Does anyone have any experience of using the Tuya RP280 USB Range extender as a repeater? I am trying to find small enough repeaters to install behind sockets and light fittings to extend my network. Most existing recommended devices are either ZigBee plugs Tradri etc or bulbs like Osram. I don’t have many locations for screw in bulbs as most of my lighting is ceiling LED downlights like Aurora and I prefer not to have large plugs taking up socket space.
As I have a single storey bungalow with accessible loft space I was hoping to run a two wire “5v Bus” supplied by a suitable 5v DC source onto which were connected USB A sockets which would accept the Tuya RP280s. For locations where I cannot use the loft I can use a 240vAC to 5v DC buck convertor (like HLK-PM01) behind a 13 amp socket or light switch. This seems simplistic and probably wont work as I have not considered other issues or limitations. On another forum there was some discussion about them possibly causing network stability issues. Also there is some suggestion it black holes non Tuya device traffic whatever that means in practice.
Any thoughts or observations on this idea?
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I just tested this device:
Zigbee Repeater - Marmitek Link SE - Kompatibel mit Home Assistant - Zigbee 3.0 Hotspot - USB Dongle - USB-Stick
Fingerprint: _tz3000_wmlc9p9z
Manufacturer: Tuya
Model: TS0207_repeater
Log:
2024-09-05T13:06:26.972260625Z TRACE Zigbee Thing Received event with handler zigbee
2024-09-05T13:06:26.979369386Z INFO Zigbee Thing <ZigbeeDevice: aa2e8eb7-526e-4f58-873f-c69e0eecc185 [0xFBCF] (Zigbee Thing)> received Zigbee message: < ZigbeeMessageRx || type: 0x00, < AddressHeader || src_addr: 0xFBCF, src_endpoint: 0x01, dest_addr: 0x0000, dest_endpoint: 0x01, profile: 0x0104, cluster: Basic >, lqi: 0xC4, rssi: -54, body_length: 0x000B, < ZCLMessageBody || < ZCLHeader || frame_ctrl: 0x08, seqno: 0x00, ZCLCommandId: 0x0A >, < ReportAttribute || < AttributeRecord || AttributeId: 0x0001, DataType: Uint8, ApplicationVersion: 0xFF >, < AttributeRecord || AttributeId: 0xFFE2, DataType: Uint8, Uint8: 0x16 > > > >
2024-09-05T13:06:26.984868342Z DEBUG Zigbee Thing Zigbee Thing device thread event handled
2024-09-05T13:06:27.080346975Z TRACE Zigbee Thing Received event with handler zigbee
2024-09-05T13:06:27.090665798Z INFO Zigbee Thing <ZigbeeDevice: aa2e8eb7-526e-4f58-873f-c69e0eecc185 [0xFBCF] (Zigbee Thing)> received Zigbee message: < ZigbeeMessageRx || type: 0x00, < AddressHeader || src_addr: 0xFBCF, src_endpoint: 0x01, dest_addr: 0x0000, dest_endpoint: 0x01, profile: 0x0104, cluster: Basic >, lqi: 0xCA, rssi: -54, body_length: 0x000B, < ZCLMessageBody || < ZCLHeader || frame_ctrl: 0x08, seqno: 0x01, ZCLCommandId: 0x0A >, < ReportAttribute || < AttributeRecord || AttributeId: 0x0001, DataType: Uint8, ApplicationVersion: 0x40 >, < AttributeRecord || AttributeId: 0xFFE2, DataType: Uint8, Uint8: 0x16 > > > >
2024-09-05T13:06:27.099772974Z DEBUG Zigbee Thing Zigbee Thing device thread event handled
2024-09-05T13:06:27.158396188Z TRACE Zigbee Thing Received event with handler zigbee
2024-09-05T13:06:27.165520332Z INFO Zigbee Thing <ZigbeeDevice: aa2e8eb7-526e-4f58-873f-c69e0eecc185 [0xFBCF] (Zigbee Thing)> received Zigbee message: < ZigbeeMessageRx || type: 0x00, < AddressHeader || src_addr: 0xFBCF, src_endpoint: 0x01, dest_addr: 0x0000, dest_endpoint: 0x01, profile: 0x0104, cluster: Basic >, lqi: 0xCA, rssi: -54, body_length: 0x000C, < ZCLMessageBody || < ZCLHeader || frame_ctrl: 0x08, seqno: 0x02, ZCLCommandId: 0x0A >, < ReportAttribute || < AttributeRecord || AttributeId: 0xFFDF, DataType: CharString, CharString: "\x00\x00\x00\x00\x05" > > > >
2024-09-05T13:06:27.171209175Z DEBUG Zigbee Thing Zigbee Thing device thread event handled
And yes, it’s crap. It does nothing at best and can break the network:
I have a free USB port on one of my UPS and thought that it would be nice to have a Zigbee router at this location.