Adding zingbee

[Pocster]

I already have z wave devices which I wish to keep . It’s unclear too me how I add zingbee support .

Just get any zingbee usb stick ? . Use the free hs4 zingbee app - that it ?

I see mentioned specific zingbee sticks and maybe the need for a zingbee hub ( why do I need that ? )

Want to keep my current z wave usb stick and run zingbee in parallel for testing .

Any advice appreciated

[Demusman]

Zigbee.

You can use the HS Zigbee plugin with the Nortek stick or the Jowihue plugin with the two controllers it supports.
HS plugin is free but doesn't have the support of Jowihue.
The controller you choose is the hub.

[Pocster]

Zigbee.

You can use the HS Zigbee plugin with the Nortek stick or the Jowihue plugin with the two controllers it supports.
HS plugin is free but doesn't have the support of Jowihue.
The controller you choose is the hub.

Sorry ! Did type zigbee !!
So if I get a different zigbee usb ( sonoff I think ) I can't use it ? I.e not supported ?

[tenholde]

Recommend ConBee II usb stick and JowieHue plugin. Best support from the developer and broadcast device support.

[Pocster]

Recommend ConBee II usb stick and JowieHue plugin. Best support from the developer and broadcast device support.

Any problems adding all zigbee devices ( I.e version 3 ) ? - or is it a bit hit n miss like z wave ? . I find z wave to be very slow sometimes for no obvious reason so keen to experiment with zigbee

[tenholde]

I do not have any Zwave, use UPB for most switches/lights and use Zigbee for sensors and some plugs. I find Zigbee to be very responsive: I walk into room and zigbee motion detector fires immediately and HS turns on UPB ceiling fan immediately. Very pleased. As far as device support, the ConBee II and JowiHue support significantly more than the HS plugin. This is based upon updates to the DeConz software that is provided with the ConBee. A good place to look is: https://phoscon.de/en/conbee2/compatible

The support team for DeConz is very active, adding new device support all of the time. Check out the JowiHue forum to get an idea of how active the author is in responding to requests:
https://forums.homeseer.com/forum/hs...ihue-w-vuyk-aa

[Pocster]

I do not have any Zwave, use UPB for most switches/lights and use Zigbee for sensors and some plugs. I find Zigbee to be very responsive: I walk into room and zigbee motion detector fires immediately and HS turns on UPB ceiling fan immediately. Very pleased. As far as device support, the ConBee II and JowiHue support significantly more than the HS plugin. This is based upon updates to the DeConz software that is provided with the ConBee. A good place to look is: https://phoscon.de/en/conbee2/compatible

The support team for DeConz is very active, adding new device support all of the time. Check out the JowiHue forum to get an idea of how active the author is in responding to requests:
https://forums.homeseer.com/forum/hs...ihue-w-vuyk-aa

Think I'll also go conbee 2 with jowihue . Nothing worse than spending your cash and support dries up .😉

[wpiman]

I highly recommend the Raspbee (2 I think) with JowieHue. You get a Raspberry Pi, pop in the Rapsbee, and install the Conbee software on there. Jowihue recognizes the Raspberry pi bridge and it can be on your network, or anywhere really. Setup much like the Z-net.

[prsmith777]

Be aware Zigbee and Wifi compete on the 2.4 Ghz spectrum. Think things out when setting up.

https://www.metageek.com/training/re...i-coexistence/

[logman]

Be aware Zigbee and Wifi compete on the 2.4 Ghz spectrum. Think things out when setting up.

https://www.metageek.com/training/re...i-coexistence/

I've read that before too, but my real world experience says it's much ado about nothing. I've got enough UniFi APs broadcasting Wi-Fi to give a radiation suntan if you walk across the back yard, 12 Philips Hue Zigbee hubs (with dozens of Hue lights) and 2 Conbee sticks (100+ devices) all competing on the same 2.4 wave spectrum. Never once have I noticed an interference issue or failed Zigbee commands. It just don't happen. I even have a Hue entertainment zone set up that can send out dozens of Zigbee commands per second that puts on a light show to the rhythm of music, and even then I've seen no performance issues.

Man Cave Light Show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7ox1Vjt81w

Christmas Lights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCEqggPGIXo

Z-Wave on the other hand, that's a different story...

--Barry

[prsmith777]

Things get more spicy when you try to add Sonos which also competes on the 2.4 Ghz network. Sonos is a bit more finicky. I had drop outs with Sonos until I learned to be smart about assigning channels.

[TC1]

I've read that before too, but my real world experience says it's much ado about nothing. I've got enough UniFi APs broadcasting Wi-Fi to give a radiation suntan if you walk across the back yard, 12 Philips Hue Zigbee hubs (with dozens of Hue lights) and 2 Conbee sticks (100+ devices) all competing on the same 2.4 wave spectrum. Never once have I noticed an interference issue or failed Zigbee commands. It just don't happen.

The 2.4GHz spectrum consists of 11 Wi-Fi channels and 16 Zigbee channels... the problem occurs when those channels overlap. It has nothing to do with how many transmitters you have as long as they are not competing with each other. There are many factors involved, such as whether your Wi-Fi APs are auto tuning (will automatically change channels depending on the environment), the bandwidth of your Wi-Fi channels, and spurious other devices (microwave ovens, neighbor Wi-Fi, etc). I've seen it firsthand with only one AP where my ZigBee network was unstable at first, despite having decent LQI to some battery-powered endpoints. Once I did a radio survey and saw that my AP Wi-Fi channel was too close to my ZigBee channel, by simply moving the ZigBee channel away from the Wi-Fi channel my Zigbee network then became rock solid in terms of communication reliability.

You might have gotten lucky in that your channels were never competing with each other and you have no neighbors to worry about. But that doesn't mean the problem doesn't exist for others.

[ewkearns]

If the configuration of your home is like mine, it is not practical to colocate the home automation computer and the hubs (of whatever persuasion, WiFi, Zigbee, Z-Wave, etc.). To that end, the Raspbee allows a remote installation for Z-Wave, as does Z-Net for Z-Wave, and your router for WiFI... If you don't need that feature, Conbee is fine for ZIgbee.

[tenholde]

For 2.4, I use the following: Zigbee channel 25 WiFi channel 1 Sonos channel 6

Works for me great, but my setup is pretty straight forward. For most WiFi devices, I use 5.0 instead of 2.4.

Still have to watch out for high-powered neighbors.

I also made sure I had plenty of ZigBee repeaters in my network (mostly outlet plugs).

[logman]

The 2.4GHz spectrum consists of 11 Wi-Fi channels and 16 Zigbee channels... the problem occurs when those channels overlap. It has nothing to do with how many transmitters you have as long as they are not competing with each other. There are many factors involved, such as whether your Wi-Fi APs are auto tuning (will automatically change channels depending on the environment), the bandwidth of your Wi-Fi channels, and spurious other devices (microwave ovens, neighbor Wi-Fi, etc). I've seen it firsthand with only one AP where my ZigBee network was unstable at first, despite having decent LQI to some battery-powered endpoints. Once I did a radio survey and saw that my AP Wi-Fi channel was too close to my ZigBee channel, by simply moving the ZigBee channel away from the Wi-Fi channel my Zigbee network then became rock solid in terms of communication reliability.

You might have gotten lucky in that your channels were never competing with each other and you have no neighbors to worry about. But that doesn't mean the problem doesn't exist.

It could have been spectrum interference you were experiencing, or it could have been been a single weak router point in the comms path. Battery powered devices especially are loathed to change routes unless forced. Changing Zigbee channels on the network could have forced a reroute that solved the problem. It's hard to say.

Of the 11 Wi-Fi channels, only 3 are considered non-competing with each other: 1, 6 and 11. And of those, only channel 11 clears 3 of the Zigbee channels (24-26). Even then there can be some overlap with the sideband of 11. It's true that I do utilize the UniFi autotuning feature on my Wi-Fi network, and I'm sure that helps to manage interference issues when the spectrum gets busy. But still...

In my case, I have 16 Zigbee hubs (I almost forgot about the Hubitat and SmartThings hubs) competing with each other and with more than a dozen Wi-Fi APs. It's inconceivable that there is no interference within the spectrum. And yet I have no performance issues from any of the networks that is noticable.

Now, does common sense still need to be employed? Of course. I don't have have all my APs stacked in the same closet with all the Zigbee radios. They are all pretty much scattered around the property in an attempt to keep send/receive distances as short as possible. In my Man Cave I do have 5 Hue hubs sitting side by side on a rack. In that case I made sure all 5 were on separate Zigbee channels. Other than that, that's the extent of my spectrum planning.

Most network issues I've seen with Zigbee, including my own setup and others that I have done troubleshooting on, are normally routing issues. The moment you first "pull the pin" on a battery powered device it starts establishing a route back to the hub. If you then carry the device to it's permanent location after it has joined the network, the routing may need to be changed.

A simple rearranging of large furniture, appliances or adding a large mirror to your house can cause issues too. What was once a good route back to the hub can suddenly become weak by simply hanging a mirror in the wrong spot. Mains powered devices will find a new route in in an hour or two on their own. But a sleepy battery powered device might not at all until you force it. This can happen with any home automation network: WiFi, Z-Wave or Zigbee.

A friend was convinced his Wi-Fi network was causing issues with his Zigbee network. His leak detectors under the sinks and behind the toilet kept losing connection with his SmartThings hub. They had worked fine for a year prior. New batteries didn't help. After some quizzing he said he had added some large mirrors on the interior facing walls of his bathroom. "So you've made a Faraday box out of your bathroom? Gee, I wonder why that's happening too." A mains powered outlet added to the bathroom and rejoining the sensors solved the problem.

That's just been my experiences. Your mileage may vary.

--Barry