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Disappointed with Aqara - Zigbee hub, but no 3rd party? (sh.itjust.works)

submitted 2 days ago by CocaineShrimp@sh.itjust.works to c/homeassistant@lemmy.world

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Correct me if I'm wrong, but...

Buyer Beware! Aqara hubs use the Zigbee protocol, but lock out 3rd party devices!

A few months ago, I bought an Aqara hub and went deep into their ecosystem. I saw their hub and sensors had good reviews, plus they were using the Zigbee open protocol, so I figured I'd stick with their stuff. I had no reason to try other devices until recently.

I picked up a tilt sensor for my garage door from a 3rd party. I made sure it was also using the Zigbee protocol, so I assumed it would be compatable. Unfortunately, when I tried connecting it to the hub, I was wrong and it wouldn't connect. Turns out, Aqara uses the Zigbee protocol, but locks out 3rd party devices. [source]

If anyone has a workaround to integrate a 3rd party device with an Aqara Hub (IIRC, I have the M3?), I'd love to hear about it. But until then - I'm looking for a refund. I would have never picked up their hub if I had known about their shennanigans; and consequently, I wouldn't have picked up so many of their sensors.

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[–] avidamoeba@lemmy.ca 12 points 2 days ago (2 children)

This is pretty normal. Philips also uses ZigBee for Hue and you can't connect non-Philips ZigBee devices to it. This is the major reason I started using Home Assistant. I use Home Assistant Yellow which has a built-in ZigBee radio but ZigBee radios can be added via USB to any setup running Home Assistant. ZBT-2 is pretty great for high performance unit. Sonoff have a cheaper dongle.

[–] MrQuallzin@pie.eyeofthestorm.place 5 points 2 days ago

I've got the Sonoff dongle and it works pretty well. I've got lights from ThirdReality and sensors from Aqara, ThirdReality, and Sonoff. Everything works seamlessly in Home Assistant

[–] ropatrick@lemmy.world 3 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Speaking of devices, I'm actually still using an ancient Conbee II and it's rock solid. I thought about changing it recently and ordered a ZBT-2 for a more up to date product, but then I realised I was insane and set it up as a Thread Border Router instead, so I have both now.

[–] avidamoeba@lemmy.ca 1 points 2 days ago (2 children)

I just got ZBT-2 for my first Matter/Thread device and hooked it up to my HA Yellow. This thing now does ZigBee, Thread and Z-Wave. 😆

[–] CanIFishHere@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Nabu Casa's own documentation says the ZBT-2 does NOT support multi-protocols. The zbt-2 does work with Matter, but then won't support Zigbee.

https://www.home-assistant.io/connect/zbt-2

"Connect ZBT-2 cannot do both Zigbee and Thread simultaneously. This technology is often called “multiprotocol” or “MultiPAN”. Though it is theoretically possible with the hardware within Connect ZBT-2, in our experience, this functionality doesn’t work well, and we don’t plan to implement it. We previously thoroughly tested multiprotocol with our Connect ZBT-1 adapter and found its operation to be inconsistent, often causing device stability issues. We do not believe multiprotocol is suitable for operation in the home, and strongly recommend dedicating a device to each protocol."

[–] avidamoeba@lemmy.ca 1 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

I didn't mean to imply it does. I use the built-in ZigBee radio on the HA Yellow. The ZBT-2 is only doing Matter/Thread.

[–] CanIFishHere@lemmy.ca 2 points 22 hours ago

Fair enough. I just didn't want others who read your post to be misinformed.

[–] ropatrick@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago

Winning at protocol mastery. I commend thee.