IRIS Smart Plug - How to tell if it's acting as a repeater?

Devices & Integrations
1

I just added a Iris Smart Plug to my Smartthings hub by following these instructions:

Log into your IDE http://graph.api.smartthings.com/6 , click on devices, go down the list until you find your " thing " ( It may help to rename it in the app to make it easier to find ). Select it, scroll to the bottom and click edit. look for where it says type, click to open the dropdown menu, scroll up/ down until you find " SmartPower Outlet ", select it. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click Update.

I can see the plug as a device in my Smartthings app on my phone. I want to use this plug primarily as a Zigbee repeater. How can I tell that it’s configured correctly to act as a Zigbee repeater?

Thanks.

2

It will automatically act as a repeater, you don’t have to do anything special. :sunglasses:

If you want to make sure that your other devices will ask it to act as a repeater, you need to do a network heal. Unplug your hub (including taking out any batteries) and leave it off power for at least 20 minutes. Leave all of your other zigbee Device on power during this time except any GE or Osram/Sylvania bulbs. Turn those off as well. This will cause all the other devices to go into “panic mode” when they can’t find the hub. After 20 minutes, put the hub back on power, but leave the bulbs off power for a little longer. This will cause the remaining zigbee devices to rebuild their neighbor tables, and they will pick up the new repeater that way. Lastly turn the GE and Sylvania bulbs back on.

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3

Actually it shouldn’t be necessary to update the device type for an iris plug that’s paired to your hub, FYI.

Also, you don’t have to configure it to do anything to act as a repeater. It’ll just do it. ST doesn’t provide any tools to determine how signals are being routed through your zigbee network, so there’s no way to check.

However if you had other zigbee devices nearby before you added the iris plug, they may not realize that a new repeater has been added. This can happen with z-wave devices too. For z-wave you run a z-wave repair, and for zigbee I believe you unplug your hub for at least 15 mins.

Edit: @JDRoberts beat me to it, and with more detail. Not surprising :wink:

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4

I keep telling you guys: talking is faster than typing. :wink:

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5

Thanks, guys. I did the following:

  1. All lights turned off
  2. Paired Iris Smart Plug with Smartthings Hub as a “SmartPower Outlet”
  3. Unplugged Smartthings Hub and removed batteries
  4. Waited for 20 mins
  5. Put batteries back in and plugged in power.

The hub came back online with 60 seconds and I saw all my devices active for a few minutes, then two of my door sensors went offline. Those were the two sensors that are furthest from the main Smartthings Hub, and I wanted this new Iris plug to act as a zigbee repeater. So, I’m not sure if it’s working or not as a repeater.

I’ll try pulling the batteries from the door sensors to reset them. Previously, the only way I could get my hub to see these sensors was to pull them off the door frames and bring them closer to the hub. Then, put them back (a real pain!).

Thanks.

6

Having the same issues. Are you using the xiaomi door sensors by chance? I have one in a back room that I can’t get to work even with an Iris plug as a repeater, even after network heal.

7

Xiaomi Devices are not ZHA certified and they can have problems with repeaters. Ask in that DTH thread and people there may have some suggestions.

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8

I’m using a Visonic door sensor which I ordered from Amazon.

I tried pulling the battery out and reinserted it, but the door sensor still didn’t come online. I then moved the IRIS Smart Plug within 2 feet of the sensor but still nothing. Finally, I pulled the battery again and after reinserting it the sensor showed online. So I can only guess having the IRIS Smart Plug within 2 feet of the sensor and pulling the battery means the repeater is working?

I guess time will tell if these sensors stay online over the next several days. I wish I could just buy some cheap repeaters ($15-$25) and put them around the house at any vacant wall outlet to create a better zigbee mesh.

9

a zigbee heal can take a couple hours, so next time give it a while

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10

a zigbee heal can take a couple hours, so next time give it a while

I didn’t realize it took that long. Thanks for the tip!

11

Lowe’s periodically discounts several of the iris devices, plus they have coupon codes that you can usually find online (in this forum, slickdeals, etc). $15 for an outlet is probably a stretch, but $25-30 is possible.

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12

Lowe’s periodically discounts several of the iris devices, plus they have coupon codes that you can usually find online (in this forum, slickdeals, etc). $15 for an outlet is probably a stretch, but $25-30 is possible.

Great. Thanks for that tip.

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