Zigbee Network Issues

[raidflex]

So I suspect there is something else going on here that is not performance related as I have removed most all custom apps/drivers and I am not seeing any signs of slow hub performance. Yet the Zigbee network is still randomly dropping or going "offline"

I attempted to add a Iris V2 motion sensor yesterday and it failed to pair and during the pairing process the Zigbee network went offline. After turning off the Zigbee radio and back on I was then able to successfully pair the device.

Now I know there is a limit of 32 Zigbee devices connected to the hub directly, but I have 5 Iris v2 outlets around the house to help strengthen the mesh and allow for more devices.

Currently I have 36 Zigbee devices with plans to add more.

All my device have a good RSSI signal of -60 or less and the LQI rarely deviates from 255. I am using Zigbee channel 15 currently.

The Iris outlets are spread out evenly around the house and the hub is centrally located on the main floor. Also my Zigbee devices are also spread out throughout the house.

My UniFi AP has also been setup with the proper channel to avoid interference with the current Zigbee channel. My house is also an interior lot with basically no other RF interference in the area.

At this point I am running out of ideas. I do have additional Iris outlets that I could add, but I need to find the root cause of the problem first.

[helene7t7]

What are the zigbee devices? Are they all Iris?

[raidflex]

@helene7t7

What are the zigbee devices? Are they all Iris?

Most all of them are Iris and all of the Iris are V2 devices. I do have a few Hue Motion Sensors and some Sengled bulbs.

[aaiyar]

I don't have any Iris devices, but I used to have ~10 Lightify bulbs, 5 line-powered outlets (Quirky outlink), one GE zigbee dimmer, and three Samsung plugs. Things didn't go so well. On the recommendation of several people here, I got rid of the Quirky outlinks, and added 3 Securifi Peanuts and 4 Ikea Tradfri plugs. My zigbee mesh has been rock solid ever since.

My suspicion is a) that some devices behave better as repeaters than others; b) everyone who says that light bulbs are bad zigbee repeaters is correct; and c) some devices can make a zigbee network unstable - like the Outlinks.

You're ok with the Sengled bulbs - they are purposely designed not to route.

[raidflex]

@aaiyar

My suspicion is a) that some devices behave better as repeaters than others; b) everyone who says that light bulbs are bad zigbee repeaters is correct; and c) some devices can make a zigbee network unstable - like the Outlinks.

I suspect it could be a particular device that is causing a problem, but I do not see an easy way to trace this down. From what I have seen here on the forums the Iris outlets are supposed to be very good repeaters though.

@aaiyar

You're ok with the Sengled bulbs - they are purposely designed not to route.

Yeah I got the Sengled's purposely because they are not repeaters and generally most bulbs are bad repeaters.

[craigspree]

Sounds similar to this thread I read the other day: [Solved] Zigbee Instability is back!

Summary: Two issues were causing this.

1. Some older C4 hubs with a seperate zigbee USB stick were faulty (the stick itself was faulty in some rare cases)
2. Some code was identified which caused the instability, and was fixed for at least one user directly from Hubitat support during testing. I do not know if/when that code was put into production. If that code has not yet been released yet, then there is hope it will solve your issue.

Again, a bit of a shot in the dark. I'm sorry for the frustration your dealing with. I also recommend emailing support@hubitat.com in hopes they can help you.

[raidflex]

@craigspree

Some older C4 hubs with a seperate zigbee USB stick were faulty (the stick itself was faulty in some rare cases)

Yeah I am contacting support at this point, its possible there could be an issue with the stick.

@craigspree

Some code was identified which caused the instability, and was fixed for at least one user directly from Hubitat support during testing. I do not know if/when that code was put into production. If that code has not yet been released yet, then there is hope it will solve your issue.

It seems these changes have already been applied in a previous release. .

[zarthan]

Have a look at how things are routing through http://hub_ip/hub/zigbee/getChildAndRouteInfo

[raidflex]

Support found database corruption and recommended a soft reset which I am doing now. So we will see what happens.

[csteele]

@raidflex

Support found database corruption

I like that you have something to pursue, but I know I wouldn't have thought of DB corruption very high on my list with your symptoms. Yaaaaay for support huh??

@raidflex

Currently I have 36 Zigbee devices with plans to add more

That popped out at me and I thought, maybe for a day you could remove 4-6 Zigbee devices and see if it had any affect. In other words, if Zigbee routing is choosing a path that you or I would not, and all are using the Hub then you could chase a mesh problem.

[raidflex]

@csteele

That popped out at me and I thought, maybe for a day you could remove 4-6 Zigbee devices and see if it had any affect. In other words, if Zigbee routing is choosing a path that you or I would not, and all are using the Hub then you could chase a mesh problem.

Yeah this might not be a bad idea if the problems continue. It seems as though the problem has been more frequent the more I add new Zigbee devices. Also in the past 1-2 months that I have been experiencing this issue I did pass beyond that 32 device limit.

[xamindar]

@raidflex

My UniFi AP has also been setup with the proper channel to avoid interference with the current Zigbee channel.

If on zigbee 15, that leaves only wifi channel 11 with a 20mhz or smaller width.

[vjv]

@xamindar

If on zigbee 15, that leaves only wifi channel 11 with a 20mhz or smaller width.

Not at all

[bobbles]

@zarthan

Have a look at how things are routing through http://hub_ip/hub/zigbee/getChildAndRouteInfo

Just to have a look I tried this and got a printout.
If you wouldn't mind, how do I interpret this for devices being repeated. TBH I don't think I have any but just wanted to know how things would show up if I did.

Parent child parameters
EzspGetParentChildParametersResponse [childCount=26, parentEui64=0000000000000000, parentNodeId=65535]

Child Data
child:[Bathroom-Aqara Motion Sensor, 9330, type:EMBER_SLEEPY_END_DEVICE]
child:[Kitchen-Aqara Motion Sensor, 5C30, type:EMBER_SLEEPY_END_DEVICE]
child:[Hall-Downstairs Xiaomi Motion Sensor, B6C3, type:EMBER_SLEEPY_END_DEVICE]
child:[Downstairs Loo-Motion Sensor. Aqara., E576, type:EMBER_SLEEPY_END_DEVICE]
child:[Hall-Upstairs Xiaomi Motion Sensor., 63E3, type:EMBER_SLEEPY_END_DEVICE]
child:[Bedroom-FB Xiaomi Aqara Motion Sensor, 8E4D, type:EMBER_SLEEPY_END_DEVICE]
child:[Bedroom Master-Floor Xiaomi Motion Sensor, 9D24, type:EMBER_SLEEPY_END_DEVICE]
child:[Bathroom-Xiaomi Motion Sensor, 845C, type:EMBER_SLEEPY_END_DEVICE]
child:[Hall-Upstairs Staircase Xiaomi Motion Sensor, 47A6, type:EMBER_SLEEPY_END_DEVICE]
child:[Bedroom-FS. Hue Motion Sensor, F6E0, type:EMBER_SLEEPY_END_DEVICE]
child:[Bedroom Master-Main Door Xiaomi Motion Sensor, 5D9F, type:EMBER_SLEEPY_END_DEVICE]
child:[Kitchen-Cupboard Xiaomi Door Sensor, C1B0, type:EMBER_SLEEPY_END_DEVICE]
child:[En Suite-Xiaomi Motion Sensor, 9A00, type:EMBER_SLEEPY_END_DEVICE]
child:[Lounge-Curtain Left Aqara Window Sensor, E6D2, type:EMBER_SLEEPY_END_DEVICE]
child:[Lounge-Curtain Middle Aqara Window Sensor, EA16, type:EMBER_SLEEPY_END_DEVICE]
child:[Kitchen-Back Door Xiaomi Sensor., 01E8, type:EMBER_SLEEPY_END_DEVICE]
child:[Lounge-Xiaomi Motion Sensor., 2B2C, type:EMBER_SLEEPY_END_DEVICE]
child:[Lounge-Aqara Motion Sensor., DC24, type:EMBER_SLEEPY_END_DEVICE]
child:[Kitchen-Xiaomi Motion Sensor, 292F, type:EMBER_SLEEPY_END_DEVICE]
child:[Hall-Front Door Xiaomi Door Sensor., C6DD, type:EMBER_SLEEPY_END_DEVICE]
child:[Radio-Xiaomi Button, 5F49, type:EMBER_SLEEPY_END_DEVICE]
child:[Kitchen-Xiaomi Mijia Honeywell Fire Detector, BBED, type:EMBER_SLEEPY_END_DEVICE]
child:[Dining Room-Aqara Motion Sensor, CEDB, type:EMBER_SLEEPY_END_DEVICE]
child:[En Suite-Humidity Sensor, E6C1, type:EMBER_SLEEPY_END_DEVICE]
child:[Lounge-Fish Tank Xiaomi Temperature Sensor, 2B46, type:EMBER_SLEEPY_END_DEVICE]
child:[null, 1F25, type:EMBER_SLEEPY_END_DEVICE]

Neighbor Table Entry

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[vjv]

You don't have repeaters for all those Xiaomis?

[zarthan]

It looks like you only have battery devices. I don't have many ZigBee devices but this is what I get. The Neighbor Table shows powered ZigBee devices. The route table shows how devices are routed to the hub. I would like to understand more. The alphabet soup and numbers do give clues to how things are doing but I haven't dug into that.

[bobbles]

@vjv

You don't have repeaters for all those Xiaomis?

None. My hub is pretty central though.
I do get the odd drop off occasionally so perhaps I should invest in a couple.
Just for information if I get a zigbee outlet, when it is plugged in but turned off, I assume it keeps repeating as it is powered.

[ogiewon]

@bobbles

Just for information if I get a zigbee outlet, when it is plugged in but turned off, I assume it keeps repeating as it is powered.

Correct!

[iharyadi]

@bobbles

Just for information if I get a zigbee outlet, when it is plugged in but turned off, I assume it keeps repeating as it is powered.

Since you have plenty of Xiaomi devices, you may want to get zigbee routers (repeater) that is compatible with Xiaomi. Take a look at this thread for information what is work as Xiaomi repeaters.

[bobbles]

@iharyadi

you may want to get zigbee routers (repeater) that is compatible with Xiaomi.

Thanks for the information. Will have a look.