Hello to the entire eWeLink community. I’ve been using Sonoff devices for several years now, and I’m genuinely pleased with the overall results. Some time ago, I started using Zigbee, testing out new features that weren’t available over WiFi. I have a Bridge Pro, but unfortunately, it frequently disconnects. This is evident in the temperature charts, where data is lost on a daily basis.
I had a very similar experience. Constant interruptions, sometimes lasting even a few hours.
The only thing that helped was relocating the bridge… generally, if a device has a signal strength of -80 or higher, they disconnect quite often.
If my signal strength is in the 60-70 range, they’re usually able to maintain a connection.
And this doesn’t depend on the sensor, as I get the same results on different ones.
Try measuring the signal strength per device and generally look at the channel occupancy set in the bridge.
But the only thing that will probably help is adding an intermediate device to boost the signal or relocating the bridge.
For me, ZigBee is much weaker and much more sensitive to weak signals than Wi-Fi 2.4.
Alternatively, buy more bridge and divide the devices relative to them to get the best possible signal. I am considering this option in one place, although I am still hesitant whether to choose ZBDongle or bridge pro.
In general ZigBee is very sensitive and there are many things and nuances to consider. Also, if you live in a city, there is too much mess on 2.4gHz range that ZigBee uses from all your neighbors’ devices, and sometimes it can be a real pain to achieve stability.
But with few simple rules you won’t need to overthink it:
Just add at least 1 ZB socket or other router device in each room. This way the mesh is more stable.
Find the best position for your ZB bridge, ideally: ± in center of all of this; as far away as possible (2-5m) from your Wi-Fi APs, from other radio emitting electronics (especially microwave ovens kill the signal); not blocked by thick (especially concrete or brick) walls, furniture, big metal constructions, etc.
Also it is said that charging USB cables, especially USB 3.0+ are a problem for ZigBee. Though my ZB bridge is now situated in 20cm from a powerful charging station where we charge all our phones and other gadgets, and there is no problem. )
If possible, try to maintain a clear direct point of view between devices. And if you have to separate them by wall, try to achieve it in the most perpendicular way to the wall possible (the less perpendicular the signal travels from one device to another, the thicker the wall becomes for the actual signal, thus making it more difficult). This is a general rule for all wireless signals, including Wi-Fi.
Don’t be rush on conclusions, give it a few hours to settle down the mesh after connecting everything. In first minutes, it can seem that it is not working, but ZigBee protocol always tries to self-repair.
I had my ZB Ultra connected to ethernet and close to Wi-Fi AP and had many problems. I moved it to other part of the room, and while I had to sacrifice ethernet to Wi-Fi connection, now it is very stable.