Zigbee is one of the wireless technologies in Homey and is used by popular brands like IKEA, Philips Hue, Xiaomi Aqara, and others to control devices. The Zigbee technology creates its own mesh network in your home, relaying commands between devices. Make sure your Zigbee network is as stable as it can be with the following tips.
Pair Zigbee routers first
Zigbee has three types of devices: coordinators, routers, and end devices.
Homey is the coordinator. All other devices are either routers or end devices. Generally, Zigbee devices that are mains-powered, i.e. they are connected to your home's electrical system, are routers. Battery-powered devices are end devices.
Warning: With Homey Bridge, it's crucial to start by connecting Zigbee routers first. That way, you'll be able to pair further Zigbee devices without issues.
Homey Bridge can handle up to 15 direct 'children'. These are either routers or end devices that are connected directly to Homey Bridge.
If you want to connect more than 15 Zigbee devices in total to Homey Bridge, it's possible, but you have to start by pairing the routers first. That way, the end devices will connect to your Homey indirectly, via the routers that relay the commands.
The routers should be strategically placed throughout the range of the network. These devices will then allow more end devices to be paired to Homey.
Resolving pairing issues
If you're not able to add more than 15 Zigbee devices to Homey Bridge, it's likely due to the fact that you have started building your Zigbee network with non-routing end devices.
These devices cannot relay Zigbee commands to the other Zigbee devices you wish to pair. Therefore, it's not possible to continue expanding your network.
In such cases, we recommend the following actions:
- Reset your Zigbee network at
tools.developer.homey.app/tools/zigbee. - Start rebuilding your Zigbee network by adding as many Zigbee router devices as possible.
- Add non-routing end devices.
Don't build too big
Using Zigbee routers, you can create a stable Zigbee network of around 30-40 devices with Homey Bridge.
We do not recommend creating bigger Zigbee networks with your Homey. Adding more devices will put more stress on the network and might therefore negatively impact communication, reliability, and speed.
The limits of what is workable depend a lot on your specific situation.
If you notice Zigbee performance dropping after extending your network to a larger-than-recommended number of devices, you are probably pushing the limits of the Zigbee network in your home.
