I have a Zigbee radio question I’m hoping someone may be able to answer. Most of my devices are zwave except about 11 old GE Link Zigbee bulbs throughout the house that I’m controlling via a Hue hub and a handful of other Zigbee devices I control via Hubitat as has been recommended to me. So the other day I was in my home office where I have the most amount of Zigbee bulbs (6 in a smallish room), and my dog’s inground fence collar went off randomly. I figured the collar went bad and tried another collar. Same issue. He was freaking out because it was beeping and shocking him, and I could hear it going off. This doesn’t happen anywhere else in our home. I tried shutting off the fence itself by unplugging the unit in the basement, but the collars are being randomly set off in my office seemingly only when the Zigbee lights are on. This never happened before the last month or so (that I was aware of).
My questions: am I crazy for thinking the Zigbee lights are the culprit? Is there anything you’d suggest I do? I’m assuming maybe changing frequency of the Hue hub? My Hubitat is in my office, as well as a UniFi wifi access point. Any troubleshooting thoughts would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!
Wow that sounds awful...
If your containment system is the 'wireless' kind that activates when the collar loses a signal (these are systems that don't use a buried perimeter wire), maybe your office is in a dead zone where the system's signal is lost (that will activate the collar).
I do not suggest doing this. We got one of those in-ground wire loops set up for our dog years ago. I wasn't sure if it was working, so I took it off him and was testing when the collar beeped near the line. After faintly hearing the collar, I promptly forgot it was still in my hand, and proceeded to go get the mail. Yes, I was touching the contacts when I crossed. I still haven't left the yard since then.
It is not a wireless system. There is cable buried around the house. The collar has never activated outside the perimeter and shouldn’t (per my understanding), so unplugging the wire should keep the signal from setting off the collar.
Yes! I wouldn’t want to be shocked either! Poor doggy boy is afraid of me now because he was on my lap when it happened. I pulled the collar off him immediately but my “testing” the unit even when not on him freaked him out with the beeping.
Our dog would slow crawl to the line until he heard the beep. Then he would lie there (no shock yet) until the beeping stopped. Then he would cross the line, and since the battery was now dead, no shock. He was the stupidest dog we have had, except that.
The device instructions might mention if it uses 2.4GHz (i.e. the same as zigbee) or another frequency? Or if you see the FCC ID anywhere, googling that will give plenty of info including the frequency.
I did a search for information on dog fences. It looks like many of them operate using channels in the 11 meter high frequency (HF) band. This is in the same frequency range used by CB radios. Some classes of amateur radio operators (often called hams) are licensed to use frequencies in the 10 and 12 meter HF bands, but not 11 meters.
Zigbee devices operate on frequencies in the 2.2 GHz band along with Bluetooth and WiFI routers. Thus, it is unlikely that Zigbee is causing the issue. However, some LED light bulbs emit radiation (RF noise) in the HF bands, to the frustration of ham radio operators.
If you have a portable AM radio, it may be able to pick up RF noise. Tune it to a spot on the dial that is between channels. Then walk around your yard and to various spots in your house. When you are near the invisible fence, you should hear increased static. Likewise, if you have noise generating electronic devices you should get increased static as you approach them. That is how amateur radio operators track down unwanted RF noise. Replace any offending devices.
