Xiaomi Smart home gear on Aliexpress?

Forums › Gadgets, robotics, home automation, electronics (including wearables) › Xiaomi Smart home gear on Aliexpress?

mokoshakalaka

94 posts

Master Geek

ID Verified

#247852 27-Feb-2019 02:04

Hi all,

I'm kind of new to the smart home scene. I was looking into getting some cheap and cheerful xiaomi gear ( hub / temperature sensor / door & window sensors / smart plugs ) to use with RPi with Openhab.

I've been looking on Aliexpress and i'm getting overwhelmed with the number of resuppliers, i'm not sure which ones are trustworthy to make a purchase.

Does anyone have any recommendations on sellers Aliexpress or sellers in nz?

Thanks in advance!

rp1790

738 posts

Ultimate Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#2187829 27-Feb-2019 07:39

I have bought Xiaomi gear (plus and sensors like you're after) from the two stores below and both have been great. Reasonably fast shipping, good reviews and good pricing.

https://www.aliexpress.com/store/1486388

https://www.aliexpress.com/store/2096053

mokoshakalaka

94 posts

Master Geek

ID Verified

#2187941 27-Feb-2019 10:59

Thanks heaps! I will take a look at these guys!

gcorgnet

1078 posts

Uber Geek

#2187943 27-Feb-2019 11:01

For what it's worth, I got a bunch of Aqara temperature sensors and they're pretty good. Using them with Home Assistant on a NUC.

mokoshakalaka

94 posts

Master Geek

ID Verified

#2187978 27-Feb-2019 12:03

Also from Aliexpress or elsewhere?

Yeah i plan to get the aqara temperature ones.

Suckerpunch

124 posts

Master Geek

#2188024 27-Feb-2019 12:35

Those who have bought the Xiaomi temperature sensors, are you able to please tell me how frequently does the temperature get reported?

And secondly, do you need the Xiaomi hub to communicate between OpenHab\Home Assistant or can you use alternatives to the Xiaomi hub?

Thanks!

Phil.

kobiak

1615 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#2188070 27-Feb-2019 12:53

Suckerpunch:

Those who have bought the Xiaomi temperature sensors, are you able to please tell me how frequently does the temperature get reported?

And secondly, do you need the Xiaomi hub to communicate between OpenHab\Home Assistant or can you use alternatives to the Xiaomi hub?

Thanks!

Phil.

sensor reports back on change, or manually on demand when view that sensor. so it's pretty much instant.

you can use universal zigbee2mqtt hack (special usb dongle) if you wish not use xiaomi hub

helping others at evgenyk.nz

Mark

1653 posts

Uber Geek

#2188077 27-Feb-2019 13:06

The Samsung Smartthings hub can also sync up to Xiaomi zigbee devices, gives options.

Equinox IT

Cloud spending continues to surge globally, but most organisations haven’t made the changes necessary to maximise the value and cost-efficiency benefits of their cloud investments. Download the whitepaper From Overspend to Advantage now.

gcorgnet

1078 posts

Uber Geek

#2188079 27-Feb-2019 13:09

kobiak:

Suckerpunch:

Those who have bought the Xiaomi temperature sensors, are you able to please tell me how frequently does the temperature get reported?

And secondly, do you need the Xiaomi hub to communicate between OpenHab\Home Assistant or can you use alternatives to the Xiaomi hub?

Thanks!

Phil.

sensor reports back on change, or manually on demand when view that sensor. so it's pretty much instant.

you can use universal zigbee2mqtt hack (special usb dongle) if you wish not use xiaomi hub

I am using the zigbee2mqtt think for Home Assistant, which means I don't have a Xiaomi Gateway. Works really well and was a breeze to set up.

neb

11294 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2188122 27-Feb-2019 14:09

Is Xiaomi gear faked much? I assume there's enough of it floating around that it's easier to just resell the originals, but I'm wondering if there's much trade in fake gear. The originals are generally pretty good value, so I'm wondering how careful you have to be about getting fakes.

Yoban

447 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2188597 28-Feb-2019 09:12

gcorgnet:

I am using the zigbee2mqtt think for Home Assistant, which means I don't have a Xiaomi Gateway. Works really well and was a breeze to set up.

Heading down this path myself - zigbee2mqtt looks a better option that zwave. Was wondering how you housed the USB dongle as looking at the setup guide, it would seem to be an exposed circuit board. I have a trial HA running in a container on proxmox box.

gcorgnet

1078 posts

Uber Geek

#2188674 28-Feb-2019 10:31

Yoban:

gcorgnet:

I am using the zigbee2mqtt think for Home Assistant, which means I don't have a Xiaomi Gateway. Works really well and was a breeze to set up.

Heading down this path myself - zigbee2mqtt looks a better option that zwave. Was wondering how you housed the USB dongle as looking at the setup guide, it would seem to be an exposed circuit board. I have a trial HA running in a container on proxmox box.

I've left mine as is (expose circuit board). It has an annoying green LED that you can in fact disable through the config.