How I Solved the Aqara Motion Sensor Mystery - No More Dropouts!

Apple Home Connect
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Hey , Share a little win from my weekend in case it helps anyone else banging their head against the wall like I was.

So my Aqara motion sensors (P1s mostly) kept randomly dropping out of HomeKit. Sometimes they’d reconnect on their own, sometimes not. Drove me nuts, especially since everything else on the Zigbee network was rock solid.

Turns out the issue wasn’t the sensors—it was my Zigbee coordinator (I’m running Home Assistant with ZHA). It was a bit too far from the motion sensors and kinda buried behind a bunch of metal junk near my router. Rookie move, I know. I moved it to a more open spot, away from interference, and boom—haven’t lost a sensor in 4 days straight.

Also added a couple of IKEA Tradfri outlets as repeaters around the house and that seems to have really stabilized things too.

Moral of the story: placement matters way more than you’d think. And cheap Zigbee plugs are your best friends.

Anyone else had similar dropout issues? Curious if placement fixed it for you too or if I’m just lucky this time.

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@AutomationAddict Thank you for sharing your experience! It’s great to hear that you’ve overcome the dropout issues with your Aqara motion sensors. Your solution highlights a crucial aspect of maintaining a stable smart home network—placement indeed matters significantly. By relocating your Zigbee coordinator to a more open area and adding IKEA Tradfri outlets as repeaters, you’ve demonstrated a practical approach to enhancing connectivity and reducing interference.

It’s not uncommon for devices to face connectivity issues due to physical obstructions or distance from the coordinator, as you’ve experienced. Your success story will surely help others facing similar challenges. To anyone else experiencing such dropouts, consider checking the placement of your devices and possibly adding repeaters to bolster your Zigbee network’s reliability.

Feel free to share more of your smart home victories or any other tips you discover along the way!