Brief update on device reliability

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Hello community,

It has now been a year since I started exploring home automation with Gladys.

I’m going to vent a little about the reliability of devices.

Lidl hardware: Two bulbs (HG07834B/HG09155B/HG08131B) that turn on whenever they want and a power strip (HG06338) broken

I tell myself: Well, it’s Lidl, cheap, you get what you pay for.

Ikea hardware: Of 4 contact sensors, 2 no longer work and the other two give false readings.

Two remotes (E2213): one no longer works

Leak detector works well and even detected a leak from my water heater.

Indoor temperature (E2112) works well.

And now Sonoff joins in with an outdoor temperature (SNZB-02WD) that stopped working after three weeks. (Well, it’s the only one among my 4 Sonoff devices)

That Ikea or Lidl might be unreliable, I can accept that (though), but if even Sonoff is getting involved, who can you trust?

So that’s the assessment of my first year — not so great.

Positive point: Nothing to say about Gladys. It is evolving in the right direction and quickly. The community is very dynamic: Bravo.

Thank you for reading to the end.

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Hi @l.dolle,

Thanks for your feedback — though I’m surprised; either you’re really unlucky, or there’s something specific about your setup that causes these devices to have trouble…

My apartment has been fully connected with IKEA and Sonoff for 2 years, and I haven’t had a single problem (with more than 40 Zigbee devices).

When you say « déclare forfait », what’s the symptom?

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Hello @pierre-gilles

Thanks for your reply.

I just looked into my setup and I’m reworking my approach. Not about the Lidl products but about the Ikea and Sonoff products.

I live in a house, so a fairly large area, and when analyzing the Zigbee network provided by Zigbee2MQTT I notice it’s rather weak. I’m lacking relays to ensure a good connection between the different devices.

And for the two window sensors that were supposedly dead, it turned out they just needed their batteries changed (already?) even though the value shown was still 100% on Zigbee2MQTT.

I plan to put ZBMINIL2 in all my switches. Do they act as relays to better mesh the network throughout the house?

Thanks for taking the time on this project.

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[quote=« l.dolle, post:3, topic:9809 »]
I’m planning to put ZBMINIL2 in all my switches. Do they act as relays to help mesh

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Indeed, to have a reliable Zigbee network, you need good mesh coverage!

At my place, all my bulbs are IKEA ones that act as routers:

Screenshot 2025-11-07 at 12.41.55
Screenshot 2025-11-07 at 12.41.552576×2046 353 KB

I admit that for the open/close sensors, I’m using Sonoff on my front door.
The battery holds up well!

Also, once again, if your Zigbee network is weak, the devices have to transmit at higher power and therefore consume more energy.

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Summary of my findings.

I successfully recovered my temperature sensor SNZB-02WD after bringing it back into the house and restarting it. It is indeed the weakness of my network’s mesh that caused its malfunction. I will rework the question.

Thanks for the replies.

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If they’re IKEA Parasoll, the battery reporting is awful and some of them drain the batteries like crazy!
I have 10 at home and I never trust the battery level but the reporting timing; if it exceeds 12h it’s time to change the battery. And I replace a bunch of them regularly!
You can use this great tutorial for alerts :slight_smile:

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I used the same tutorial for the modules that have poor battery reporting and everything works perfectly :grinning_face:

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Yes, that’s it. I’ll study the tutorial with a clear head.

Thanks for the info.