this post was submitted on 06 Apr 2026
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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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[–] dislabled@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I used to have a sonoff zigbee 3.0 stick, which was a good device. But back then I still had problems. It probably depends on how many devices you have, but for me, especially when I had a lot of aqara router devices, they took down the whole network from time to time. And they would constantly fall out of the network. I still have one socket switch left, and it triggers by turning on the light in the same room(IKEA switch). There is no automation linked for this.. Only solution is to downgrade the firmware of the socket switch several versions.

[–] CmdrShepard49@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Curious if you use a Pi and had the stick connected directly? I don't recall the exact issue or configuration but I know some of these sticks (possibly ZWave) work better when connected through a USB cable rather than directly to the Pi

[–] dislabled@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Nah, I have it as a vm on a 2u server. I used to have it on a 1 metre extension also, and as soon as I changed the aqara devices, network was stable. I only changed the adapter because I wanted one on LAN.

[–] CmdrShepard49@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 day ago

I see. Maybe its just an issue with the repeaters. All mine Aqara devices are end points and the only router devices I have are IKEA repeaters.