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Disappointed with Aqara - Zigbee hub, but no 3rd party? (sh.itjust.works)

submitted 5 days ago by CocaineShrimp@sh.itjust.works to c/homeassistant@lemmy.world

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Correct me if I'm wrong, but...

Buyer Beware! Aqara hubs use the Zigbee protocol, but lock out 3rd party devices!

A few months ago, I bought an Aqara hub and went deep into their ecosystem. I saw their hub and sensors had good reviews, plus they were using the Zigbee open protocol, so I figured I'd stick with their stuff. I had no reason to try other devices until recently.

I picked up a tilt sensor for my garage door from a 3rd party. I made sure it was also using the Zigbee protocol, so I assumed it would be compatable. Unfortunately, when I tried connecting it to the hub, I was wrong and it wouldn't connect. Turns out, Aqara uses the Zigbee protocol, but locks out 3rd party devices. [source]

If anyone has a workaround to integrate a 3rd party device with an Aqara Hub (IIRC, I have the M3?), I'd love to hear about it. But until then - I'm looking for a refund. I would have never picked up their hub if I had known about their shennanigans; and consequently, I wouldn't have picked up so many of their sensors.

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[–] ropatrick@lemmy.world 5 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (1 children)

Do many companies let you use their hubs to connect to devices from competitors? I always assumed of you bought X brand, you could only connect to X brand.

If you are gettng a refund, would you consider using Zigbee2MQTT with a suitable dongle from Home Assistant, Sonoff etc.? Then you can connect your Aqara stuff and pretty much any other brand you want, without any of their hubs.

Apologies if I'm missing something subtle here but it seems normal that Aqara would want to tie you into their products only.

[–] gjoel@programming.dev 5 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Even hue, on their own platform allows third party ZigBee devices without complaints.

[–] avidamoeba@lemmy.ca 2 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Really? I wasn't able to connect Ikea bulbs to my Hue hub when I still used it. 🤔

[–] gjoel@programming.dev 3 points 4 days ago (1 children)

I haven't tried IKEA, but osram plugs and some Danish brand switches work just fine. New stuff gets plugged directly into home assistant though (via a zonoff ZigBee dongle).

[–] avidamoeba@lemmy.ca 1 points 3 days ago

Interesting. I night have been dreaming or just skill issue connecting those.