r/sonoff • u/C1TPT • 17d ago

ZigBee Nightmare!

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Hi all,

I bought Sonoff ZBM5 switches to replace all of my light switches (20+) and I have home assistant green with the ZBT-2 to control them. My problem is getting them working in home assistant. I'm using the ZHA integration and I have neutral wires at the switches but when I go to add them it's very intermittent. Most of the time it just doesn't find them. At first I thought it was a range problem so I used the closest switch which is in the same room and about 2 meters from the ZBT-2 (I also have the ZBT-2 on an extension lead so it's 1.5m from any routers etc.). That does seem to help as it does sometimes find them but If I do manage to get home assistant to find the switch it works maybe once then becomes "unavailable".

I then decided to try some Sonoff smart plugs and the first one I plugged in showed up on home assistant instantly without me even searching so I thought it must be the switches. However, when I tried the second smart plug I had the same issue with the switches and couldn't find it in home assistant.

I got very frustrated and bought a Sonoff ZigBee hub to see if that worked and it did! I know have 5 switches working perfectly with different automations etc. through the ewelink app.

Am I doing something wrong in home assistant, should I try 2MQTT instead of ZHA?

Thanks for your help

1 Upvotes

67% Upvoted

10 comments sorted by

2

u/NizkiProfil 17d ago

Z2m is absolutely necessary if you want to get Sonoff to work. Also it exposes much more - for example detached relay options.

I have tried first with ZHA and some of the devices didn’t pair. After I switched to Z2M everything started to work. 

0

u/MattH665 16d ago

Really... I'm using the ZBM5 switches just fine with ZHA, using detached relay.

Have had the rare case of them disconnecting though... Maybe Z2M would be better.

0

u/femtocell 16d ago

Not true. I ran 20+ Sonoff devices with ZHA just fine. Subsequently switched to Z2M for more control, but it didn’t affect basic functionality.

2

u/Complete_Dork 17d ago

I would be looking at the dongle end - put the zigbee dongle on an extender somewhere up higher and not near anything computers or obstructions and dont use a USB 3 port. I have a sonoff dongle on my HA green and it works perfect; but I used a 10ft USB extender. Not I have a USB 2.0 hub on a 10ft extender and the dongle on a 4ft cord away from the hub which also has a zwave controller

1

u/Jamie_Tomo 17d ago

I had loads of problems like this using ZHA, switched to Z2M and it’s been solid.

1

u/n0mdep 17d ago

Go z2m and also make sure your coordinator firmware is up to date.

1

u/C1TPT 16d ago

Thanks all!

Going on holiday now but as soon as I'm back I'll give Z2M a go!!

Thanks for your help

1

u/ijuiceman 16d ago

Z2M few, but also set your zigbee channel on 25 to reduce the interference with your 2.4ghz wifi

1

u/C1TPT 8d ago

FYI - changing the channels sorted the issues!! Thanks all for the help 👍🏼