Hello everyone,
I’d like to add a Zigbee smart thermometer for my swimming pool. I have the Sonoff, which has a good reputation, but the pool is a bit too far away and the Sonoff can’t connect. Since I have another Zigbee device nearby (an Aqara smart plug) that works perfectly, I thought this other Zigbee device would act as a relay and allow the Sonoff thermometer to connect, but unfortunately, it doesn’t work.
Could someone tell me how to successfully connect this new Zigbee device? Don’t hesitate to ask questions if anything is unclear.
Thank a lot!
Some devices don’t play nicely together when it comes to Zigbee routing. That might be the case here. Do you perhaps have another (mains powered) device from a different brand that can act as a Zigbee router?
How great is the distance between the SONOFF pool thermometer, the Aqara plug and your Homey?
The Aqara plug is at maybe 10 meters from my homey.
The Sonoff is at around 5 meters from the Aqara. I’ve tried to let it near the Aqara a few minuts but it did not work 
Is there a way to force the Zigbee connection between the Aqara and the Sonoff ?
No, there is no way to for force a Zigbee route.
The fact that your Aqara plug is 10m away from your Homey is already a stretch, by the way.
You could try to pair the SONOFF sensor closer to your Homey, then move it back into the original position and hope it tries to find a new route via the Aqara plug. But I am almost certain that that won’t work, as the Aqara plug is not routing the pairing request in the first place.
Do you have other Zigbee-router devices (like smart plugs) that you could place in between your Homey and the SONOFF sensor?
I’ve paired the Sonoff near my Homey. It worked fine. Then I moved it near the Aqara and it stopped working
I’ve another Aqara plug that is not used, so I can try to put it near the Sonoff, but this new Aqara plug will not be very far from the other Aqara. Do you think this could work, anyway ?
You could try. But it might be better to try with a plug of a different brand, especially if the second plug is the same model as the one you are already using.
By the way: when you moved the SONOFF device away from your Homey, it takes a while before Zigbee traffic is rerouted. But I think the Aqara plug might be the issue here.
I run a Pi Zero 2W with dedicated Zigbee2MQTT with a SonOff Zigbee dongle together with the Homey Zigbee2MQTT app by Robin de Gruijter .
Since the dongle and the Pi can be located in different areas the distance is no problem anymore.
That’s usually not advisable. You should pair devices at the location where you intend to use them.
Oky, but it can’t pair there
I guess I will try adding some Sonoff plugs so They will do Zigbee rooting too. Hope this works fine 
If you pair the Sonoff thermometer near the Homey and it works, then try performing a ‘repair’ near the Aqara plug or at its final location.
There’s no guarantee it’ll work, but I always do this when a device won’t pair at its actual location. Give it a few goes!
Or, as already suggested, try a plug from a different manufacturer – Sonoff does make plugs too.
@PeterHa, what do you mean by ‘repair’ ? I do not see how I can do this 
Sorry, I don’t know what the button is called in English in the mobile app – I think it’s ‘repair’. It’s not there in the web app.
→ Go to the device / click the gear icon in the top right-hand corner / repair (?)
Here’s a screenshot in german of a Sonoff thermometer showing the button I’m referring to
In the English localization it is called Try to repair in the Maintenance section in the device tile’s settings.
But like said before: if the device was initially not able to pair at its final location, then communication is like not good enough for it to perform reliably.
Key is creating a stable Zigbee mesh network/backbone through sufficient router devices.
I don’t have this feature
I’ll buy additional Sonoff Zigbee plugs and try
Sorry, I’ve no idea what might be causing that.
What model of Homey do you have (e.g. Pro23, Cloud, Mini…)? My screenshots are from a Homey Pro26.
I think one of the experts here on the forum can explain why this button is missing. I’d be interested to know that myself.
I have a Prob2019. Maybe that’s the reason why, don’t know
You are using the other (official) Sonoff app, while @PeterHa is using the “Sonoff Zigbee” community app.
No, I have both Sonoff apps, and the button is in both of them.
It’s probably down to the HP19, but perhaps an HP19 user could say something about it.
I only have a Pro 2019 and I’m using the official Sonoff app, not showing there.
I am not entirely sure, but if I recall correctly:
- The Maintenance menu with the repair option used to be available on Homey Pro 2023 and newer models only. I am not sure if Athom added that feature to the older models later on.
- The work-around was to go through the procedure of adding the device again as a new device (without removing it first).
But as I said, I am not sure if the above way of working is still current (and don’t have an older model to verify this on).
