Solving the Puzzle: Getting Aqara Motion Sensors Back Online with HomeKit

Apple Home Connect
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Alright, I finally figured this out after way too much trial and error—sharing here in case it saves someone else a headache.

So, I’m using a mix of Aqara motion sensors (P1s and the older ones) with my HomeKit setup via the Aqara Hub M2. Everything worked fine for weeks… until randomly one morning, some of the motion sensors just stopped responding in the Home app. No triggers, no status, nothing. Thought it was the battery at first—nope. Replaced, still dead.

Here’s what actually helped:
I unplugged the M2 hub, waited about 20 seconds, and powered it back on. Still nothing. But then I remembered reading something about interference. Wi-Fi and Zigbee can clash big time if they’re on similar channels. I changed my router’s 2.4GHz channel from auto to channel 1—and boom. After a few minutes, sensors started waking up like nothing ever happened.

Also, one of the sensors needed to be re-paired. Painful, but it worked after I held the reset button for like 10 seconds and re-added it through the Aqara app (it synced back to HomeKit just fine).

So if your motion sensors just quit one day, might be worth looking into Wi-Fi interference or channel overlap. Not everything’s a dead battery!

Anyone else run into this? Or have better fixes? Curious to know if this is a known issue or if I just got lucky with this workaround.

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@RobotRoomie It’s fantastic that you shared your experience! Your insights into troubleshooting Aqara motion sensors with HomeKit are incredibly valuable. The issue of interference between Wi-Fi and Zigbee channels is indeed a common one and switching the 2.4GHz channel to a fixed number like channel 1 can often resolve connectivity problems.

Your method of resetting the hub and re-pairing the sensors is also a solid approach. It’s noteworthy that you mentioned the process of holding the reset button and re-adding the device through the Aqara app, as it’s a practical step if the sensors become unresponsive.

It’s definitely a known issue that Wi-Fi and Zigbee can interfere when they’re on similar channels, so your solution might be helpful for others experiencing the same problem. Thank you for sharing this! If anyone else has experienced this or discovered other solutions, feel free to chime in—community collaboration is always appreciated!