost and outcost are 1 and my router table is full. i agree that all of the outcost 7 routers are probably telling why your seeing poor performance. You could also check out the zigbee logging to see the devices last hop signal strength in real time, which might help diagnose the problem devices.

Tony,

Those are ancient (2011) Ecobee Smart Plugs, which were part of a non-realized beta test involving an optional Zigbee plug-in module for their original Smart Thermostat, long since replaced. Those smart plugs worked fine with that Ecobee thermostat, Wink, and work well with HE C-5, as you can see. As for the rest of it, it's beginning to dawn upon me that this is a forest vs. trees issue and that none of us knows what's really going on, here. I'm about to write a post about yesterday's home automation nightmare. Stay tuned.

Jeff

The Morning after the Nightmare

Folks,

Have no fear; none of this stresses me as, frankly, at this point in my life damned near nothing stresses me. But if I were the boy I was at, say, forty, there would be a lot of hardware in the trash this morning! In any case, I hope you good people find this amusing, at least.

As I've mentioned, I am methodically, and at great expense, replacing my Quirky/GE/Jasco Link lamps with Sengled Elements and Sylvania Smart+ lamps. I've also increased my number of smart plugs to be used as repeaters from one to five, this in my open floor plan and smart devices only on two floors. With Wink, it might be noted, I had two repeaters and one working device each in the attic and cellar, as the Wink system had plenty of reach. According to the child-route report, one of my repeaters, the Ecobee smart plug in the dining room, wasn't repeating, though it was in the Zigbee mesh and controllable, the same report, this morning, shows an InCost- and OutCost of one, and it's in the route table as a via for another repeater. Go figure.

A couple of days ago, I replaced four of the Links in my kitchen with four Sengleds. To my surprise, in one shipment of eight Sengleds, I have found, so far, two to be duds. One has an open circuit and does not light at all and the other, while it joined the mesh happily, will respond only to dim level requests but not on- or off requests. All along, with the HE platform, I've found that when I try to add-back orphaned Link lamps, they are re-discovered just fine, and they work fine as well, but other Link lamps in the mesh are orphaned in turn, as if to imply that there is some sort of limit to the number of Link lamps. And remember that, under Wink, I had about fifty of them connected. But, as I've conceded that they must be replaced, as I say, I'm doing just that. But now that I've had a Sylvania/Osram Lightify RGBW mass extinction, I know it's not just a Link problem. I know, I know... This lamp brand is bad, that lamp brand is bad, but I'm running out of brands.

Meanwhile, I replaced three more Links yesterday evening with Sylvania Smart+ lamps, one in a two-light table lamp in the front hall and two in the master bathroom upstairs. That went well, at first, but about an hour later, the first time my upstairs hall sconces (Osram Lightify RGBWs) came on as the result of a Z-Wave motion sensor coming active, all six of my Lightify RGBWs were orphaned, just by having those two come on, including those two, one in a spare bedroom, one in the living room, one in the downstairs half bath and two in my den. Also orphaned were six Links which have been working fine, and two of the Sengled Elements in the kitchen. I added back the three RGBWs upstairs and the one in my desk lamp, as I needed to adjust the color temperature, but the rest of it will have to wait as I'll be reverting to no automation as I take all of this up with Hubify, formally. I might also mention, and with nothing to do with Zigbee, two of my Jasco Z-Wave motion sensors stopped working. Z-Wave repair doesn't restore them, nor does excluding- and including them again. After inclusion, they work fine once, and from that point onward they stop reporting their state. Two more identical Z-Wave motion sensors continue to work just fine.

I now suspect all of the conventional wisdom, including some of the significance of the child-route report. As I say, I'm not stressed, but I'm not a moron, either, and logic tells me that there are actual flaws in this platform's Zigbee mesh management, something I will pursue formally with Hubify, just as I did pursue a similar issue, with great success, with Wink five years ago.

I almost forgot to mention again that, after migrating to HE, and for some weeks until 10/31, all devices but a couple were in the mesh and functional.

Thanks again for all of the help,
Jeff Broido

None of them are inherently bad, just bad repeaters for ZHA devices on a ZHA network. If you, say, used a Hue Bridge and segregated them to that network with other ZLL devices and then integrated the Hue Bridge to Hubitat over the LAN using the built-in integration (or use another Hubitat; both of these ideas have been suggested above), you'd likely be fine--and you wouldn't have to worry about "running out of brands" to try. :slight_smile: (And it would probably be cheaper than replacing them all. But so might a smart switch. The Inovelli dimmers I mentioned a while back have finally been released, though they're probably temporarily out of stock now after shipping preorders and whatnot.)

This might be a silly question, but have you checked their batteries? I'd use a multimeter (if they're lithium, anything under 3.0V is usually bad news for me considering that they are about 3.2 when new) rather than relying on the device's battery report, though that may also give you some idea. I also assume you're pairing it in place (rather than near the hub as is often recommended on other platforms--unless it's a non-Plus Z-Wave device where you might need to)

Probably around a year or so ago, staff worked closely with one particular user who was having a hard time with Zigbee and made improvements to their stack thanks to his cooperation and their work resulting from that (I think that's actually when the getChildAndRouteInfo page was introduced, or maybe that was before the Iris v1 stuff...how quickly I forget). I can almost guarantee, however, that any Zigbee smart bulb connected directly to the hub that is not a Sengled (which doesn't repeat) is likely to raise suspicion on their part. :slight_smile: But I see you're moving in the right direction there. The staff are great and would likely be willing to work with you if they do see a problem with the implementation of either protocol.

I admire your patience and hope it pays off. Hubitat works well for so many people, and I've recommended it to lots of others, so I'm sorry to hear of your troubles. Hopefully you'll be able to get it figured out!

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Keep in mind, you may be recreating your issue. Sengled are the ONLY ones that don't repeat to my knowledge. Those are essentually OSRAM bulbs, which are very problematic. Like @bertabcd1234 is suggesting, a Hue Bridge is an inexpensive fix that is compatible with Zigbee LL bulbs (Hue, IKEA Trådfri, Cree, GE to name a few), but it is most compatible with Hue bulbs.

Another option some choose is a second HE hub (don't shoot the messenger!).

Refurbished Hue Bridge - $37.45
New Hue Bridge - $59.97
Second HE Hub (compatible with just about any bulb) - $84.95

Robert,

Most of my devices are discrete ZLL and ZHA lamps. If I migrated them to an (expensive) Hue bridge, that would leave a handful of Z-Wave devices directly attached to my HE C-5, two of which (the Lutron Caseta dimmers) aren't supported, in any case. As for repeaters being bad, I have good ones (at least according to the child-route report) all over the house!

Batteries aren't the issue with the Jasco devices as they both have new 123-12s and, in any case, before I changed the batteries I checked their voltage under load, and they were all nominal. One of them spontaneously came back to life this morning, after I shut-down the HE, moved it back to its original location, and started it again, this despite the fact that I'd rebooted the hub a couple of times when I attempted, supposedly successfully, to exclude- and re-include both of them, something which must be done close to the hub as they're not Z-Wave+, as far as I can tell. I checked just now, and even the "bad" one, which is sitting upstairs on my nightstand, came back to life spontaneously last night and it's working properly, now. Go figure.

As for my patience, it's nearly limitless these days and I do hope they'll work with me as closely as they did with the user you mentioned and as Wink programmers worked with me in the Autumn of 2014.

Thanks again,
Jeff

:+1:

Just for everyone’s information, since changing out almost every Osram bulb to the newer Sylvania version (and updating the firmware is a MUST) I have not had any problems with dropped sensors or bulbs. I would not recommend the A19s as they still seem to have a short lifespan, but the recessed rgbw can lights that are regularly on Amazon for $11 each have been excellent with zero failures in almost 2 years.

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My Osram Lightify lamps were never problematic over all the years I had them, and the new Sylvania Smart+ lamps are not manufactured by Osram, which spun-off its smart lighting division. In this era of endless mergers, one of the problems, I think, is that no company is ever stable, which affects both their products and customer service. The Smart+ lamps are made by Ledvance, which was the spun-off division, but are now owned by a Chinese conglomerate and are entirely different in design.

I'm a scientist by early training, and a machine language programmer and mainframe computer problem solver for over three decades. I don't like rules of thumb or common knowledge unless they're backed by hard evidence. Like anyone following the scientific method, I have hypotheses, and I work to prove- or disprove them. And my working hypothesis, at least as of this morning, is that the problem, here, is in the Zigbee mesh management of the HE platform, at least when a large number of discrete devices are concerned. I'm not going to ditch my set-up or discard any more lamps unless I find hard evidence to show why they worked before a power failure and not after (with the exception of a single early ZHA version of the Link lamp), and why they worked well for five years under Wink, without all of the "good" repeaters I've now installed all over the house.

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