Automation Blocked: Dual Relay T2 Control Based on Aqara Lamp (T1) Status in Home Assistant

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1

Hello,

​My Setup:
​Bathroom: Mirrors with permanent 230V power (no wall switch). Mirrors have built-in buttons for light and heating.
​Lights: Aqara T1M Ceiling Lamps connected to a Hub S1 Plus.
​Switches: Standard (dumb) wall switches that cut power to the T1M Lamps.
​Hub: S1 Plus integrated into Home Assistant via Matter.

​My Goal:
I installed an Aqara Dual Relay Module T2 to control the power to the mirrors.
I want to create an automation:
​When: I turn off the wall switch (cutting power to the T1 Lamp, making it go Offline).
​Then: The T2 Relay should turn OFF (cutting power to the mirrors).

Other relay will manage mirror heater using humidity data. (I hope here i do not find next limitation).

​The Problem:
​Aqara App: There is no option to use a device’s “Online/Offline” communication status as a trigger for automation.
​Home Assistant: I hoped to do this in HA, but the Hub S1 Plus does not report the “Unavailable” or “Unreachable” status to Home Assistant via Matter. The “Offline” status is visible in the Aqara App, but it does not pass through to HA.

​My Question:
Is there any solution to achieve this with my current hardware?
I understand there is a delay when a device goes offline, but for this use case (turning off a mirror heater), a delay is acceptable.

​Feedback on Aqara System:
I am currently very frustrated. The hardware quality is good, but basic functionality—like exposing connectivity status for automations—is missing (you can check my another posts). I built my smart home on Aqara, but these limitations are making me consider replacing the entire system. (Thats why, i do not whant to buy more Aqara devices at the moment)

​Has anyone found a workaround to detect the “Offline” state of a Matter-connected Aqara device in Home Assistant? Ofcource it will be better when it will work as just Aqara automation.

2

In principle, this is very simple, as most native Matter devices have their own IP address that can be pinged with ICMP. With Ping (ICMP) integration, you can monitor the online/offline status.

However, there is a misunderstanding regarding the specific devices: Neither the Aqara Dual Relay Module T2 nor the Aqara Ceiling Light T1M are native Matter devices. They communicate via Zigbee. In your setup, only the Aqara Hub acts as a Matter Bridge.

You are entirely dependent on the Aqara Hub correctly reporting the device status to Home Assistant via Matter. If you need more direct control or better status reporting, the only alternative is to bypass the Aqara Hub and integrate the devices directly into Home Assistant using a Zigbee stick (via ZHA or Zigbee2MQTT).

3

Ok, looks like all the solutions are to remove this useless Aqara Hub S1 Plus to trash, and use Home Assistant as primary solution.

I will wait to comment from Aqara representative, because my home was designed to use Hub S1 Plus as primary solution. Home Assistant installed as helper in OVH cloud. But if vendor did not do nothing - i must to rebuild smarthome solution(. Install HA locally and use normal tablet instead Aqara Hub.

Thanks for your reply!

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