I recently bought a used SmartThings Hub v2 along with two multipurpose sensors and a motion sensor (the squared one with the sensor in the corner).
The problem I have is that all these sensors have an astonishingly short range. They work pretty much ok if they are in the same room, but as soon as I put them behind a wall (any wall), even if it is 1 metre away, they completely stop reporting.
I live in the UK and here internal walls can be bent by blowing at them, so I really doubt that they are able to block radio waves so effectively. Also, I have other wireless devices (Hue) all around the house that have no problems communicating with their hub (which is installed close to the Samsung one).
Since I am really new to SmartThings, I donāt know if I am missing something here.
All sensors are original SmartThings sensors (it seems) and they all have new batteries.
If this is really their true performance, I must say I am really disappointed.
Iām UK, using the same sensors. Zero issues with range. My hub is in the garage / workshop on the ground floor, the house has 3 levels and my sensors work great on the top floor.
RBoy
(www.rboyapps.com - Making SmartThings Easy!)
3
Try to reboot the hub and check the sensor batteries. You should be able to get atleast 30ft from them. You can try adding a simple ZigBee plug which acts as a repeater and does wonders for your mesh.
Thanks, I did actually reboot it several times, and the batteries are all new (though they are not of a known brand).
Is there any way to check what signal the base is getting from the sensors, before spending even more money on repeaters?
Thanks, that is really useful, I am completely new to ST.
Having checked it, the sensor I am working on now shows a Last Hop RSSI of -77 and itās sitting literally next to it (20 cm away). Any explanation?
The battery is brand new, itās Lithium battery and itās showing as 100%, but itās not of a known brand (bought from Amazon)
Yes, Physicsā¦ which is why it doesnāt make sense to most of us and that is ok. In the example i posted there are 3 physically closer zigbee repeating devices it should be connected to, but due to a bunch of stuff i cant see and too time consuming to measure like interference from my neighbors or even my wifi or Bluetooth the Guest AV is the best device to connect to and its on the complete opposite end of my house 2 rooms away.
There are so many things that can cause interference in a zigbee network it can be really difficult to figure it out even when there are vast differences in signal and only 20cm distance. Below are some articles that have helped many with your situation find some solution. You may even find out that you have so much interference on the 2.4gz bands that zigbee is not a good fit for your home and zwave may work better due to less interference in your home in the 800mhz bands.
I tried everything I could. I even opened it in case the antenna was damaged (I bought it used on eBay), but it looked fine to me. Do the sensors have any āpreferenceā on what batteries are used?
Yes agreed, but physics doesnāt explain why my Philips Hue light bulbs and Hue motion sensors, which if Iām not wrong use the same frequency, have absolutely no problem at all. Not to mention the normal WiFi.
I understand that there could be interference and all that, but I find it really really hard to believe that the SmartThings sensors are the only thing affected, while everything else, using radio waves in the same frequency and in the same place, are working absolutely full speed.
I am sure there is an explanation, other than interference, why none of the sensors are able to communicate with the hub if theyāre behind a wall.
I donāt believe the battery makes any difference, as long as itās the right voltage. You can always test it with a multimeter.
Iām not sure how accurate is the RSSI number reported by the IDE. I have a button and never had any issue with it. I walked over to the hub, activated it, and checked the device. It reported -68, which seemed kind of low. Then I walked over to the garage (at least 2 walls between that and the hub), pressed the button again (and verified that it triggered the light it was controlling) and noticed that the RSSI is still -68.
I have a multi-purpose sensor arriving today, Iāll keep you posted on my experience. I have no Zigbee repeaters in my network. On Zigbee, I have only the button and a smart lock.
Same frequency, but not necessarily the same channel. You can verify that by checking which Zigbee channels they are using if you want. But my guess would be that itās a defective device. āUsed on eBayā is not typically a good source for these devices. just sayināā¦
battery shape. Different batteries are shaped slightly differently and some donāt sit tightly in the slot. But in that case, they donāt make a connection which is not the problem that you are seeing.
donāt use rechargeableās. There are several discussions about this in the forum already, and Iām quite tired today, so I wonāt go into the details. But As long as they are standard batteries, not rechargeableās, and you were able to get the device paired, itās likely not the batteries.
No, tried on a table, on the wall, in the middle of the room, changed room, no difference, as soon as the sensors leave the room, the signal goes and they show offline.
Thanks, that would be useful to know. As I said, I have plenty of other wireless devices (Hue lights, Hue motion sensors, WiFi door sensors) and they all work just fine.
Yes, you can check the channel both are on (for ST in IDE, for Hue in the app), but you can only change the Hue channel. In the Hue app, go to settings, select your bridge, then click the information āiā icon. There you will see the zigbee channel and can change it. For ST, login to IDE at https://account.smartthings.com then select Locations, select your hub, and then look at the zigbee section to see the channel. I have my Hue bridge set to channel 11 because my ST came on channel 20.