Fantastic guide on how to do all this and the use case. You can do the same thing flashing ESPhome onto a SMlight POE. They cost a bit more but are ready made, have a large antennae, are cased already and can be flashed without an additional board.
@@digiblurDIY The SMlight SLBZ-06 Travis. I bought one of those after following yr awesome vid on them and found out how to do it from there. You can load different firmware onto them. They really are the "Swiss army" of POE devices! They can be flashed straight from the SMlight web interface, You lose that afterwards of course but they then appear in ESPHome as simple POE Esp32 BT proxies. 🥰
@wapphigh5250 oh. The antenna is for the Zigbee chipset only. I did think of that but I do prefer my BT proxy to just be a BT proxy without zigbee mixed in.
Any random flashing tool will work just great with the lilygo, no need to buy their specific flasher. Even an arduino can be used to flash other devices :) Source: I bought the lilygo thing, didn't notice I needed the flashing thing and used one of my random ftdi flashing devices instead.
Speaking as a controls and automation engineer with 33 years experience, I have been awaiting the POE since I got involved with this stuff earlier this year. I wish that Pi and others would follow suit.
Good useful details on the olimex vs lilygo boards. I've been running some olimex boards for a while without issue but seeing them side by side was really useful to me. Thank you!
@@digiblurDIY Reminds me of the UDM... I got that soon after the initial release but that was nothing but trouble for the first 1-2 years. Thanks for the advise! I'm not in a hurry so I'll just wait for a while.
I live 3 blocks away from a massive Amazon warehouse. 90% of their delivery vehicles are Rivian Vans which are run by Bluetooth. My BT traffic is horrible because of this.
Love to see an alternative, do I really need to use their specific programming board? I'd hate to get the add on only to use it once. Unless I can think of more places to use this . . .hmm
Yeah don't touch the U7 Pro Max. It's a mess for any 2.4ghz stuff right now. U7 Pro is kind of okay if you stay on 7.0.59. U6E and Pros are great APs still for all things. I almost bought more U7 gear for a family member but I'm sticking to U6 Pros browse here and you'll see - community.ui.com/releases/UniFi-Access-Point-7-0-69/41968125-430f-4bf4-8ee7-4009c94e2a5d?page=1
Super happy with my decision to go U6 Pro and avoid the usual Ubiquiti early problem stuff they always have. Also in the U6 lineup, only the pro has the Qualcomm chipset which consistently outperforms the chipset they switched to for the Lite and most of the other U6 lineup. I think the U6 Pro is the sweet spot for the UniFi APs right now. Side note: I also tried to add a U6 Extender for the only “mesh” connected device in a garage. It ran waaaaay too hot at 141F on the front of the device in an 80F ambient. Which says nothing good about the rear where the real heat load is. Noped right out of that and grabbed another U6 Pro.
3:55 'cut down all that traffic on the 2.4GHz'. It's a nice device you use there as a proxy! But surprise, Bluetooth users the same 2.4GHz band as Wifi 2.4😉
@@digiblurDIY exactly, you're essentially rebroadcasting the same packets over a different transport, over the same radio bands. Hardwiring is always the way to go if possible 😁
Weird. I just built a new smart home with about 100 2.4 WiFi devices and a UniFi U7 Pro. I created a 2.4Ghz only SSID and have over 60 Govee, LG, Miele, Epson, Reolink, Switchbot, and more devices connected so far. I've only had an issue with one Chinese manufacturer and their lights not connecting to this SSID so i had to create a second 2.4Ghz SSID with a little less security and it connected right up. I've had to reboot the AP for that same lights twice as it lost connection. But no other devices have issues.
Oh devices will connect, it is stay working is the issue. Count yourself lucky. 7.0.59 is mostly fine on the U7 Pro. Later firmwares are a mess. Things will drop off and get blocked all the time. The Ubiquiti releases threads are full of the same 2.4ghz issues. The U7 Pro Max...woah... that's a total mess no matter what version. community.ui.com/releases/UniFi-Access-Point-7-0-69/41968125-430f-4bf4-8ee7-4009c94e2a5d?page=1
Speaking of Bluetooth proxies. Over the weekend I switched from a spare i7-10700K PC (that has BT on the motherboard) running Home Assistant to the Home Assistant Green, which has no BT transceiver. The swap was simple enough. I installed the backup and everything worked fine, which was odd because HA Green has no BT wireless unit. I have a dozen ThermoPro BT temp/humidity sensors on the property, all showing correct readings. How the heck were they still being read by HA? Then I remember I had ONE Shelly device in the shop I was using to control some 12-volt fans. They'll act like a BT proxy if set up correctly, and the built-in proxy function was "active." Mystery solved. The moral to this terribly written story is that if you have some Shelly devices in your setup, you might not need to add a dedicated proxy.
Yup. The all the Gen3 stuff on Shelly has the BT proxy option on stock firmware, covered that in my BT video for the easy folks that just wanted to grab a plug and go. It is Wi-Fi though. And wait.. switched to the Green from an i7? Ouch.
@@digiblurDIY Ya. Compiling ESPHome stuff on the i7 was pretty fast. On this HA Green...not so much. 😄 But everything else seems to be fine. I like that it's small and uses very little power but my "crystal ball" tells me the slow compiling time is going to irritate me very soon.
@phillipzx3754 that's why I recommend the little N95/N100 boxes over those. Unless you just have a massive need for the 1-2watt usage with 12vdc like an RV, boat or some off grid system.
Hey Digi, yup that worked. Right now, both my U7 Pro TX retries are back to green after downgrading. Shame on Ubiquiti for releasing a firmware without even seeing or testing this. TY again boss.
I have seen a few ESP32 Lora devices from Lilygo, would it be possible to use these as a RF beacon, similar to RF-link modules based on a atmega 2580. If it is would love to get one to use with a Ducobox [home ventlation, that uses the 868 band for their controllers] there are modules that plug into the box, but I can't really add these to the one I have
@@digiblurDIY Indeed, and most are more used for a ESP32 based radio-receiver, I don't even know if they can transmit data though the only exception would be the M5stack cardputer. which has a 433mhz antenna for a small chat app it has. ordered one to see if I can use it as a multi-in-1 remote. for about 30$ its a killer device in terms of what you can do with it
@@digiblurDIY Nope I tried switching back to the U6Es then to U6Pro's I had and none of my Kauf blubs, or Apollo Automation presence sensors would stay connect for mor the 32 hours. Luckly, I work for a Cisco partner and was able to replace all the junk UI stuff with Cisco equipment. No issues in weeks now.
@maverickmaker interesting. First I heard of the U6E dropping them. I have two of them with 100+ devices without issue. I was hoping the U7 would follow but it has been a disaster so I pulled them. Ubiquiti tech support is lost and the threads have even quiet on the responses. I am guessing a 2.4ghz hardware issue. I have thought about just going with something else for 2.4ghz only but Cisco is a little out of the budget. That's a dream!
@@digiblurDIY I am thinks it was a whole system issue not just the APs. I made the move to replace the whole system after Ubiquiti support told me they do not support IOT devices, and it was my issue not theirs.
You had me when you said, "No power plugs, just POE". Thanks
Indeed! My requirement for the swap to keep it simple. Oh and don't get smoking hot!
Fantastic guide on how to do all this and the use case. You can do the same thing flashing ESPhome onto a SMlight POE. They cost a bit more but are ready made, have a large antennae, are cased already and can be flashed without an additional board.
Which SMlight? Those are Zigbee
@@digiblurDIY The SMlight SLBZ-06 Travis. I bought one of those after following yr awesome vid on them and found out how to do it from there. You can load different firmware onto them. They really are the "Swiss army" of POE devices! They can be flashed straight from the SMlight web interface, You lose that afterwards of course but they then appear in ESPHome as simple POE Esp32 BT proxies. 🥰
@wapphigh5250 oh. The antenna is for the Zigbee chipset only. I did think of that but I do prefer my BT proxy to just be a BT proxy without zigbee mixed in.
@@wapphigh5250 "They can be flashed straight from the SMlight web interface, You lose that afterwards "
Is it possible to revert back, just in case?
@@flexibly77yes. But not via the GUI. Details in the manual.
Another great video, you are my favourite Home Assistant RUclipsr!
That's very kind of you to say.
@@digiblurDIY You deserve it mate, always honest unscripted and super funny
Any random flashing tool will work just great with the lilygo, no need to buy their specific flasher. Even an arduino can be used to flash other devices :)
Source: I bought the lilygo thing, didn't notice I needed the flashing thing and used one of my random ftdi flashing devices instead.
That is correct. USB TTLs work fine, but it is easier with their little board as it has the pins lined up and done for you.
Speaking as a controls and automation engineer with 33 years experience, I have been awaiting the POE since I got involved with this stuff earlier this year. I wish that Pi and others would follow suit.
There are official POE HATs for the Raspberry Pi 3 and 4, and also several after market POE HATS.
Good useful details on the olimex vs lilygo boards. I've been running some olimex boards for a while without issue but seeing them side by side was really useful to me.
Thank you!
I was pretty surprised as well when I threw the thermal camera on them. Made sense after comparing the POE wattage too.
Thanks for the heads up with the unifi stuff... I was pondering an upgrade of my network
If you want WiFi 7, hold out a bit or go to something else. The U6 Pro and Enterprise are still great APs.
@@digiblurDIY Reminds me of the UDM... I got that soon after the initial release but that was nothing but trouble for the first 1-2 years. Thanks for the advise! I'm not in a hurry so I'll just wait for a while.
Ahhh... Yes. The pill. Lots of hype and so many issues.
I live 3 blocks away from a massive Amazon warehouse. 90% of their delivery vehicles are Rivian Vans which are run by Bluetooth. My BT traffic is horrible because of this.
Those vans do look pretty cool. Only seen videos of them. They use fleet Fluid vans here
What type of pool do you have at 1:41
Just a 4-5 ft above ground set in the ground a foot or so
@@digiblurDIY sorry, i meant to ask about the pool light
Same problem with Olimex esp32 poe, one is burned out for no reason.
It is funny, I got 2 of these 3 weeks ago for this exact reason
I was blown away with all the traffic on the proxies... started chopping and thinning things out. Definitely benefited the spectrum usage.
shoot, just ordered the olimex. hopefully I don't burn the house down 😬
Love to see an alternative, do I really need to use their specific programming board?
I'd hate to get the add on only to use it once.
Unless I can think of more places to use this . . .hmm
Personally, I use the Gl.inet Bluetooth gateway and reflashed it with ESPHome. It just works and accepts PoE for power and data.
ooo...interesting, I see it has POE now. I could have sworn the initial ones didn't have that and had all the locking up issues.
You can use a regular TTL too, their board just makes it easy. I do wish they include the CH340 on board and called it done.
@@digiblurDIY yeah, I recall there being issues with it locking up like so, but I've never encountered it on my unit, and PoE works like a charm.
Snagged one to try. Glad to hear it was fixed!
Dawm thwy don't deliver the lillygo to the Netherlands 😢
Do you got a adress that does ship them?
All balls, was about to upgrade my Asus router with unifi U7pro max...... Should i get a 6 pro to deal with 2.4ghz for the moment?
Yeah don't touch the U7 Pro Max. It's a mess for any 2.4ghz stuff right now. U7 Pro is kind of okay if you stay on 7.0.59. U6E and Pros are great APs still for all things. I almost bought more U7 gear for a family member but I'm sticking to U6 Pros browse here and you'll see - community.ui.com/releases/UniFi-Access-Point-7-0-69/41968125-430f-4bf4-8ee7-4009c94e2a5d?page=1
@@digiblurDIYI have already got the U7 PM, I guess there is no harm trying to pick up a U6pro or LR and have that deal with it.... Thank you
Don't do the U6-LR. That's Mediatek and has some issues too. U6 Pro is fine.
@@digiblurDIY will try an pick up a second hand unit. Thanks for the heads up
Super happy with my decision to go U6 Pro and avoid the usual Ubiquiti early problem stuff they always have.
Also in the U6 lineup, only the pro has the Qualcomm chipset which consistently outperforms the chipset they switched to for the Lite and most of the other U6 lineup.
I think the U6 Pro is the sweet spot for the UniFi APs right now.
Side note: I also tried to add a U6 Extender for the only “mesh” connected device in a garage. It ran waaaaay too hot at 141F on the front of the device in an 80F ambient. Which says nothing good about the rear where the real heat load is. Noped right out of that and grabbed another U6 Pro.
3:55 'cut down all that traffic on the 2.4GHz'. It's a nice device you use there as a proxy! But surprise, Bluetooth users the same 2.4GHz band as Wifi 2.4😉
That's what I said.
There would still be less 2.4GHz interference after switching to Ethernet for data, though.
Correct. No doubling or even quadrupling the data depending on the proxy coverage. We aren't getting rid of Bluetooth anytime soon
@@digiblurDIY exactly, you're essentially rebroadcasting the same packets over a different transport, over the same radio bands. Hardwiring is always the way to go if possible 😁
Politically correct disclaimer 😂😅
Weird. I just built a new smart home with about 100 2.4 WiFi devices and a UniFi U7 Pro. I created a 2.4Ghz only SSID and have over 60 Govee, LG, Miele, Epson, Reolink, Switchbot, and more devices connected so far. I've only had an issue with one Chinese manufacturer and their lights not connecting to this SSID so i had to create a second 2.4Ghz SSID with a little less security and it connected right up. I've had to reboot the AP for that same lights twice as it lost connection. But no other devices have issues.
Oh devices will connect, it is stay working is the issue. Count yourself lucky. 7.0.59 is mostly fine on the U7 Pro. Later firmwares are a mess. Things will drop off and get blocked all the time. The Ubiquiti releases threads are full of the same 2.4ghz issues. The U7 Pro Max...woah... that's a total mess no matter what version. community.ui.com/releases/UniFi-Access-Point-7-0-69/41968125-430f-4bf4-8ee7-4009c94e2a5d?page=1
Speaking of Bluetooth proxies. Over the weekend I switched from a spare i7-10700K PC (that has BT on the motherboard) running Home Assistant to the Home Assistant Green, which has no BT transceiver. The swap was simple enough. I installed the backup and everything worked fine, which was odd because HA Green has no BT wireless unit. I have a dozen ThermoPro BT temp/humidity sensors on the property, all showing correct readings. How the heck were they still being read by HA?
Then I remember I had ONE Shelly device in the shop I was using to control some 12-volt fans. They'll act like a BT proxy if set up correctly, and the built-in proxy function was "active." Mystery solved. The moral to this terribly written story is that if you have some Shelly devices in your setup, you might not need to add a dedicated proxy.
Yup. The all the Gen3 stuff on Shelly has the BT proxy option on stock firmware, covered that in my BT video for the easy folks that just wanted to grab a plug and go. It is Wi-Fi though. And wait.. switched to the Green from an i7? Ouch.
@@digiblurDIY Ya. Compiling ESPHome stuff on the i7 was pretty fast. On this HA Green...not so much. 😄 But everything else seems to be fine. I like that it's small and uses very little power but my "crystal ball" tells me the slow compiling time is going to irritate me very soon.
@phillipzx3754 that's why I recommend the little N95/N100 boxes over those. Unless you just have a massive need for the 1-2watt usage with 12vdc like an RV, boat or some off grid system.
Wow, I just checked my U7 Pros and TX Retries are solid yellows. SMH. I'll try to downgrade the firmware and hope it helps. Thank you for the heads up
7.0.59 is the last good one for the U7PRO for me.
@@digiblurDIY downgrading now, Ill let you know how it goes
Hey Digi, yup that worked. Right now, both my U7 Pro TX retries are back to green after downgrading. Shame on Ubiquiti for releasing a firmware without even seeing or testing this. TY again boss.
I have seen a few ESP32 Lora devices from Lilygo, would it be possible to use these as a RF beacon, similar to RF-link modules based on a atmega 2580.
If it is would love to get one to use with a Ducobox [home ventlation, that uses the 868 band for their controllers]
there are modules that plug into the box, but I can't really add these to the one I have
Haven't jumped into that myself given the small number of sensors.
@@digiblurDIY Indeed, and most are more used for a ESP32 based radio-receiver, I don't even know if they can transmit data
though the only exception would be the M5stack cardputer. which has a 433mhz antenna for a small chat app it has.
ordered one to see if I can use it as a multi-in-1 remote.
for about 30$ its a killer device in terms of what you can do with it
In theory can a Bluetooth enabled UniFi access point serve as a Bluetooth proxy?
I doubt they will ever expose that or even allow code to run that mocks up esphome.
Dont buy stuff whit *Pro Max* 😄👍
Dudeeeeeee it's bad.
No ESP device works with the U6s or U7s. Ubiquiti makes junk, I had to by Cisco APs to make my ESPHome Bulbs and presence sensors work.
The U6E and Pros are fine so far.
@@digiblurDIY Nope I tried switching back to the U6Es then to U6Pro's I had and none of my Kauf blubs, or Apollo Automation presence sensors would stay connect for mor the 32 hours. Luckly, I work for a Cisco partner and was able to replace all the junk UI stuff with Cisco equipment. No issues in weeks now.
@maverickmaker interesting. First I heard of the U6E dropping them. I have two of them with 100+ devices without issue. I was hoping the U7 would follow but it has been a disaster so I pulled them.
Ubiquiti tech support is lost and the threads have even quiet on the responses. I am guessing a 2.4ghz hardware issue. I have thought about just going with something else for 2.4ghz only but Cisco is a little out of the budget. That's a dream!
@@digiblurDIY I am thinks it was a whole system issue not just the APs. I made the move to replace the whole system after Ubiquiti support told me they do not support IOT devices, and it was my issue not theirs.
Crap. I bought a unifi system last week with a U7 pro AP. Was planning on installing this week. 😢
Trust me...stick to 7.0.59 firmware on the AP if you have 2.4ghz smart home devices.
@@digiblurDIY over 50+. So it won't auto update when I hook it up?
@tritontr21 it might when it adopts but you can push 7.0.59 manually
@@digiblurDIY ok. Thank you for the info. New to Unifi and HA. Your vids have been super educational.