Your Zigbee coordinator is paired. Here is what comes next
Now for the devices. Here’s how to add one, where it ends up and what we keep an eye on for you.
A sensor that fails does not tell you so
It simply stops measuring. That is the tricky part of Zigbee.
You put up a sensor, you see lines on your screen, and you stop thinking about it. Until one day no new line appears. Usually you only notice when you need the figures, and by then you have lost a week.
A coin cell lasts about a year, and then it stops. Without warning.
Your devices relay each other’s signals. Switch one off and others lose their route.
It looks for a new route and sometimes does not find one. Then it goes quiet too.
That is why we keep count. For every device we keep track of how often it reports in. One reports every fifteen minutes, another once an hour. If it stays quiet for longer than usual, you get an alert. We also tell you what is probably going on, so you do not replace the wrong sensor.
Four things, in this order
From your first click to the moment we can make sense of silence.
Window open, device signing in
You open the pairing window for two minutes and press the button on your device.
The device is waiting for you
It waits in a holding area and does nothing yet. No measurements, nothing on your dashboard.
You say yes
You add it, give it a name and tick the box for what you want to see.
We learn its rhythm
We count how often this device reports in. After that we know when silence means something.
Adding your first Zigbee device
Three steps. The animation walks through them exactly as they appear in FairGrow.
1. Open the pairing window
2. Your device signs in
3. You say yes
No coordinator paired yet? Then start there. The pairing page explains how to install the bridge and where to get your pairing code. You enter that code once, and from then on your coordinator is linked to FairGrow and everything on this page works.
What is on the card
Before you click Add, you see what you are letting in.
What the device says about itself
Requested the moment it signed in.
- Make and model
- What it can measure
- Whether it runs on mains power and can relay for other devices
- Signal and battery level
What we add to that
From our own library of devices.
- The model, looked up among 8,413 others
- What you can expect from this make
- Whether your coordinator’s firmware is known to be awkward
- Which measurements you will get from this device
If we do not know the device, we simply say so. You can still add it. We would rather put unknown on the card than a make we are not sure about.
Where your device ends up
Tick a box and that measurement appears on your chart.
First watch, then report
Every device has its own rhythm, and we need to learn it first.
A soil sensor reports every fifteen minutes. A door contact only when the door opens. If we used the same limit for both, one would beep every night and the other would stay silent even when it really is broken.
So we look at each device separately. Movement, presence, a door or a leak do not count towards that: those are events, not a rhythm. A motion detector that sees nothing at night is simply a motion detector in an empty greenhouse.
What we watch for you
A silent sensor is not always a broken sensor. We show you the difference.
Then all your devices seem to have vanished, when in fact only the program on your own computer has stopped. We report just that one thing.
Half or more of your devices go quiet at the same moment. That points to a common cause, and we look for it for you.
Your coordinator reports this itself, so we do not have to guess.
Your sensor is silent, and so is the device it relayed through. So the problem is not your sensor.
It reports in less often than usual. Often that is the battery.
One day it routes through this device, the next through that one. Sometimes it is finding a shorter route, sometimes it has lost its way. We tell you which.
The device still reports in, but only just. This is the message you want before one of the other six arrives.
A message only goes away when the problem does. You can dismiss it, but at the next check it comes back for as long as the sensor stays quiet. Otherwise your screen would look calm while your greenhouse is not. Once the device works again, the message disappears by itself.
One more device
Each additional device works exactly the same way. Two tips make all the difference.
Start with the devices on mains power
- Plug sockets, lamps and switches relay the signal for other devices
- Install those first and your battery sensors have a short route straight away
- Do it the other way round and the sensor is on its own, so it drops out first
Then look at the map
- From your coordinator, request a scan of your network
- You see every device, every connection and how strong it is
- A device with only one way out is easy to spot
A scan ties up your network for a while, so we only run one when you ask. We do keep older scans, so you can see a connection slowly getting worse, not just how things stand today.
Send us your log
Then we do not have to guess what happened at your end.
Next to every coordinator there is a Send log button. It sends us your files and puts our own record of that same attempt beside them. Passwords and codes are stripped out right away, before anything is stored.
If the pairing does not work at all, there is no coordinator on your screen yet and so no button either. That is why the same option is also available below the list. Your bridge shows a short code in the form FG-XXXXXX. Send us that code and we can see exactly which attempt went wrong.
Not sure whether your hardware works with us? Have a look at the compatibility page. If you want to know how to connect a coordinator, read Connecting your own Zigbee coordinator. If you get stuck, ask us.
What people ask us
My device is not on my dashboard, what now?
First check whether it is still waiting for you. Next to your coordinator you’ll see an orange badge with a number in it. If the device is listed but you see no line, the box for that measurement is still unticked. The device is measuring, you just cannot see it.
How long does the pairing window stay open?
Two minutes, and you can see the button counting down. If it does not work the first time, click again. We deliberately do not leave the window open: any device nearby could then sign in, including one that is not yours.
Why does FairGrow not approve my device automatically?
Because your network cannot tell who placed a device. So everything that signs in waits in a holding area first: it measures nothing and appears nowhere. You see what it is, and you decide. Refuse it and it is removed from your network and we block its address.
Why do I get no message on the first day if a device goes quiet?
Because we do not yet know what is normal for that device. First we count how often it reports in. Only after about a day do we know enough. While we are still learning, we say so, so you know how much weight to give our message.
My sensor is quiet, is it broken?
Not always. If the device it relayed through has gone quiet too, the problem lies there, not with your sensor. We check for that and tell you. So do not rush to replace a sensor that is probably fine.
Can I remove a device again?
Yes. You can remove a device from your network, and if you refuse it we block its address so it cannot sign in again. Your coordinator stays yours: you can also detach it from FairGrow entirely. We stop receiving the measurements, and your own setup keeps running.
Do I have to do this for every device separately?
Yes, and it takes about half a minute per device. It is also the only moment anyone sees exactly what is being added. Install the mains-powered devices first, so your battery sensors have a short route right away.
Add your first device
A two-minute window, one click on Add, and your device starts measuring.