I noticed a lot of advice on the forums here about repeater, but every time I go look to buy a recommendation (TRADFRI, Peanut, Iris, etc.) it's not sold in Canada.
There's one company AARTech here that offers some good quality stuff but I'm looking at $50 to $100 per repeater (e.g. Stelpro Zigbee Repeater or Leviton Decora Smart Zigbee 3.0 Plug In Dimmer).
I've seen some interesting reviews on ones from AliExpress and I took some advice from other members to see that apparently Tuya works pretty well. But I still have some hesitancy.
For reference, 1900 sqft above ground, 800 below, large backyard.
Would appreciate some help, don't want to buy the wrong thing.
I'm normally leery to recommend Tuya stuff in general, but those small Tuya USB-dongle zigbee 3.0 repeaters are well-received in the community here as solid repeaters.
All you have to do is power them up -- they do not need a special driver.
I use a lot of Tuya 3.0 repeaters.
I have bought a LOT of stuff from AARTech but when it comes to things like this it's Ali Express.
These things are strong, small, and work great.
Good luck with the mail strike, I'm waiting for all kinds of play things.
I do use one, old, specific driver as it reports "Presence"
Then I use the Device Activity app, for all my ZB devices, to report if it goes missing.
Mostly when someone, me, knocks the USB wall charger.
The ikea line is good but the TRADFRI line has been deprecated and replaced. they don't make the repeater anymore but the smart plug should be a good repeater and not to big.
Innr bulbs will register as repeaters and do an ok job. They are not the best but they won't harm your zigbee mesh either. They will repeat a few devices each. Same for the new Third Reality bulbs. I only say this as it does give more options than only strictly non-repeating Sengled bulbs. I use all these with zero issues.
I wouldn't purchase one just for a repeater but if you have a need for an MMWave sensor the Linptech Is a great repeater. Some people have issues with them locking up on motion status. I fortunately have not had that issue with the couple I have.
There's an updated version with healthStatus available. HERE
In fact most(all ) of those old Presence drivers have been updated and are available with the new attribute.
I did update my code, then I looked my repeaters, seems I move everything over to the driver that supports most of my ZB devices. So much for paying attention.
) of those old Presence drivers have been updated and are available with the new attribute.
