Mastodawn

Disappointed with Aqara - Zigbee hub, but no 3rd party?

https://sh.itjust.works/post/58071714

Disappointed with Aqara - Zigbee hub, but no 3rd party? - sh.itjust.works

Correct me if I’m wrong, but… # Buyer Beware! Aqara hubs use the Zigbee protocol, but lock out 3rd party devices! A few months ago, I bought an Aqara hub and went deep into their ecosystem. I saw their hub and sensors had good reviews, plus they were using the Zigbee open protocol, so I figured I’d stick with their stuff. I had no reason to try other devices until recently. I picked up a tilt sensor for my garage door from a 3rd party. I made sure it was also using the Zigbee protocol, so I assumed it would be compatable. Unfortunately, when I tried connecting it to the hub, I was wrong and it wouldn’t connect. Turns out, Aqara uses the Zigbee protocol, but locks out 3rd party devices. [source [https://forum.aqara.com/t/third-party-zigbee-support/1068]] If anyone has a workaround to integrate a 3rd party device with an Aqara Hub (IIRC, I have the M3?), I’d love to hear about it. But until then - I’m looking for a refund. I would have never picked up their hub if I had known about their shennanigans; and consequently, I wouldn’t have picked up so many of their sensors.

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ropatrick 1d ago

Do many companies let you use their hubs to connect to devices from competitors? I always assumed of you bight X brand, you could only c9nnet to X brand.

If you are gettng a refund, would you consider using ZIGBEE2MQTT with a suitable dongle from Home Assistant, Sonoff etc.? Then you can connect your Aqara stuff and pretty much any other brand you want, without any of their hubs.

Apologies if I’m missing something subtle here but it seems normal that Aqara would want to tie you into their products only.

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Ted Lemon 1d ago

@ropatrick @CocaineShrimp

This is indeed the whole point of the Thread/Matter ecosystem: to get us out of these ridiculous single-vendor-lock-in hub systems.

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spitfire 1d ago

But a Zigbee coordinator with Z2M/ZHA already lets you do that. I have 126 Zigbee devices from many different vendors connected to one

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Ted Lemon 1d ago

@spitfire

Right. The difference is that if the thing has the thread logo on it, it passed a certification that ensured that this was the case, and that's also true for Matter devices. For Zigbee it's entirely voluntary, so caveat emptor.

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spitfire 1d ago

Also there are a lot more Zigbee devices on the market, usually stable and cheaper. I know it’s going to be a lot easier for „regular ” consumers to get something easily though. But the matter over WiFi vs. Thread is very confusing to a lot of people

Any suggestions? :)

Any suggestions about what?

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Ted Lemon 1d ago

@spitfire

How to explain it better? No worries if you don't, I just figured if you felt like ranting about it I wouldn't mind hearing what you have to say.