in the tavern I have the main M3 hub, in the adjacent bathroom/laundry room I have the water drain rise pump, under an iron hatch in the floor.
I placed the Aqara water leak sensor on top of the pump’s airtight plastic container to check that there were no leaks under the floor, but the sensor disconnects from the hub when it was under the floor, in the trap door, and reconnects when I brought it back up.
I thought I could solve this by getting an E1 or M1000 USB hub and using it in the laundry room as a Zigbee repeater…
Can I fix the water leak sensor disconnection like this?
Are the E1 or M100 hub the same only as a Zigbee Repeater?
Great question—and thanks for the detailed context, it really helps!
The disconnection you’re seeing with your Aqara water leak sensor is a common issue when Zigbee devices are placed under heavy materials (like an iron hatch) or are too far from the hub, since signal strength can be significantly reduced by metal and distance. Metal surfaces, in particular, are known to interfere with Zigbee communication, which can explain the sensor going offline when placed in the trap door.
Adding an Aqara Hub E1 in the laundry room is a smart idea. The E1 is a Zigbee 3.0 hub that plugs into a USB socket, and it can indeed act as a Zigbee router (repeater), forwarding signals between devices and your main M3 hub. This should help extend your Zigbee network’s coverage into tricky areas like under the floor, provided the E1 hub is placed where it can “see” both the water leak sensor and has a good connection back to your main M3 hub.
To clarify, both E1 and M100 hubs are Zigbee hubs and can serve as Zigbee routers/repeaters, but they are also capable of acting as primary hubs for accessories. When you use them as additional hubs in your network, they improve coverage and can help with your disconnection issue. Just make sure to pair your water leak sensor to the closest hub (the new E1 or M100), and place the hub in a spot that avoids as much metal interference as possible.
To sum up:
Yes, adding an E1 or M100 hub as a Zigbee repeater in the laundry room is a recommended way to fix the disconnection issue.
Both E1 and M100 hubs can act as Zigbee repeaters/routers, but also as standalone hubs in your network.
Would love to hear how it works out for you, or if you have any follow-up questions about your setup!
@gafich10 Thanks for sharing your advice and solution! You’re absolutely right that metal surfaces can cause significant interference with Zigbee signals, leading to disconnections for devices like the Aqara water leak sensor. It’s a great tip to highlight that when adding a new hub (such as the E1 or M100), users need to rebind (re-pair) the sensor to the closest hub to ensure it connects through the intended Zigbee path.
Also, suggesting the use of an Aqara socket as a Zigbee repeater is spot-on—the socket can indeed act as a router in the Zigbee mesh, helping extend and stabilize the network in areas with poor signal. After installing the socket and reconnecting the sensor, it should adopt a new path and benefit from the improved coverage.
Thank you for contributing such practical advice! Insights like yours really help the community. If you have more setup tips or experiences, please keep sharing!
Hello, this will help you. You just need to know that gateways are not repeaters. You need to rebind the sensor to the new gateway. There is another option, buy an Aqara socket, it is also a repeater. Install it in the room, unbind the sensor and reconnect it. After this procedure, the sensor will register a new Zigbee path for itself using the socket as a repeater. Pomylov wrote to the bot
When you talk about smart plugs, do you mean the Smart Plug EU?
because if you mean the one to be installed in the Light Switch H2 wall, I don’t want to make any changes to the wall, and I don’t think that H2 will fit in my BTicino living Light standard 503E flush-mounted box.
If Smart Plug EU acts as a repeater Zigbee, I might consider it.
but if for my purpose I can use M100 or E1, even if I have to associate the Water Leak sensor to it,
but then through the app I can create dialogue scenarios between the USB hub and the M3,
I think it is the best solution, because at the same time I also have an extra hub within my home ecosystem.
In this case, make sure that the WiFi will cover the area where you plan to connect the gateway. There will be no problems with automation. Personally, I would do it through the gateway.
This is a critical connection (flood control) and I recommend having it directly without a repeater
@Fla_Italy Great questions! It sounds like you’re dealing with a classic Zigbee range and interference issue, especially given the iron hatch and placement under the floor.
The disconnection you’re experiencing is likely due to the sensor being too far from the main hub or signal interference from metal surfaces (like the iron hatch) and dense materials. Zigbee signals can be weakened or blocked by metal and thick barriers, which is why your sensor reconnects when you bring it back up.
Adding a device like the Aqara Hub E1 in the laundry room can absolutely help—because it acts as a Zigbee 3.0 hub, capable of supporting up to 127 devices, effectively extending your Zigbee mesh network in that area. This should help maintain a stable connection to the water leak sensor, as long as the E1 hub itself can communicate with your main M3 hub. Just make sure the new hub is placed in a spot with minimal interference between it, your main hub, and the sensor.
As for the E1 or M100 hubs: both act as Zigbee coordinators/hubs and not purely as repeaters. While their presence will extend your Zigbee network, they are not dedicated “repeater” devices like some Zigbee smart plugs or bulbs, but they do serve the purpose of expanding your mesh, so your plan is on the right track!
If you want a simple Zigbee repeater, you might also consider compatible Zigbee smart plugs or bulbs, but adding an E1 hub gives you extra flexibility and device capacity.
Hope this helps! If you try it out, let us know how it goes—your experience could help others in similar setups.
The water sensor has disconnected from the M100 Hub twice in one week.
I left it on the table (not under the hatch) and the distance is less than 2 meters from the hub!
I also changed the battery, even though the previous one gave a good level.
If I press the sensor to make the little blue light appear, it then reconnects by itself
At this point, could the sensor be faulty?
Although I don’t understand why it worked so well for 3/4 of its life, I never dropped it, and it hasn’t had to come into contact with water yet…
@Fla_Italy Thanks for the detailed description and for sharing your troubleshooting steps! Based on your experience, where the water leak sensor disconnected from the M100 Hub even when placed just 2 meters away (and after a battery change), it does raise a few possibilities.
First, since the sensor reconnects when you press it and the blue light appears, it suggests the sensor isn’t completely non-functional. However, frequent disconnections within such a short range are not typical, especially after confirming the battery is good and the hub firmware is up to date.
Here are some points and suggestions to consider:
Zigbee connectivity can be affected by environmental factors such as interference from metal objects (like the iron hatch), thick walls, or strong electronic interference. Even when the distance is short, the surroundings matter a lot for signal strength.
For battery-powered Zigbee devices like the water leak sensor, they connect as “end devices” rather than routers, so they’re reliant on good signal from the hub or a Zigbee router device.
If most other Zigbee devices on your network stay connected and only this sensor disconnects, even after moving it and changing the battery, it could indicate a fault with the sensor itself. Yet, as you mentioned, it worked reliably for a long time before, so degradation or internal fault is possible.
Pressing the button to wake the sensor and seeing it reconnect suggests it’s not completely dead, but might be entering deep sleep or failing to check in as expected.
Since you’ve already tried reasonable troubleshooting (battery, placement, firmware), and if the problem persists only with this sensor, there’s a chance it could be faulty. I recommend testing it in a totally different location (perhaps even in another room or on a different hub if possible) to see if the issue follows the device.
If the disconnection still occurs frequently in different setups, reaching out for manual customer service support would be the next logical step—they can help further diagnose or suggest next actions based on your device’s status.
If you have any suggestions or feedback for improvement, please submit it through manual customer service in the Aqara Home app. This helps ensure your case is tracked individually.
Hope this helps, and feel free to update us with what you find—your experience could help others in the community!
Hello, does the gateway have constant power? This is a prerequisite for stable communication.
If the sensor falls off, it is not necessary that it has left the system, it may be in standby mode. This can be checked by soaking its contacts in water.
This situation occurs when the gateway is turned off and then turned on again.
The M100 comes with a generic 2A USB power supply, I can try putting a Xiaomi power supply on it, maybe it’s better, but the M100 has never lost the Wifi connection.
wifi signal strength is -48 should be good.
The Zigbee channel is 20, can I change it or does the M100 choose it automatically?
if I understand correctly you are telling me when the water sensor goes offline to try with water to wet its contacts and see if it comes online … I understand correctly?
so it would be normal for the sensor to go offline after a while, as if it went into sleep mode…
I bought the sensor in April, and up until 2-3 months ago it never did this.
The slightest power outage will cause a loss of connection, you may not even notice it. It is best to have a 5 volt mini UPS, but not a power bank (power banks turn off the power at the moment of power outage).
Thinking of putting a mini UPS on each peripheral Hub is unthinkable,
but on the M3 in the tavern local (adjacent at laundry room with the door always open at a distance of 5 meters) I have the UPS…
I can try to assign the water sensor to the M3 again and see if for 1-2 weeks it does not lose connection then it was a power problem,
but in the Aqara app report messages I have not had any disconnections from the Hubs, nor from the other Xiaomi hubs and devices, which usually report it to me immediately.
@Fla_Italy If you want to remove the alarm from the Aqara Water Leak Sensor icon after a triggered event (such as your test with wetting the contacts), here’s what you can do: You can short-press the reset button on the device to disable the alarm. As for the app, the alarm status may remain until the condition that triggered it returns to normal, but manual intervention (like the reset button) is the recommended way to clear it promptly.
If you have further suggestions or want to see improvements in how alarms are cleared in the app, feel free to submit feedback through Aqara’s customer service channels. Your observations as you test are valuable for the community—thanks for sharing!
Hello, the alarm signal disappears after about 5 seconds (for me) after the sensor contacts dry out. The application sometimes gets stuck, you just need to refresh (swipe) the application window. Event notifications are very dependent on the quality of the Internet.
The speed of operation is best seen when you make automation for the lamp (I see you have it on the screen): wet->on, dry->off.
