Latest Aqara E1 Zigbee Door and Window sensor in Home Assistant

Let's look at 4th and latest version of Aqara E1 Door & Window sensor, release in second half of 2021.
While there are not too many changes on how it operates, it does have some requirements on the coordinators you are using.
We will go through steps you need to take to make this and any other Aqara sensor work, look at difference over original Aqara sensor, but also simple automation and some possible use cases.
If you are having issues with it connecting to routers, Sonoff 3.0 Zigbee USB Plus works great when flashed with latest router firmware, and not just with this, but also other Aqara sensors.
Bangood link to 1/2/3/4 pieces of Aqara E1 Door and Window sensor:
⏵www.banggood.com/custlink/GD3... (*)
00:00 Intro
00:23 Thank you for all of the support!!!
00:54 Disclaimer
01:25 3 different versions of sensor
02:05 Warning on latest version
05:01 Available values & pairing in HA
05:58 Sample automation
08:39 Other ideas for sensor
Aliexpress link to 2/3/4/5/6 pack of Aqara E1 Door and Windows sensor:
⏵s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_AUNhcj (*)
Link to all Aqara Door and Window sensors
⏵www.zigbee2mqtt.io/supported-...
Link to latest Aqara sensor:
⏵www.zigbee2mqtt.io/devices/MC...
Link to door automation:
⏵github.com/BeardedTinker/Home...
Don't forget to give me a thumb up if you liked this video, subscribe if you still haven't and I'll see you next time!
Have fun!
BeardedTinker
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#HomeAssistant #aqara #zigbee

[@userou-ig1ze]

First guy on KZbin that appropriately says: 'starts in a few seconds' instead of 'let's dive into it' or 'let's get started', which really only translates to let's wait the to get started after channel logo 😂 You, kind sir, earned a like and sub

[@BeardedTinker]

Thank you!!! But you're not gonna like video I'll be releasing today :) I think I said, let's get cracking, followed by intro :) Not gonna repeat that next time ;)

[@nickkk0123]

Thank you for the information about CC2531 firmware version, you saved me a lot of time!

[@carltonwbrooks]

Boy I wish I had this a month ago when I ordered 25 sensors. I would have loved to support you even more. Just yesterday I finished replacing 22 of my Wyze sensors that were always not working. Now I will dive into your automation to see if I can adapt it to my system.

[@BeardedTinker]

:) Hope that everything is working for you! I need to make that one smarter - to distinguish between day/night and also hotter weather and colder one.

[@jaciajade2]

This was super helpful! Thanks for the automation ideas!

[@BeardedTinker]

Glad it was helpful! Thank you!!!

[@adifoto6362]

I have one of this sensors on my front door of my apartment for more than 5 years and work quite good. I have an automation to play a sound on aquara hub (only think i use it for) that the door is append. This way i know if my small kids will open the door. Thanks for the video

[@BeardedTinker]

Thank you Adi! In 5 years, how many batteries did you change 1-2 or more?

[@adifoto6362]

@@BeardedTinker few of them. depends of the batteries i got a sonoff door sensor and it stooped working only after few weeks and i thought that the sensors are bad i replace the battery with another brand and is works now over 2 months. I replace the aquara ones close to 2 years. they are quite reliable. And i use the chip one in the aquara.

[@BeardedTinker]

Aqara leak sensors and vibration sensor are two sensor that are not as power efficient as other I think. Batteries in them lasted about a year or a bit less.

[@marcelsmeets4162]

Great video. Thanks again!! I think I have a reversed automation. haha. I sometimes forgot to get the laundry out of the washing machine..I put a sensor on it and notifies me after 4 hours being closed that I have to get the laundry out.

[@BeardedTinker]

This is great sensor for washing machine and dryer (fridge too but opposite). I really should add it because my notification that washing machine is done and should be opened get ignore. With this it would nag until finally someone does open it!!!

[@dominikheinz2297]

So, if I understood you correctly, the 11-model is using ZigBee 1.2 and the 14-Model is using ZigBee 3.0? So, as long as I ensure I am running the latest firmware version on my Sonoff Coordinator and Repeater, the 14-Model would be the better buy, right? Is the 14-Model fully ZigBee 3.0 compliant? Are the routing issues, where Aqara devices sometimes disconnect dont get routed by other appliances exclusive to the 11-model? Will the 14-model work fine?

[@BeardedTinker]

With Aqara that's really hard to answer - they tend to use standards for of a guide or suggestion. In theory, yes, 14 model should be better with latest FW on Sonoff. But it also depends on other devices on the network. 75% of my routers are IKEA lights and they seam to work fine with Aqara. I don't have any drops besides when battery is dead. But some other devices are not good combo.

[@dominikheinz2297]

@@BeardedTinker I decided to order a bunch of the 14-model sensors. Will see how it goes..

[@rz5741]

The Aqara door sensors are good for the price. I put them far away from my Zigbee coordinator, like upstairs, garage, sunroom, etc. All of the sensors connect to the coordinator well. The only issue I found is that occasionally the sensors sent incorrect open/close status to my Home Assistant, and caused my HA control logic to send false alarms.

[@BeardedTinker]

I also had random incorrect readings but very rarely

[@rz5741]

@@BeardedTinker Yes, the incorrect readings are rare. I'd recommend the Aqara sensors overall.

[@anirangs]

What is the coordinator you used?

[@JohnMacGuy]

How far away (in meters or feet) were some of your furthest out sensors? Aqara says 7-11 meters. That seem awful close to try to have sensor on doors around the house.

[@jaym2356]

Great and concise contents. I'm using your links to get my Aqara Sensors.. Do they work with SmartThings without hassle?

[@BeardedTinker]

Thank you Jay!!! Much appreciated! As for the SmartThings, I really don't know. Old Aqara sensor did work with SmartThings, but really not sure about new one. It has a bit different firmware. I think it should, but really no idea.

[@jaym2356]

@@BeardedTinker Thanks for the reply. Much appreciated. I placed my order and waiting for the sensors to arrive to test them out.. Thanks again for the great work..

[@cbrngrz6966]

I have 4x MCCGQ11LM sensors, CR1632 1 of these paired and works fine with Home Assistant. 3 of these are not. Is there a firmware upgrade required for this version as well?

[@BeardedTinker]

My suggestion is to try to move those 3 much closer to coordinator and try pairing it there. Just to see if it's issue with device, battery (they can arrive with dead batteries), network issue or something else.

[@cbrngrz6966]

@@BeardedTinker Thanks for the reply. They seem to have just randomly started working out of nowhere after a few hours. Quite weird, heh

[@Nick-od9ln]

since they added a new feature on the newer version, how does this affect the battery life??

[@BeardedTinker]

I still need to see battery needing to be replaced. I think it is almost a year now. So far so good.

[@EsotericArctos]

The problem with Zigbee in the early days, and it looks like with some manufacturers now, is that they can put certain proprietary information into it that makes it not play nice with other Zigbee devices. I though 3.0 was meant to fix it, but it looks like not always unfortunately.

[@BeardedTinker]

That's so true. Biggest problem is that something is called Zigbee but doesn't in a fact follow standard and is not certified. If all devices would be certified, there should be no compatibility issues.

[@kaelanbirks8780]

@@BeardedTinker Since the new aqara p1 motion sensor says zigbee certified on the side, does that mean it will follow all the zigbee standards and should work in any ecosystem?

[@cm5569]

Would this work with the Sonoff Zigbee hub as the coordinator?

[@BeardedTinker]

Not sure. I haven't tried it so please look around if anyone has done it and for steps as they will be different.

[@barygol]

I have a Sonoff dongle plus P, and the MCCGQ11LM model of the E1. It pairs correctly, but it won't show neither battery nor voltage nor temperature. In the state in z2m you can see "battery": null, "device_temperature": null and "voltage": null

[@BeardedTinker]

Try repairing it - I get everything available from it. If something is missing it can be due to pairing not finishing in time before device goes to sleep. Also, while pairing, you could open/close the sensor to keep it awake or just press button on it every 10 or so seconds.

[@barygol]

@@BeardedTinker i repaired and now it shows battery and voltage although it says both are 0, and it's brand new (it had the paper inside). Hard to imagine that it's 0 when the sensor works as expected displaying open and closed

[@BeardedTinker]

Battery data is not updated every time sensor sends data. It can actually update just once a day. Check back again after some time. Also, data reported by most of the sensors for battery state is very unreliable. Some sensor when reporting 80% are actually running low on battery.

[@Brockstar10000]

Ive just ordered 40 Aqara Door sensors, 4 water leak and a Sonoff Zigbee 3.0 usb dongle. The door sensors are the MCCGQ11LM not the updated MCCGQ14LM, could you please explain what are the main differences between the two are? Thank you, - Brock

[@BeardedTinker]

Hi Brock! So just a reminder to flash latest firmware on Sonoff USB dongle. It will add capacity to it to support more devices. In terms of difference - ones you ordered have also temperature sensor. So in another words, you didn't lose anything but gained extra data. In terms of performance, I would say they are equal.

[@squakerr]

hello brock! what do you think of your sensors model MCCGQ11LM? I'm in doubt between buying the old or updated model MCCGQ14LM. thanks!

[@Brockstar10000]

@@squakerr they work fantastic I’m actually happy I got the older ones as they also come with temperature sensors as well. Definitely the ones to buy you’ll be paying for it in batteries with the Sonoff ones.

[@Tntdruid]

I use it on my mailbox outside ☺️

[@BeardedTinker]

That's excellent use case - do you have problem with range? And is it inside or outside of mailbox?

[@Tntdruid]

@@BeardedTinker it's inside the mailbox, the signal does fail sometimes.

[@tonitauler5153]

Hi, I'm new in home assistant and I've been trying to connect my aqara sensor to my HA (in a raspberry) with a Sonoff Zigbee 3.0 USB Dongle Plus as coordinator, flashed with the version you mention in the video. The problem is that the door sensor (MCCGQ14LM) is not able to pair with my HA using zigbee2MQTT(1.24.0-1) and I don't know what else can I do. The log of zigbee2MQTT shows the next line during the time of pairing process: Zigbee2MQTT:warn 2022-03-03 20:26:54: Device '0x54ef44100025c225' left the network I tried with the newest version of the firmware for USB Dongle too and didn't work. Anybody knows what can I do? Thanks in advance!!!

[@BeardedTinker]

This firmware on Sonoff stick works with Aqara latest door sensor - github.com/Koenkk/Z-Stack-firmware/blob/master/coordinator/Z-Stack_3.x.0/bin/CC1352P2_CC2652P_launchpad_coordinator_20211217.zip Minimum needed version is one listed on device page, but this one is newer and should support it without issues. Remove device with force remove if you have it in Zigbee2MQTT list of devices. After that just try to pair it once again. I have this stick working and no issues with both type of the firmware- Checked in GitHub and currently there are no open issues.

[@tonitauler5153]

Thanks, I'll try this fw, but I think is the same as I had in the stick previously and it didn't work for me. I'll tell when I've tried. Thanks for the help!!!

[@tonitauler5153]

@@BeardedTinker Nothing, I've tried the newest fw for USB Dongle and it didn't work. Maybe is the device that is broken or something. When I try to pair every 5 seconds appear the message of is the device is lefting the network and it happened with old version too. Thanks anyway!!!

[@BeardedTinker]

3 things to try: if you don't have it already, use USB extension cable to move USB stick away from other hardware.. In Zigbee2mqtt, in configuration, change Channel. As ZigBee operates on same frequencies as WiFi, changing channel can help. And last thing. When you are pairing Aqara sensor, try pressing pairing buttons shortly every 4-5 seconds to keep device awake while pairing doesn't finish. Oh yes, to be on the safe side, you can try to replace battery. Rarely it happens that you get device with empty battery, so it starts to pair but finish it. If all of this fails, maybe you really have broken device. I haven't seen one so far, but that can happen.

[@THEMANTR]

Hi, I have those Aqara sensors, but it doesn't have range to the second level of my home with the tradfri repeaters. I send those Tradfri repeaters back. The main Zigbee Device is a Deconz ConBee stick and so it has limited range to the second floor. Do I really need to purchase the lights from Ikea or what should I do to fix this issue?

[@BeardedTinker]

Latest firmware update to IKEA repeaters solved it for some - from what I've seen in posts on Discord. I think that was about a week ago. No, you don't need IKEA lights, but you need to find compatible router. Sonoff USB with router firmware works, I've tested them with it. For others best bet is to search forums.

[@THEMANTR]

@@BeardedTinker thank you very much for your comment. I'll search the forms more thoroughly and will find my way. Also if anyone here has some fixes, please let me know. 😊

[@warter75]

Sonoff Zigbee 3.0 usb dongle......PLUS :D

[@BeardedTinker]

Brain... Working... Slow... 😂😂😂

[@Tntdruid]

Hmm i can get 3x Aqara E1 on aliexpress, cost 3x more on banggood.

[@BeardedTinker]

That's why I left link to Ali too 😉 but had to be gentle (removed me saying that in video) because Bangood sent them. But yes. Pricing on Bangood unfortunately is almost all the time higher than Ali

[@adifoto6362]

Same here. I found that bangood is generally more expensive.