Homey Pro 2023 constantly losing connection to Thread devices

Questions & Help
1

Hi all,

I have an extensive smart home setup that includes Thread devices, all of which have been set up through HomeKit (Apple TV + several HomePod Minis) and then linked to Homey via Matter (through the iOS option).

The HomeKit network is stable, however Homey has become unusable over the past couple of months, as it constantly drops connection to random Thread devices. Initially, restarting Homey helped for a few hours. Following the most recent Homey firmware update, however, Homey doesn’t always seem to know which Thread devices it’s not connected to.

I’ve tried resetting my WiFi network, changing the Homey connection to Ethernet, removing and re-adding the Thread devices, adding additional Thread routers to the network, but nothing helps. I’ve noticed that restarting my WiFi network, running frequency optimisation, and, once the HomeKit network rebuilds itself, restarting Homey helps for an hour or two, however this is obviously not good enough. Does anyone have further solutions in mind?

2

Not sure what you mean, but,
Thread/zigbee share the same frequency band as wifi 2.4GHz. Carefully select the least interfering channels.
Also nearby foreign 2.4GHz wifi signals can frustrate the Thread/zigbee signal.
Handy toolbox:

3

Thanks for this. By frequency optimisation I mean my WiFi mesh network’s tool to identify channel interference and reshuffle them accordingly. Most of my devices are Zigbee but never encounter connectivity issues with Homey unlike my Thread devices - is this possible, despite both networks relying on 2.4GHz?

4

Zigbee and Thread are handled by the same chip, using a special “multi-protocol” firmware. Other vendors have (long ago) stopped using this firmware because it turns out that the maker of the chip was a bit too optimistic on how well this would actually work.

However, since Homey is sold as supporting both Zigbee and Thread, Athom cannot get rid of this firmware so easily, and the result is that with a reasonable number of devices (I would say about 20 or more) you can get issues when using Zigbee and Thread devices together.

3 Likes
6

Thank you. With this in mind, is it worth following the Zigbee troubleshooting steps shared above? Or is this a lost case and I should get rid of either all Thread devices or Homey altogether?

7

I’d the same issue and did this:

  1. Installed 14 Eve Energy to complete my mesh thread network using 2 AppleTV 4k border routers. I added 2 Tado BridgeX as border routers too.
  2. Reduced the Zigbee traffic on Homey by switching back to Aqara E1 (for Aqara devices with zigbee) and Hue bridge (for all Hue lights, switches, plugs). I tried to us Homey for zigbee with up to 50 devices. But matter over thread has random disconnects every time. Now with 3 devices left, it works fine.

So I can confirm Roberts experience: reduce zigbee devices and thread will become more stable. For now and with the latest firmware I’d no “unavailable devices” yet.

8

Thanks. To confirm on #2, does reducing Zigbee traffic going through Homey mean removing Hue devices from Homey and no longer using the Homey Hue app? I have hundreds of Hue lights and use Homey to set scenes in the Hue app.

9

This is what works for me.

I moved all Hue lights back to the Hue bridge. And I’m using the Hue app for integration of devices on Hue bridge using the native API. I tried the Hue bridge matter connection, but this failed to often. So I’m using Aqara bridge with matter, Hue bridge with native API.

But I know, this is a big change, if you have many lights.

10

If you use the Hue hub, you’re good as-is because it maintains its own independent Zigbee network.

1 Like
11

Thanks both. Will try adding lots of Eve Energy and, if that doesn’t help, will try to reset Homey.

12

Any luck?

I feel like my Thread network is getting worse and worse, despite having more powered router nodes and literally zero Zigbee devices, apart from Hue devices connected to the Hue hub.

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13

Thread devices won’t even pair to my Homey Pro now, using the Homey method or the Android method.
Removed all zigbee and wifi devices: no improvement
Reset zigbee radio: no improvement
Factory reset: no improvement

I can’t repair or connect to any new thread devices currently. The radio has had it.

Currently reinstalling the firmware using the USB method, but I am not convinced this is going to make any difference.

When resetting the Zigbee radio, isn’t the Thread Extended PAN ID meant to reset as well?
It’s exactly the same!?

14

If I recall correctly, the Zigbee/Thread radio performance may degrade if Homey is not getting enough power. If you have another comparable power adapter available, you may want to check if that makes a difference.

15

I have the recommended 5.2V adapter already.

16

Sometimes those degrade. My suggestion was to rule out that factor.

17

The power adapter itself degrades?

You can’t seriously be suggesting that?

18

Undervoltage situations can occur that might result in Zigbee/Tread communication issues. It’s the combination of the adapter/USB cable and e.g. whether you are also using the ethernet adapter in between.

19

So this is prone to happening, even with the updated power supply?

20

No undervolt issues on developer tools

Another big waste of time

21

There just seems to be persistent issue with Homey across all connection protocols to be honest

Thread is slow, zigbee is slow, pairing is slow.

I had less issues with cheap wifi devices

The only thing that gives me zero issues is Hue bridged into Homey