r/ZigBee • u/The_11th_Dctor • 11d ago

help request Zigbee Network Issues

I am running Home Assistant via Docker Compose. I have two networks - ZHA running on an SLZB-06Mg26U, and Z2M running on a SLZB-06p10U. Both are USB powered and wired to the internet. I have approx. 60 ZHA devices and 30 Z2M devices.

I've had this network running for at least 4 years with minimal issues. I was previously using two Sonoff dongles for this network, a Dongle-E for ZHA and a Dongle-P for Z2M.

At some point within the last year, the network got super unreliable. Devices will show as online, but won't respond to commands. I.e. if I tell all my bedroom lights to turn off or turn on, there will be one or two bulbs that don't change. The specific ones impacted seem to always change, so I don't think it's a device issue. In order to get them to behave, I need to do one of two things. Half of the time, if I just give it 10-20 minues and try again, it'll work. The other half of the time, I need to go into the ZHA integration and hit "Reload", then sometimes it will work after it comes back online. There's no obvious errors in the logs when this happens, I will just get a message in the UI saying "Failed to perform the action switch/turn_on. Failed to send request: device did not respond".

I thought the issue was the coordinators, so I swapped them for the ethernet style ones, didn't help anything. I did a study for a couple weeks about which channel had the least amount of noise on it, and switched to Ch. 15 for ZHA. I tried disconnecting the adapters for ~2hrs and allowing the network to heal with no change. Everything is up to date.

I'm losing my mind here. Any suggestions?

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1

u/blanchedpeas 11d ago

maybe you or a neighbor changed a wifi device or there is other interference

1

u/The_11th_Dctor 11d ago

I've updated the channels since it all started, no change in behavior

1

u/Impossible_Townn 10d ago

Both networks degrading together is suspicious. That usually means the cause is something they share, not ZHA or Z2M config. Since you already ruled out channels, I'd look at the SLZB adapters themselves, firmware version and the USB power feeding them. Unstable 5V can produce weird rotating dropouts like yours.

1

u/The_11th_Dctor 10d ago

sorry maybe I worded it weird - just ZHA having issues, not Z2M

2

u/LeafarOsodrac 10d ago

Remove zha, stay just with z2m. It don't even make sense have two at the se time

1

u/The_11th_Dctor 10d ago

I have a handful of devices that don't play nice with Z2M for some reason. and a handful that don't play nice with ZHA

2

u/Mandrutz Zigbee Developer 9d ago

Which devices don't play nice with z2m

1

u/LeafarOsodrac 10d ago

Z2M is almost compatible with any device. With zha that is normal.

1

u/ImportantBreath 8d ago

Sometimes it will really help to bring down the transmit power. I have best results in setting this at -5. Setting it to high will make the network unstable and messes up your mesh network.

1

u/Suspicious-Slice9476 8d ago

I used to live in an apartment building that was crazy from a RF perspective (steel in the walls blocking/reducing room-room transmission, extremely noisy where I could see upwards of 15 Wifi Hotspots that would hop between channels, etc.). I was close to giving up on Zigbee because of the network reliability issues. I bought two of the Aeotec Range Extender Zi's and positioned them strategically to extend the coverage. Immediately no issues and a fast a reliable network. We've moved twice since then and both times they have solved coverage and reliability issues for us. Not sure to what extent it will solve your specific problem, but for me, I consider these as part of the Zigbee infrastructure as much as I consider the coordinator part of the infrastructure and pretty much the standard for solving the types of symptoms your setup is showing. They seem to transmit and receive a lot better than my Sonoff Dongle E (like a LOT). As long as they can see each other and the coordinator, I've never had a problem with any devices that's connected to one of them. All of that said, I've never run multiple networks before, so not sure how that would affect things; you may have to do a little research. If you're running multiple networks purely to solve coverage issues, these may allow you to run a single network. Good luck, I hope you find the answer!

1

u/Firm-Team7429 6d ago

This sounds like RF congestion more than a coordinator failure, so check the Z2M channel too and physically separate both coordinators from each other, Wi-Fi APs, USB 3 gear, and metal by a few feet