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.
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.
Even hue, on their own platform allows third party ZigBee devices without complaints.
Just to point this out for anyone seeing this thread, the aqara hubs with thread still let you use them as a thread for third party devices
When you go deep down the rabbit hole, you learn that in versions prior to Zigbee 3.0, there are all sorts of zigbee application profiles (like bluetooth profiles, if you’ve ever wondered why it matters that a bluetooth headset can be connected for calls, music, or both). Two prominent ones are Zigbee Light Link (LL) and Zigbee Home Automation (HA). There’s also Zigbee Smart Energy. and numerous proprietary profiles.
Hubs solely designed for Zigbee LL ecosystems don’t talk to Zigbee HA devices, and hubs designed solely for Zigbee HA ecosystems don’t talk to Zigbee LL devices, to say nothing of any propriety profiles they may also support.
Obligatory: https://xkcd.com/927/
If you’re running HA, you don’t need an Aqara hub at all. Just add them to your Zigbee integration. ZHA or Z2M. No third party hub required.
It is not per se “locking out other devices”. More likely, it does only know it’s own devices and how to use them.
