I'm having an issue with ERIA Motion Sensor that I have in my garage. It is suppose to detect movement, which triggers a hubitat rule to turn on lights via a Kasa plug (wifi). The sensor works for a while after resetting, but randomly stops working and stays not working for a day or two. At the same time I have I have Phillips Hue Motion Sensor that is roughly the same distance as the Eria motion sensor, but not in a garage. That one works just fine. Is the issue the signal strength around the garage structure? For reference, my house is one floor & 1,678 sq ft. The hubitat hub is one side of the house (router is bedroom) and the sensors are both on the opposite side of the house.
This is what I have tried:
- Factor reset the Eria motion sensor, and it worked for a week before disconnecting
- Moving the sensor closer to the garage door (the one that connects the garage to the house.. not the metal door)
- Bought a zigbee smart plug to act as a repeater (centralite one). I put that just in the hallway in front of the garage entrance
- Restarted the hubitat hub
The only option I got left is putting the phillips hue sensor in the garage, but not sure if this will address the problem if it is a signal issue. For garage sensors, is it better go with wifi or z-wave? Any ideas what I can do next?
Likely you need to boost things with additional repeaters . Dropping off the mesh like that is a typical sign of a weak mesh
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Either zigbee or z-wave should be fine in a garage (I use both protocols in my detached garage ~40' from my house), but the key to both is each having its own good mesh.
Repeaters (i.e. any plug-in device from a reputable manufacturer) are the foundation of a good mesh. Build the mesh from close to far and be patient on seeing results -- it's rarely instant gratification when you're building a mesh out.
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@hydro311 do you have any recommendations for repeater devices that aren't smart plugs? I have quite a few Kasa smart plugs already so I'm hesitant to get more smart plugs.
Smart plugs are honestly the simplest way to go. I myself like these Innr plugs -- I now have 13 throughout my house and garage. Innr's a good company, the plugs are relatively small and they can work with either Hue or regular Zigbee (but not both at same time).
5 of my Innrs aren't powering anything - they're just placed in a good spot to help repeat.
ETA - Innovelli will soon be releasing a zigbee switch, and I plan to pick up a couple of those. Unfortunately, there aren't many mainstream zigbee switches yet, so hopefully Innovelli will spark more development there. Zigbee relays can be good repeaters too, but those are usually installed to solve a specific need so not easy to just scatter around like a plug.
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Aren't Kasa Smart plugs wifi? I don't think they are 'repeaters'...
Regardless, Enbrighten smart switches as repeaters are amazing!
A portion of my zigbee device - R devices are Repeaters...
the blue one, and the one to it's left, are 2 of my GE Enbrighten inwall switches.
Plugs or switches. Plugs I like Sengled, or you could get some ge Enbrighten zigbee receptacles. You could also get some usb repeaters (plug them into An always on usb outlet)
Kasa smart plugs typically operate using WiFi. Thus, they do not act as repeaters for Zigbee, even though WiFi and Zigbee share the same frequency space. I have removed all my WiFi plugs.
I have had good success with using some eWeLink technology smart plugs as Zigbee repeaters. The brand I use is Luntak, but there are other brands that use the eWeLink Zigbee 3.0 design. Here are the ones I use. They are cheap, yet effective. Just do not try using them for appliances.
https://www.amazon.com/Luntak-Zigbee-Control-Appliances-Required/dp/B08P89M8P9/
I am not familiar with the Adurasmart ERIA Motion Sensor, I know that some sensors are not fully compatible with the Zigbee protocol. For example, Xiaomi/Aqara devices are non-standard. When I tried adding Aqara devices to my Zigbee mesh, they kept falling offline until I removed my older Smartthings and Centralite plugs/repeaters and replaced them with the eWeLink/LUNTAK plugs. Now my mesh is stable.
Remember that the walls between your house and the garage will have insulation and thicker wallboard than that used for the intertior walls of your house. That makes it helpful to have a Zigbee repeater in the house between the Hubitat hub and the garage.
Also make sure the signals to the sensors are not blocked by vehicles and other metallic objects.
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FWIW I also have an Eria motion sensor in my garage. It is lightning fast! So fast I sometimes go back to check the logs to make sure the garage light hadn't been left on as it can be on before I've gotten past the door to step into the garage. I haven't had any issues with it staying connected.
Sinope makes a Zigbee light switch, which might help with your mesh
I'm really pleased with eWelink too... as a repeater it has been excellent and troublefree - I wrote a driver for them (and the Seedan/Cmars versions) which is the basis form my zigbee network - I do have one in each room - at 2 for $12 or whatever they were - its a easy cost to justify!
I have smoked 2 of them. In my garage I had an extension cord to a work table which had a hi powered halogen, and 2 ultrasonic tanks (900w) each.. I turned it all on and 'poof'. gone was the outlet. I had to do it twice before I read the current rating... lol.
Thanks for the suggestions everybody! I'll try adding more repeaters to my home setup. Sounds like that is the going to be the solution for getting signal into the garage. I guess the walls are the issue since I just added a door contact sensor that goes from the hallway into the garage, and that one works just fine. Put a sensor on the other side of the garage, and it gets iffy fast. I think until I improve the signal & get more sensors, I'll probably have to automate the garage lights using the door contact sensor as a workaround
What kind of lights are they?
@rlithgow1 The lights I got are these: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07PG3RLH7/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
though I only really needed 6 of them. They aren't smart, and have a switch that turns them on and off. I got them hooked up with a kasa smart plug: https://smile.amazon.com/Kasa-Smart-Required-Certified-EP10P4/dp/B091FXLMS8/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=kasa%2Bsmart%2Bplug&qid=1651539237&s=hi&sprefix=kasa%2Bsm%2Ctools%2C128&sr=1-1&th=1
I was hoping to get a motion sensor to sense that I entered the garage ( I have a home gym in there), and turn on the lights. It would also sense when I left after 15 min. However, the signal is too inconsistent for now, but the times it worked were great!
I have a contact switch on the door from the house to the garage, another contact switch on the door from the garage to outside, and tilt sensors on the overhead garage doors. If either door is opened, the lights come on immediately, Then two motion sensors insure that they lights stay on as long as their is motion inside the garage. After motion is absent for a few minutes, the lights turn off. It works quite well.
