Geekzone: technology news, blogs, forums
Guest
Welcome Guest.
You haven't logged in yet. If you don't have an account you can register now.


ianganderton

35 posts

Geek
+1 received by user: 8

ID Verified

#303042 11-Jan-2023 22:06
Send private message

So here's the story..........

 

So I've got a Echo Dot 5th gen set up in the bedroom. In the room are a few Phillip's Hue devices, 2 light bulbs, a plug and a movement sensor

 

In the kitchen is one of the bigger Echos

 

This eve the big echo was unplugged to plug in a food mixer. I needed to get something from the bedroom and the lights weren't working. Seems that the devices have all connected to the big Echo in the kitchen. 

 

The bedroom is pretty close to the kitchen/dining/living area but there are a few walls in the way. 

 

Both the Echo Dot 5th gen and bigger Echo 4th gen are supposed to have zigbee. This little glitch suggests the larger echo also has the stronger signal

 

Anyone know of a way of controlling which device connects to what in an Alexa/Phillips Hue environment?


Create new topic
richms
29097 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 10206

Trusted
Lifetime subscriber

  #3020332 12-Jan-2023 00:36
Send private message

ZigBee has one coordinator for the network. That is what does all the work to take it online. I am not aware of any ZigBee devices that can hotswap out the coordinator if it is powered off with a different one.




Richard rich.ms



Silvrav
477 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 173

ID Verified

  #3020368 12-Jan-2023 09:34
Send private message

richms: ZigBee has one coordinator for the network. That is what does all the work to take it online. I am not aware of any ZigBee devices that can hotswap out the coordinator if it is powered off with a different one.

 

 

 

Pretty much this - Look at investing in a standalone coordinator (like a conbee2 stick or sonoff gateway) to handle this for you as then if the echo needs to go offline its not a problem. If you want to integrate later into HA a standlone coordinator is also recommended as it works easier among all different brands and automations.


ianganderton

35 posts

Geek
+1 received by user: 8

ID Verified

  #3020372 12-Jan-2023 09:48
Send private message

Thanks folks

The big mistake I was making here was thinking the Dot had a zigbee chip. Turns out it doesn’t.

I’m getting a Home Assistant Yellow that has a built in Zigbee/Mandate chip so that’s the end solution on the cards

The intention with messing around with the Echos is to learn about home automation prior to going all in with HA. I’m certainly doing that 😎



freitasm
BDFL - Memuneh
80646 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 41029

Administrator
ID Verified
Trusted
Geekzone
Lifetime subscriber

  #3020373 12-Jan-2023 09:48
Send private message

I used to have my Hue lights connected via my Echo Studio. The problem here is that you lose the ability to apply updates to the lights.

 

I moved back to having the Hue Hub and linking the account to Alexa. Also having the Hub allowed me to run the Philips Hue Sync desktop app and connect the Hue Lightstrip to sync the colours to on-screen game - not possible if connected via other devices.





Referral links: Quic Broadband (free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE) | Samsung | AliExpress | Wise | Sharesies 

 

Support Geekzone by subscribing (browse ads-free), or making a one-off or recurring donation through PressPatron.

 


Create new topic








Geekzone Live »

Try automatic live updates from Geekzone directly in your browser, without refreshing the page, with Geekzone Live now.



Are you subscribed to our RSS feed? You can download the latest headlines and summaries from our stories directly to your computer or smartphone by using a feed reader.