[OBSOLETE] Original & Aqara Xiaomi Zigbee Sensors (contact, temp, motion, button, outlet, leak, etc)

[veeceeoh (Keith G)]

@pengbai

The only repeater-capable devices I have are smart plugs, and I was indeed suspecting the two issues you indicated.

Which brand/model of smart plugs?

@pengbai

I moved the three water sensors to the same room as the hub with straight line of sight, disconnected the only smart plug in the room, reconnected the sensors and kept them in that room.

Since there’s no way without special hardware - specifically an XBee (see this thread for some great and helpful information) - then there’s no way to confirm whether an end device is connecting through a repeater or directly to the hub.

@pengbai

Let me try disconnecting all smart plugs in my house and test again. Suppose this fixes the problem, will the sensors switch to a repeater once they are moved to a new position?

I’m afraid they can do that, because the way ZigBee mesh networking is designed, end devices are free to choose their route via which they connect to the network based on best signal strength, and that can route can change even after they have been paired.

So, even if you were able to pair the leak sensors directly to the hub, after moving them to their desired locations and reconnecting your smart plugs, the leak sensors could “decide” to try connecting through a smart plug instead of directly to the hub.

@MinerJason

Typically Xiaomi/Aqara sensors are very active for the hour or two following pairing while they’re in “test mode”, and send data every 3-5 min during that time.

This only applies to the Xiaomi and Aqara motion sensors. Other Xiaomi/Aqara devices do not have a test mode. With the leak sensor, the only activity you would see besides the battery reports is “dry” or “leak detected”. Outside of that, the sensor goes into “sleep” mode.

Also worth noting, during pairing the initial battery report is missed, so the first battery report that results in a battery percentage event happens on the device’s first check-in (about 50-60 minutes after pairing, depending on the model).