Can someone confirm bulbs paired to IKEA " steering devices" can't be used at the same time or controlled from other hubs?

Add-ons Bindings
1

I am testing the following IKEA Tradfri switches :

  1. Trådfri Remote Control - round control with dimmer, on/off switch and scene switcher
  2. Trådfri Wireless ON/OFF dimmer - small square on/off switch which also acts as dimmer
  3. Trådfri round Wireless Dimmer - a small round wireless dimmer-only button

In my tests when I pair such switch to a bulb or driver, the bulb or driver can’t be controlled by other
devices (hubs or rPI + USB).

Some of those switches, however, can still be detected and paired rPi+USB (Zigbee stand-alone connection), not a hub, and their properties can be used to control othe devices, trigger events, etc.

I haven’t tried connecting to the 3rd device (round small dimmer) yet.

Can someone comment on the above and confirm or add any other useful information ? Thanks in advance!

2
3 Likes
3

That would make sense. I am assuming this means you can either:

  • pair a control + bulb easily while loosing access to it from any app
    or
  • pair both to a Zigbee controller and use its brand apps (Tradfri / Hue) and the corresponding binding in openHAB to configure them if you also want automation from OH

Right ?

4

In my experience the Tradfri process is fickle…you can pair the remote with the hub and then the remote with the bulb, which will allow you to control the bulb via the remote AND the hub (and thus OH2 via the hub too). BUT, there appears a stability problem and I seemingly lost the pairing between the remote and the hub, which resulted in my having paired the remote twice (and now seemingly considered as two different remotes by the hub).

In my experience, TRADFRI is super fickle compared to Hue…guess you get what you pay for…

5

Just to be clear (since my comment on this was referenced above), there are two different issues here…

A device can only join one network - so the answer to the original question is "no - a bulb or driver can’t be controlled by other devices (hubs or rPi + USB).

When a device joins a network, it will need to be reset, so it leaves the old network (or at least it forgets about it).

What you’re talking about is something different - it’s the ability of multiple controllers, that are all within the same network, to control the device and this is certainly possible.

1 Like
6

Yes you are correct zigbee only allows for devices to be part of one network. The network is dictated by the master device whic could be an ikea bridge or usb zigbee stick.

I have my tradfri remote paired to my bulb and my deconz stick. When deconz is not running the remote can still control the bulb. This is the same function I had when I was paired to the tradfri bridge.

What you can’t do is pair to deconz and tradfri bridge at the same time.