Home Automation

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Home automation is the residential extension of building automation.

It is automation of the home, housework or household activity.

Home automation may include centralized control of lighting, HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning), appliances, security locks of gates and doors and other systems, to provide improved convenience, comfort, energy efficiency and security.

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Philips Hue Lights + Home Assistant - Issues with ConBee II (alien.top)

submitted 2 years ago by lazaroblanc@alien.top to c/homeautomation@selfhosted.forum

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Hi everyone,

I have some Hue lights in my Home I want to control using Home Assistant.
I'm just tired of having to use my phone all the time to set the lights. It takes a good couple of seconds everytime I open the app, enable bluetooth and have all the lights connected.

I'm running Home Assistant in a Container using Docker with a ConBee II passed through as a USB device.

Whenever I try to change the color or intensity of the lights, the values jump around or don't get set at all. I also see multiple error messages in the Home Assistant logs.

I've heard this may be an issue with the ConBee II and interference. Is there anything I can do to fix this or is there maybe a better Zigbee Bridge/Gateway I can use that doesn't have those problems?

Is the OEM Philips Hue Bridge any good?

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[–] gelfin@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I’m using a ConBee II in this configuration without much issue. There are a couple of things you can try:

Make sure the ConBee is on a USB extension cable and moved a bit away from the computer case rather than just plugged right into a port on the back.

Are you sure the stick is close enough to one or more of the bulbs to communicate reliably? Zigbee has pretty good range, but environmental factors can make a big difference. You could try an experiment where you put one of the bulbs into a lamp you could move around to test signal reliability.

In the ZHA integration configuration it is possible to change the Zigbee channel. Tap the pencil icon next to the channel (NOT “Migrate Radio”). There is a warning about channel migration being experimental but if all you have is Hue bulbs I wouldn’t worry too much (my bulbs are Tradfris, and they were fine at least). I had to do this initially to get reliable coverage, and everything has been solid since.

[–] lazaroblanc@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I've tried using the ConBee II on a USB extension cord and it wasn't much better.

+ I don't like having another cable thrown around the living room. I thought the whole point of Zigbee was that the devices create a mesh and so coverage wouldn't be much of an issue, no? (maybe I'm mistaken?)

I'll try the switching the channel to see if that improves things and report back.

[–] gelfin@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago (1 children)

The channel change was the real game changer for me.

To clarify, I did not mean stringing the stick across the room by any stretch. Just that the computer itself is a big ball of EM interference and a foot or two of distance can make a difference. If everything is in the same room the range shouldn’t be a huge concern anyway, so those suggestions might not be as relevant.

[–] lazaroblanc@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago (1 children)

In the ZHA integration configuration it is possible to change the Zigbee channel. Tap the pencil icon next to the channel (NOT “Migrate Radio”). There is a warning about channel migration being experimental but if all you have is Hue bulbs I wouldn’t worry too much (my bulbs are Tradfris, and they were fine at least). I had to do this initially to get reliable coverage, and everything has been solid since.

The channel change seemed to make switching lights on/off faster but not more reliable. One or two bulbs still don't respond (ironically even one that's closest to the ConBee)

[–] gelfin@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

You might be getting beyond what I’m able to help with, then. What else I’ve got is largely hearsay, so I’m really hesitant to make any suggestions about what money you should spend. I’ve seen reports of people trying the HA SkyConnect and going back to ConBee because it worked better for them. The Hue Bridge certainly would work if anything will, but people are a bit upset with Hue at the moment over a move to require an Internet connection to the hub. And of course, it isn’t a general-purpose Zigbee controller, so if you want other devices you’d need something like the ConBee anyway.

Wish I could help more, but that’s what I’ve got.