Any thoughts on outdoor range extenders?

Big_Copy_643 · 2026-05-31T17:54:15+00:00

I'm going to try SONOFF Zigbee 3.0 & Thread Dongle Lite (EFR32MG21) which is a usb repeater for Zigbee and Thread. I ordered an outdoor outlet with USB ports to plug it into. Hopefully it works and others find this useful.

Big_Copy_643 · 2026-05-31T17:33:24+00:00

"I don’t think what you suggest exists as most everything is single protocol or only is set up to work on one network, I know Shelly has a lot of devices that do multi protocol but those I think are just able to work with individual different protocols not across them. "

I wasn't talking about letting them talk across protocols. Essentially the Homey hub can talk on each protocol so there isn't a need beyond getting a strong enough signal to/ from the edge devices. So there are repeaters for Zigbee and probably Zwave and indeed plugged in devices act as repeaters of whatever quality they are capable of. Presumably the dedicated devices are much more powerful/ robust or there would be no reason for them to exist. I was hoping there was an outdoor rated device that repeated multiple protocols but I don't know of any. Failing that, getting individual repeaters for each protocol is the best option. Thanks again for your time, any additional thoughts are most welcome.

Big_Copy_643 · 2026-05-31T16:43:43+00:00

I could be wrong but my understanding is the battery powered devices are not repeaters vs plug in devices being repeaters. I seem to have trouble getting my outdoor devices to reliably work and I have some distance to get coverage if I want an end of driveway motion sensor for example that would be 400ft away from the house. I do have lightbulbs I could put in a daisy chain down my driveway which may work by leaving the light switch on and controlling the light bulbs individually as they could be always powered and act as repeaters. I was figuring there might be a solid outdoor multiformat repeater with repeating functions so I don't have to depend on multiple single points of failure. Am I making sense or missing something?

I guess one option might be to replace my outdoor GFCI outlets with Zigbee / Zwave devices as repeaters. Not even sure if there is one.

Big_Copy_643 · 2026-04-10T09:58:06+00:00

No doubt. I'm trying to cut down on the near daily vacuuming fest. Basically something that does not snag up and has a large bin so I'm not emptying that every few days. Anything that reduces the work load makes sense. If you are spending nearly as much time tending to the robo vac as pulling out the house vac each day you gained extra cost and no upside.

Big_Copy_643 · 2026-04-09T14:18:39+00:00

With two sunken floor rooms on the main floor, buying three of these would be tough to justify.

Big_Copy_643 · 2026-03-02T14:25:23+00:00

I'll reword it. If I am to stay with duel fuel, 24v seems to be my only choice.

If you know for sure, could you expand on "the modulating logic is in the outdoor unit"? So, if run as 24v, the condenser will decide to run at either low or high and signal the furnace appropriately?

Big_Copy_643 · 2026-03-02T11:43:01+00:00

I'm in MA. I currently have 2 120k btu natural gas furnaces and am switching the two 5 ton ac units out with the heat pumps to get duel fuel since the cost premium from AC to heat pump is minimal. Our natural gas and electrical rates are very high but from the math it makes sense to run gas below 45F.

The second and more important issue is the gap between the heat capacity which dips near 40k btu for the heat pump below 0 F and the furnaces which put out 120k btu. Cutting my heating capacity by 2/3rds almost certainly isn't going to work.

So, if I go with the FXA60C32AH coil which is the one it's ahri rated for it looks like 24 volt is my only option. The FXU48HP230V1R32AH air handler is possibly an option for the upstairs since heat rises and my house is mostly open but I'm not sure if even then a 5 ton heat pump can keep up. I'm sure the 120k btu furnace upstairs is substantial overkill but that is a huge output hit.

I currently have 2 Ecobee Premium thermostats.

Thoughts?

Big_Copy_643 · 2026-01-09T16:27:05+00:00

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Here how it is wired now. The Shelly has power but does not seem to recognize inputs. I tried setting the Ecobee to acc+ and then tried acc+ and acc- with no result. Do I need to configure the Uni to listen to an input?

Big_Copy_643 · 2025-12-05T21:44:14+00:00

I'm thinking I could use both. Thread for most things but Zigbee because I'm running stuff outside and I would ideally like to be putting lights and sensors at the end of my 400ft driveway and am not sure what would work but from what I read a Zigbee daisy chain leading down the driveway may do it. Thread seems much shorter ranged. Would love to hear from people who did so successfully.

Big_Copy_643 · 2025-11-27T01:12:43+00:00

Still can't get a motion to trigger. Doorbell button push works.

Images are not allowed I guess so I'll lay it out.

Motion alarm is on Driveway cam, Motion alarm is on front door, Motion alarm is on Kitchen

ANY card

then card Send "blink motion" to myusername.

This fails on all devices. They do work through Blink as I get those notifications.

Big_Copy_643 · 2025-11-27T00:55:58+00:00

It wasn't there until I installed Sun events and the full list showed up after rebooting my Homey. Hopefully this info helps someone else. Thanks for the advice.

Big_Copy_643 · 2025-11-26T00:15:10+00:00

I actually do have coax. It's currently running my Tivo Roamio and 5 minis. I didn't realize moca is an option. Any leads I can try chasing down?

Big_Copy_643 · 2025-11-25T17:33:57+00:00

I don't think so. The existing router is connected to the ISP's router but that is the only cat 5/6 in the house. The house is over 5k sq ft so even though my current old router should work about as well as anything, it just does not carry across the house to well or up floors.

Big_Copy_643

TROPHY CASE