Problem with a sensor far from the coordinator and near to a router

deCONZ General Support
1

Hello,

I need to use a sonoff snzb door sensor far from the conbeeII coordinator, but near a router (a sonoff zbmini).

From what I understand, I have to pair the door sensor near the coordinator —> then I can put the door sensor far from it (and near the router) —> then I have to wait some (unpredictable) time until the routes change and the sensor is finally routed by the router to the coordinator.

But this would take too much time and it’s very uncomfortable for testing my zigbee network, when there are many sensors far from the coordinator.

Then I ask: Is this the only way to accomplish what I need? Or is there a shorter way, without waiting the unpredictable time needed to update the routes of the network?

Thanks for your reply!

regards,

Paolo

2

You have the issue where the sonoff device prevent the inclusion ?

Else, the normal procedure is making the inclusion on definitive place (almost for Xiaomi/Aqara because they realy like their parent ^^)

3

I can’t include (pair) the sensor while it is in its definitive place. Its definitive place is near the sonoff device, which is reachable (I can turn it on and off), but I can only include the sensor when it’s near the conbee II coordinator.

Here is a picture of the map before trying to include the sensor, with the coordinator and the router:

router-far-from-the-coordinator
router-far-from-the-coordinator1360×768 68.3 KB

As you can see, it doesn’t show a link between the router and the coordinator (but, as said before, the router is reachable and I can turn it on/off)

4

. If I move the router very close to the coordinator, I can see its link:

router-near-coordinator
router-near-coordinator1360×768 69.1 KB

… but it is strangely weak, and not green.

5

Do you connect the ConBee with an USB extension cable (highly recommended)? The weak signal especially near the coordinator would indicate it might be caused by 2.4 GHz interference which can be mitigated with an USB cable.

6

I use an extension cable. In addition, I have chosen channel 25 as the zigbee channel (so, no interference with my wifi internet stuff). In addition, if I pair a door sensor near the coordinator as well, I can see strong signal (green). I also tried to pair another zbmini near the coordinator, and the signal is weak like the previous one…
I’m getting crazy with this!

7

I m not surprised, there is somes issues with sonoff.
There is some of them that don’t work as router for inclusion or some other that can only be inclused with the coordinator (and need to be moved after) SNZB-03 works with coordinator but not with router · Issue #6979 · Koenkk/zigbee2mqtt · GitHub

On my side I will make a try with another router (from another brand) if possible.

8

This is precious info, thanks.
Can you tell me, please, some routers + door sensors from other brands that are easy to find and are known to well work with conbeeII?

thanks again!

9

Xiaomi have lot of issues, but we know them now ^^, and apart disconnection on unreliable router, thoses one are fine (and they “never” change their parent, so not sure it’s good for your situation ?)

As router, depend of your configuration, and what you need, plug are hard to replace, but add a bulb is easy and cheap (with ikea for exemple)

But on your side, I can’t say if the problem is more from the sensor or the router…

10

I’m going to bui some Ikea TRADFRI bulbs, then.
My topology is not going to change, so a xiaomi sensor could be fine.
Let’s try them
Thanks for your support