Blue Series 2-1 Signal / Routing / Performance Issue Troubleshooting Thread

Installed my first one today and could not get it to pair… even with an ikea router on an extension cord within inches. Eventually found this thread, looks like I’m 30 for 30 94:34:69 and 38:5B:44. Think I’ll hold off installing anymore for now, maybe buy one of those lotto tickets too. :stuck_out_tongue:

Looking forward to hearing more from @Eric_Inovelli, certainly disappointing for all, but I suspect you guys even more so.

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38:5b:44 and 94:34:69 to be a bit more specific, one of those had an ok range in the 2nd octet, so good to use those 3 to confirm if the switch is in an affected ‘batch’

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I see a lot of people reporting signal levels from HA… is there a hubitat equivalent measurement or a way to see if the switches around routing though each other?

I have 40 switches to install. I was going to get started this weekend, but at this point I will wait until there is a resolution to this. I don’t want to install/uninstall/install again.

I believe it’s possible but I don’t have the steps and the ‘easy’ value to get from Hubitat is the last-hop LQI, which isn’t what you’re looking for or an accurate representation. I think the recommendation I would go off currently is to hold off on installing any switches in those batches until we know more. (I’ve got one from that batch installed but holding others back for now, was really to validate behavior and see if I could get it to join)

https://docs2.hubitat.com/en/user-interface/settings/zigbee-logs

Check here.

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Thanks for confirming - now that I finally went back and documented those numbers for my 9 switches, I was curious to cross-check those against the odd-ball unsolicited binding issues I had… But no direct correlation.

For now, mine are all still in the wall, but all reset/unpaired so just acting as dumb switches/dimmers.

The binding issue should be a separate one and I know they’re working to get the fix tested/shared.

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Thanks,

My Zigbee logging is completely blank. I only have two Zigbee devices installed. Both Inovelli switches. Is there somewhere I need to enable logging or should that be on by default?

40/40 Switches are 94:34:69 or 38:5b:44 with date codes 2208 or 2209.

I’m gonna wait until we hear from Eric on what we should do.

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I don’t think I have any debug logging on. Mines not showing every single one either; however there’s more today than yesterday.

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Zigbee info on Hubitat (the page @harjms shows above) is not very easy to interpret, and it doesn’t necessarily show info for every ZB device in your mesh.

I scanned my bookmarked posts and found this pretty good summary of that page from one of the Hubitat community members who’s smart on it.

I use that page more to check for any major buffoonery, but I focus more primarily on making sure I have plenty of good ZB repeaters located well to ensure a strong ZB mesh.

I had mostly 94:x Blues in my order, and I had no issues pairing them or with performance (in terms of responsiveness etc). Unfortunately, I had to decommission all my Blues due to some unsolicited binding issues, so I never got a chance to really take a hard look at that ZB performance page…

But I remember looking at it once at some point and not being impressed with the Blues’ numbers, but since everything was working fine and I knew I had a good mesh backbone minus the Blues, my plan was to just let it ride… I’d do the same thing in the future.

Wanted to give everyone an update. I likely won’t be able to respond as quickly as I’d like as I actually came down with a pretty nasty cold and am typing from my bed bc I know you guys are anxious for an answer and you deserve one.

I will explain further either tonight or tomorrow when I am by my laptop and can type out an action plan.

Edit: nm, I got carried away in typing that I just basically laid out everything. But more info will come in regards to next steps early next week.

The manufacturer was able to identify the reason for the poor signal issues and it boils down to a hardware issue from one of their suppliers.

Those affected are the IEEE addresses mentioned above (94:xx and 38:xx)

The reason why it passed QC was bc they only tested pairing at 0.5m (wut…?) and didn’t notice any anomolies.

We had a good conversation with them yesterday about how to solve this and they’ve agreed to replace all units that are defective. Not only that, but they are putting together a much more comprehensive testing procedure so that this doesn’t happen again. Especially with production starting next week for Batch 2.

That said, I at least want to be appreciative of them for owning this and for not hiding behind some excuse to try to screw us over. This has happened in the past with another manufacturer and is sadly common in China when dealing with them as a small company.

We spoke directly with the owner and he immediately apologized, and said this was not the way he wanted to start this new relationship off and he offered, without hesitation, to replace these and compensate us for any costs associated with this.

On one hand, I’m relieved to know that the product we all tested and knew was an amazing switch still holds true. When you put so much work into these and know what you have is good (if not the best) it’s extremely frustrating to see all these issues pop up. Especially issues that were not there in beta.

On the other hand, I’m frustrated that this wasn’t caught at the factory and better procedures weren’t in place as this seems like a very simple fix (to test at the appropriate distance for Zigbee - not 0.5m). And now all you guys have to spend your time, energy and patience in getting and installing new products.

Timelines

We have a batch that starts production next week and that should be finished by the end of the month. This batch, “luckily” can be used for both replacements and for any backorders that were placed.

I would give my best guess that these will be in the US in early December.

Two weeks after that, another batch of units will come in and following that the remainder with everything being made up to us by the beginning of January.

To be clear - early/mid December is my best guess as to when replacements will be sent out (hinges on customs).

The Process

This is what I’m still discussing and was going to discuss today but unfortunately my operations guy is out with COVID and I’m bedridden with something so we’ll have to construct the logistics next week.

But at the very least, we will send out replacements before we ask for the old ones back (if we do - honestly idk if it’s worth it).

I’m trying to figure out a way to not find the defective ones on eBay or something.

We’re also going to give out some sort of compensation for your time wasted - likely in the form of a coupon off future orders or some rewards points, I’m not sure yet.

I want to sincerely apologize for all the frustration and at any time if you’d just like to say forget it, I’m out and would like a refund, I completely understand.

This is definitely not the way we wanted to kick off a brand new lineup.

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There’s no changing the facts of the situation, no matter how disappointing/frustrating/inconvenient it may be for everyone. The most useful thing to do is to resolve things in the best way possible for customers and that seems to be the plan. Thanks for the transparency and focus, Eric.

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On the plus side, those who have working switches will help iron out the remaining firmware bugs. Ppl like me whose entire batch is compromised may have to wait, but when the replacements arrive I expect there’ll be better firmware available, and some great know-how posted here on how to configure things.

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I appreciate the update and the transparency. Disappointed that I’ll have to replace the majority of my switches again, but I’m glad that this is being taken seriously and you and the manufacturer are doing the right thing.

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OK to order now?

I’ve been following along before making a purchase. Seeing that we are backordered and need to replace some number of items in the field… what does it realistically look like for deliveries for any new orders placed now? Lets say I want 60-80 switches.

Thanks for the update and I hope you and the rest of the team are feeling better soon. As always I greatly appreciate the transparency.

A few thoughts to consider (take or leave these ideas - I totally get these are complex business decisions and we don’t known all the details)

  • consider fulfilling replacements based in the date of the original order. I was a day 1 pre-order and my order got shipped in the last batch and now most of my switches will need replaced. (This is extra painful if the hardware issue disproportionally impacted the late shipped orders from early supporters)

  • I know there has been a lot of work around fixing fulfillment but those kinks haven’t been worked out before the replacements go out it will feel like you are kicking us while we are down. There are 3PL companies that specialize in crowdfunding/flash sale bulk fulfillment (ship Bob, red stag, ship monk, etc.) that might be with considering for “surge” shipping events like this - especially if the manufacturer is going to help offset some of the cost.

All that being said I’m still happy I chose these switches for my new construction house (looks like I might have to use some dumb switches in the interim though :frowning: ). The open development process and transparency throughout has me cheering for you.

I hope there was tracking done on who got the impacted units. I just checked my 60 and all are in the mentioned 2 sets of numbers. Hopefully the replacements get here before my electrician needs to install them in our new house. December would thankfully still be right on schedule. Fingers crossed.
Thanks for transparency and quick update to this issue.

As always, massively appreciate your transparency and openness with what’s going on. Obviously the situation sucks, but cannot overstate my appreciation for the way you (and the manufacturer) are handling it and look forward to getting replacements sorted out too.

One thing I can already see preemptively, is if these are coming early/mid December though it’s also going to be peak holiday shipping craze, which means potential shipping delays too. Just something to keep in mind for everyone as well.

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Take that all you beta testers who said we just needed an extension cord or change our wifi channels!

JK :slight_smile: I appreciate the company finding root cause and being transparent throughout.

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