ZigBee in Home Assistant using ConBee ii - HA 5

[@Plusculus]

Thank you!... i struggled so hard installing the deconz add-on... then there were you with that video and suddenly you said: uninstall deconz... wait, what? Zigbee integration? i thought i need the deconz add-on as a base for zigbee integration... took me 5 minutes and my 4 devices are running now... Thanks again!

[@KrisGaisford]

Yea I went through the same thing during my testing. Glad it worked out for you

[@shinyblackblock3191]

Thanks Kris! I have been playing about with HA for over a year, trying to get it to work. Giving up out of frustration or getting busy with other things. But your videos have been the most helpful ones I have found. You show when things don't work and how you go about solving the problems, which some people would edit out, but I find that they are the most helpful bits. With your help I have managed to setup z-wave and zigbee usb sticks on my Raspberry Pi. So thanks again for putting these videos out there! Cheers bud.

[@KrisGaisford]

Appreciate you watching the videos thanks for your feedback. been feeling quite overwhelming lately so I haven't posted anything. But I can't wait to get back at it

[@KenGuest_IE]

Thanks for your video - I've just bought a conbee2 for controlling Hive bulbs and plugs along with some rebadged tuya plugs and was clueless as to how to set things up. This is a superb help - thank you.

[@KrisGaisford]

Glad to hear that it helped. Thanks for watching the video

[@donaldhoudek2889]

OUTSTANDING!!! I watched 2 other videos by others and was not able to install the ConBee II. Watched yours and making me aware of the manual entry portion is what did it. Thank you

[@KrisGaisford]

Great to hear! Thanks for watching

[@parnet]

Thanks mate... this helped me setup the conbee without having to use deconz.

[@KrisGaisford]

Glad it helped

[@montef]

Hey Kris. Great video. It helped us iron out a lot of Zigbee issues with our Home Assistant install! Thanks ever so much for the video. I know it’s been a while, but do you still have the USB extension that you had sitting in your desk? I’d like to find one like that for a different project. Happen to know the brand of the one you used? Happy to use an affiliate link to buy one if you have that too. Cheers

[@TheEightshot]

Holy shit, thanks. I just unlocked a ton of new features from my hue devices doing this. nice one. (so simple once you know)

[@KrisGaisford]

Thanks for Watching the Video. Glad you were able to get some use out of it

[@albukrek]

Thanks!! Had a con b II for along time. Your video inspired me...

[@KrisGaisford]

That's awesome glad to hear that! Thanks for watching the video

[@Kraechtshammer]

Thanks, didn't know about the zigbee integration actually, so this helped a lot!

[@KrisGaisford]

The first time I attempted to record the video I didn't know about it either. I've been using HA for a whole now and it's just so much easier to do this things now. I always get excited to record a video and find out the old way isnt the best thing anymore

[@guritche]

Great video. Was hoping to see you add the wyze can to home assistant as well. I have a few v3s, I don't thi k it's possible.

[@KrisGaisford]

You have to wait for Wyze to release RSTP support to be sideloaded to the the V3 camera. It's one of my frustrations with Wyze and why I will most likely be migrating away from using them

[@Glowinglight230]

Looks like RTSP has been out for a while now. Been using wyze v3 cam with home assistant

[@jolmav9400]

Good evening, I have bought the Conbee II and I also want to buy the Aqara Smart Light Switch Single Rocker (WS-USC03) and Double Rocker (WS-USC04), and I would like to know if I can, either with ZHA or with DECONZ, integrate them in Home Assistant. I hope you can help me, since I have not been able to find information and I need to know as soon as possible. Thanks in advance, from the Dominican Republic.

[@KrisGaisford]

If they are both rock'n Zigbee should be super straight forward. Looks like they also have wifi ones so that might be a different integration. Hard to say. Quick google showed several results.

[@andykwan-d5m]

Hey dude I don't understand what a conbee is. I was thinking of linking a xiaomi lamp with a aqara cube. I found out u can't really link it unless u have a zigbee gateway or something. I want to get a zigbee but apparently I have to buy something like an rpi4 or a home assistant blue? Can't I use the conbee 2 by itself (sticking it into a charger like aqara e1)?

[@KrisGaisford]

Conbee is a gateway / controller for zigbee. But then you need a way to actually manage and control those devices and that's where home assistant comes into play. You can just use a raspberry pi. You don't need to purchase the Home Assistant blue

[@TheFlybyman]

Thanks!

[@Einstine1984]

Perfect! Exactly what I needed

[@KrisGaisford]

Awesome Glad to hear that!

[@lokeknot9682]

How in the world do you dim your lights by holding the buttons? I can dim by holding, but it will only dim one step. How do I repeat untill I release the button?

[@KrisGaisford]

As mentioned I held the button on boot up (if I'm remembering correctly) just give it a few attempts. You might not get it on the first shot

[@jickmagger7323]

Hi Kris, I tried to follow your instructions but I'm struggling when I try to add the new integration. Maybe this is just a result of previous attempts to install Zigbee. The message is "Already configured. Only one configuration possible" (translation, not verbatim). I have removed everything that I could find with the exception of "00212E0802A4 deCONZ" which hat 16 entities. Should I remove that too?

[@KrisGaisford]

Ooof. I don't know hopefully you've long figured this out by now. But adding integrations can be frustrating so make sure your rebooting HA frequently

[@jickmagger7323]

@@KrisGaisfordThanks anyway. Yes you are right. It is a time consuming, often frustrating but in the end very rewarding work. :))

[@gyengez]

Hi, so you need either the deconz addon OR the integration, but not both?

[@KrisGaisford]

I disabled the deconz addon. And just used the integration

[@ManuelContreras-to9uh]

Hey do we necessarily need to connect our conbee II to a USB extension or can we just connect it directly to the USB in our computer?

[@KrisGaisford]

No Need for the Extension. That was just personal Preference on my part.

[@benilev7328]

Is it possible to connect 2 Zigbee Network!? in 2 Home Assistant (maim and backup)- CAN I Backup and Migrate MY Home Assistant -[TO Conbee II ]?Zigbee network

[@KrisGaisford]

Should be pretty straight forward with zig bee. I don't know the exact steps.

[@nadavtamam6555]

Hi!! Would the conbee 2 work with VM running on a MacBook?

[@KrisGaisford]

You should be able to port USB devices through to the VM without any issues. Not sure what software you are rocking.

[@soapdude1]

I have a Conbee II and I'm having no end of problems. Usually with devices not responding. Lights, for instance. I'll toggle a set of 4 of them, and 3 of them will turn off and the other refuses to respond. I never had this issue with my SmartThings hub (which was located in the exact same space as the Conbee II). Any ideas?

[@KrisGaisford]

Inside of the ZHA integration there's a top Tab that will show your your Zigbee network map. Most Zigbee lights don't have repeaters in them to help push your Zigbee mesh signal. (Most likely to help keep the price low) you can see which device that light is piggy backing on. If I had to guess you may just need to get a Zigbee device that does have power to be a repeater, like a Zigbee plug and move it closer to the lights.

[@soapdude1]

@@KrisGaisford Apparently Sylvania LEDVANCE's don't necessarily like the Conbee II. I switched them out for some Osram Lightify ones I had lying around. All of a sudden 240+ LQI.

[@rl1491]

Do you have to have the Smart Things button? I have the ConBee II usb but I thought that's all I needed.

[@KrisGaisford]

The conbee II Will give you the Zigbee network. You dont have to have the button. I had the button because the whole point of Zigbee is to add devices to your home assistant locally

[@rl1491]

@@KrisGaisford Thanks for responding. So if I have a smart light or switch, I don't need the button for them to work?

[@KrisGaisford]

The button is just a way for to trigger things in your home. You can do it all from home assistant

[@rl1491]

@@KrisGaisford Thanks. Makes sense. Take care.

[@bsimpson505]

Great stuff, thanks!

[@KrisGaisford]

Thanks for watching. Appreciate the feed back

[@riccardoemma3792]

very useful, Tks :)

[@KrisGaisford]

Glad to hear that! Thanks for watching!

[@StefanUytterhoeven]

I don't see a benefit at first sight. I'm thinking about installing a separate rpi with conbee2. And setup the buttons so, that they switch on and off the lights in the phoscon app Other automations are to be done in home assistant on another rpi. This way, i can do with home assistant what's i want, ...

[@KrisGaisford]

I think the thing that a lot of people like is that once you have your Home Assistant completely setup, it's all under a single pane of glass. You don't have to manage 2 different RPI. But if you want to split it up as you mentioned the best part of DIY home automation is that you can do whatever you want. I just want to show people how to use some of the tools out there. Thanks so much for watching the video.

[@leopold7562]

I use my Conbee II with ZHA on my Home Assistant installation (a thin client PC) to keep it simple, but you can set it up how you want. I can see the advantage of separating them, though, as any time you need to restart HA, you’re not temporarily losing control of your Zigbee devices.

[@ansomeBob]

Interested to know if you then intend to use both systems on the same ZigBee channel or have two channels? I have my Hue and half my lights on one channel and the ConBee on the other channel controlling the rest. I can see pros and cons for both ways but repeaters are what I don't understand. Take the IKEA repeater, there is no way to tell it which channel to "repeat" so how does it know. Same with powered bulbs or sockets, I guess they can only form a mesh with one channel at a time. I might try moving both my systems to the same channel and see what happens. Kris, in your video you have two dongles on at the same time, how did that work for you?

[@thuisalertjonkervuijk6470]

doe Tuya Zigbee sensors work to?

[@KrisGaisford]

Yes they should work fine

[@thuisalertjonkervuijk6470]

@@KrisGaisford thnx can't wait to have my combee II tomorrow to try it out

[@KrisGaisford]

Best of luck!

[@MattKurkowski]

Smart things devices don't exist anymore. I have a button and wish I bought more. They are discontinued from what I can tell.

[@KrisGaisford]

Man that would explain a bunch. I'll have to look into it

[@MattKurkowski]

@@KrisGaisford yeah I have been trying to get more water sensors but ebay is the only option. I think they are renaming the products. Nice video.

[@KrisGaisford]

@@MattKurkowski pretty sure Aeotec makes some water sensors that might work for you.

[@NetThink]

This video is obsolete as there is no Configuration or Supervisor tab anymore and nothing explains a work around