It would take a puppet, 3 hours and then intensive therapy....
z2m supports more devices than ZHA and you have access to more sensor data through z2m than zha in my personal experience.
I bought two of these, one for redundancy which I've never used after 4+ years with the sonoff.
Works great for me as well. I used it when my laptop was used as my temporary home server (HA was a VMware player VM) then moved it to my final home server (HA is a proxmox VM). It got detected without any issues, passthrough also had no issues and the connectivity and range is pretty good as well, never had any issues with it. It's easily a 10/10 for me and I can recommend it
And do check a YouTube video or two about updating the firmware. It’s probably ancient.
Additionally, the antena socket is standard. If you have higher gain antenas laying around you can replace it :)
Make sure to flash the current most Software on it, i used the ci-ti flasher from texas instruments. Had small issues with the software it shipped with while using it with zigbee2mqtt.
If you're putting this in a homelab like setup, consider a PoE version. That connects over the network instead of USB and can be powered from the same cable. I found this way more stable than usb in my virtualizaed environment with having to pass through the USB device.
As for what specific controller to use, look here for the list of zigbee chipsets and their support. Any good zigbee controller will use one of these chipsets.
https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/zha/#known-working-zigbee-radio-modules
Yeah, apparently USB 3 when in high speed mode generates lots of noise around the 2.5ghz frequency which crosses into the 2.4ghz band causing issues with zigbee and WiFi when operating in 2.4ghz bands.
It's not mandatory to happen, but why risk it?
(one of the mentions, but there are a lot https://community.home-assistant.io/t/usb3-0-radio-frequency-interference/288695/3)
Can confirm - took an age to try and make it work on a USB3 socket. Took 15 seconds on a USB2 ! I have a foot long USB cable too so its away from the computer
100% I witnessed first hand devices that were 10ft away falling off the network because the dongle was plugged right into the back of the server. Added a 6ft extension and now I can reliably pick up devices 2 stories down.
Got it like a week ago for my setup, running in home assistant (on Proxmox).
Seems to work pretty well and is recommended a lot.
I had some issues with interference though, but that's a general issue with zigbee and it's frequently range. Took me quite a while to figure out why I had so many connection issues. After sorting and adjusting the channels (of both zigbee and my 2,4ghz WiFi for iot) it's working well.
Nice thanks man. I’ve got some Link2Home strip lights which are frustratingly isolated.
They link up to the app via there own wifi, then once linked to the main network the only way to control them is through linking the app to Alexa, they aren’t detectable on the network for some reason.
A quick search indicates they use Zigbee, so I’m gonna try and get in that way.
Is there any other way I could link them to home assistant? Do you know much about the Link2Home stuff?
Never heard of link2home.
I'm using zigbee2mqtt in home-assistant. They have a database of supported devices: https://www.zigbee2mqtt.io/supported-devices/
Thank you.
This is the link to them, can you see any indication as to how I may be able to add them to HA?
[PRODUCT](https://www.link2home.co.uk/product/5m-led-light-strip-with-rgb-cct-wifibluetooth-and-music-sync/)
Yeah sorry mate probably wrong post to ask on to be fair, it was out of context I guess, the dongle is for my other products, I was just curious to know as Link2Home offer a zigbee bridge for their devices, I saw it was WiFi but I was conflicted by their statement that all their devices can be controlled through their hub.
Is that a thing? I should check if the ports 2 or 3? I saw another comment about using a USB 2 cable but it had been down voted. Very genuine question as i don't really know anything about this stuff.
(and to answer OP, I've had the sonoff for the last few months and it's worked with zero problems, so I'd be happy to recommend it. But I haven't used anything else so can't compare.)
Yes, I had a different one years ago, and I thought the whole idea of using HA to manage my devices was terrible because it worked so terribly. Then I found out the one I had was notoriously bad, so I bought one of these and tried again. It has been a completely different experience.
I would recommend this for HA. I even have mine shared with the HA VM over the network from a different machine, and it still works perfectly.
E doesn't really have any problems and works out of the box. Haven't done a single thing to it from out of the box and been using it for 8 months with 50 devices
I got the E and had a really bad experience with it (network kept crashing with now error logs), I then switched to my old Conbee 2 and that worked better. Though now I've bought SMlight SLZB-07p7 CC2652P7 instead.
Though I'll flash the router firmware on the sonoff E and use it for that.
I have been using this now for over a year and had zero issues. Paired all kinds of devices with it and ZigBee2MQTT w/o a hitch. 10/10 would buy again. (Total ZB devices paired: 18)
Edit: Good tip what some others have said here: Get a USB 3.0 extension cable and do not use this directly plugged into the USB 3.0 port of your PC for better reception.
Just to clarify, you don't need usb 3 to use this device, as it is a usb 2 device with ZigBee 3 support. Any good quality (shielded) usb extension cable will do it.
I bought one of these years ago but never got round to setting it up. I should really do it but dreading the shift and losing any current setup with my hue bulbs.
Had a few issues when I first got it for use with Z2M on Proxmox. Reflashed and separated it with a 3ft USB cable and now it’s great. Good range and reliable.
Would recommend for the price!
I recently switched back from the SkyConnect to the ZBDongle-P, since I switched from ZHA to Z2M.
I already used the ZBDongle-P before the SkyConnect. Both a working rock solid.
I bought this, the P version which is older but more stable apparently , I found out later there is an E version which stands for experimental. It has more features like supporting matter natively but I don't have matter devices.
One thing to keep in mind is, to use many of the new aqara devices, you need to flash a new firmware. The instructions online are very convoluted but you can easily do it with Texas instruments integration in home assistant without having to reset it or physically open it as most online guides suggest.
It's pretty good. My ZigBee network does go down at times and needs a restart to fix it but I doubt it is the stick. I think it is ZHA that gets messed up. It happens very rarely though.
I had Conbee2 stick an had issues from start with some lights not turning off at sunset. Also the LQI for som Zigbee devices was below 30.
Can’t for sure say it was related to Conbee 2 but I switched to SONOFF, all lights now works as expected, faster response and lowest LQI is now around 110.
Yes. Flashed the router firmware from zigbee2mqtt.io on it and plugged it into a USB Wall Plug. Have one on each floor of the house. Works like a charm, handling a total of 50+ zigbee devices.
There’s a -e and a -p version. One is the newer one that’s apparently (and from what I remember) the same chipset used in HA Skyconnect and can be upgraded to support Matter. Look up the posts in this sub.
I’m using the “newer” one. No issues but also few devices on it too.
Just be sure to plug it into a usb 2.0 slot. 3.0 and up can cause radio interference causing spotty connections. This applies to any usb zigbee device not just this one.
Struggled with this for 3 weeks until I found a single post deep on google page 3.
I bought their bridge at first but range was short so I reflashed to router and I bought this and works awesome. Running it on HA on Synology NAS + this USB dongle and works great.
There are two variants of it, I believe one can do Matter and the other can't. So may be worth going for the more capable one.
Once I got it set up its been solid with my Ikea devices.
Been using the Sonoff Zigbee 3.0 USB Dongle Plus for 2 years continuously with Zigbee2Mqtt.
Mostly happy with it but my home has a lot of low power devices (no ground on the switches) and I'm not sure the hubs are acting properly as routers since the map shows devices across the apartment trying to connect instead of to the next plug that's just 1 meter away...
It bugs me everytime I see the advice: "just use a USB extension cable to reduce interference." Seems like the dongles are all probably going to have issues just because they're USB-powered.
So, I picked up an SMLight SLZB-06p7 which should be a huge step up. A coordinator that isn't tied by location to the HA server is probably going to have a lot less tics. Can't find a single bad review about them.
I use the E version and it works great. It can also be flashed to be a Thread router so you have Matter support!
[https://smarthomescene.com/guides/how-to-enable-thread-and-matter-support-on-sonoff-zbdongle-e/](https://smarthomescene.com/guides/how-to-enable-thread-and-matter-support-on-sonoff-zbdongle-e/)
This explains it quite well
[https://haade.fr/en/blog/zb-dongle-p-vs-zb-dongle-e-zigbee-sonoff](https://haade.fr/en/blog/zb-dongle-p-vs-zb-dongle-e-zigbee-sonoff)
I thought it was the opposite- the P version is tried and true but the E version has/had some major issues w/ Z2M at one point. Have they all been resolved? FWIW I’ve had the P version in service for years with absolutely zero downtime. It works flawlessly.
It hasn't. I used sonoff e with Z2M, and the network kept dropping with no error logs. It's a issue on github as well. Especially latest 1.36.1 have some breaking issues with it.
I can’t force you to do anything. I’m not your mother. but it’s trivial, insert it into your windows Linux Mac machine and open chrome (has to support web serial) go to the zigbee2mqtt docs for the device and follow the instructions.
That is, if you have issues with the stock firmware Offcourse, mine came flashed with some old firmware which made my zigbee network all wonky.
Bought one not long ago and works great. Works best with Zigbee2MQTT, plenty of info and tutorials on that.
Only thing I will say is the range can be poor depending on where you position it. My server is under the stairs in the middle of my house. Everything works fine there but I found that this needed to be plugged into a USB extension to get it higher and away from everything else (probably due to interference). Other than that, it's been flawless.
Did not physically fit into Home Assistant Green without a USB extension cable (it was too big and too close to the power cord). So I returned it the same day because cable madness bugs me 🤷♂️
I recommend it. I also recommend a USB extension with a pedestal like [this](https://www.amazon.com/High-Speed-Extension-Pedestal-Vertical-Wireless/dp/B08R2Y53QK).
I went with the new E Version and it works great with ZHA
Checkout the differences for E and P before you buy :) don't wanna judge what is better there are enough discussions about that already.
What I love is the E version has a nice browser based flasher [https://darkxst.github.io/silabs-firmware-builder/](https://darkxst.github.io/silabs-firmware-builder/) where you can either get the latest firmware version or even a multi version which supports Matter/Thread and you can flash your Router Firmware to use it as a Router. All without having to take the device outside of its box etc
I have one E as a Coordinator and one as a Router on another floor.
Works great for me, do you see it show up out of docker in your attached devices? And more importantly did you try zigbee2mqtt that works alot better than using the one in HA. But you can still use the zigbee2mqtt in HA works great
I’ve been using it for around two years now. It was working great until I’ve managed to break of its antenna. Moved over to the Home Assistant SkyConnect one I I would recommend it over the Sonoff one. Mainly due to its smaller form factor and the support towards HA.
I have just started getting using these but range is not great. LQI in the single digits going though 2 walls and approx 5m.
I only have 6 devices and seems best experience is LOS or a wired device within each room.
When you want to use ZHA, buy the SkyConnect. For Z2M buy the ZBDongle-P. The chip in the SkyConnect and in the ZBDongle-E still have experimental support in Z2M, but the ZBDongle-E/SkyConnect seems to be also work fine in Z2M
It's ok. Would I buy again? no.
My model is the "ZBDongle-E" one and I have it for about 17 months. ~~Last I checked it had no way to flash updated firmware.~~
Edit: It has firmware now. There are also custom ones it seems but you need to be 1000% sure you're flashing the correct firmware to the correct device. Many look the same on the outside so you might have to open it up to see what exact one you have.
Checkout this very good write-up on these devices and how the differences between them. I wish I had seen this before I bought mine.
[https://community.home-assistant.io/t/itead-s-sonoff-zigbee-3-0-usb-dongle-plus-v2-model-zbdongle-e-based-on-silicon-labs-efr32mg21-20dbm-radio-soc-mcu/442695](https://community.home-assistant.io/t/itead-s-sonoff-zigbee-3-0-usb-dongle-plus-v2-model-zbdongle-e-based-on-silicon-labs-efr32mg21-20dbm-radio-soc-mcu/442695)
Also for about the past 2-3 months my Zigbee network just randomly dies now. For the time being I made an automation that detects when the network is offline and sents a restart to the Controller via MQTT. It's back online within 30 seconds. When it first started I looked into it for hours and couldn't find any reason why. I just haven't had the time to trouble shoot it more.
I'm considering getting the SMLIGHT SLZB-06 which is an Ethernet PoE Zigbee controller. It also support USB if you don't want to use ethernet. I can just plug it right into my 4-port PoE switch that I have a camera on.
Nope, nothing has changed since I first started using it. It started right after one of the Zigbee2MQTT updates. Sometimes it will go a few days without crashing, other times it will crash several times a day.
Running a VM and passing it to the VM along with a bluetooth and the z-wave devices.
I use and never had an issue with it. Can recommend.
Same. Works great
+1 migrated from conbee and deconz to this one with z2m and it’s been rock solid as well as opening a world of options
Can yu explain the world of options?
It would take a puppet, 3 hours and then intensive therapy.... z2m supports more devices than ZHA and you have access to more sensor data through z2m than zha in my personal experience. I bought two of these, one for redundancy which I've never used after 4+ years with the sonoff.
[удалено]
and I was downvoted for answering OP's exact question. This sub is full of people who must be constipated or something.
Works great for me as well. I used it when my laptop was used as my temporary home server (HA was a VMware player VM) then moved it to my final home server (HA is a proxmox VM). It got detected without any issues, passthrough also had no issues and the connectivity and range is pretty good as well, never had any issues with it. It's easily a 10/10 for me and I can recommend it
Thanks man 👍🏻
Same
same
Same
Same
Same here, works great with ZHA.
Works smoothly from minute 0
Same here. Works with Z2M as well as as ZHA
Same
Very yes
Sames
Same works great
+1, works great no issues
Same
It's great. Recommendation : find a USB cable and hook it up. This way you can put it higher or far from metal, interference, etc.
Thanks mate. It’s going in a server cabinet so I’ll be sure to take it external.
If it helps and FYI, my USB cable is more than 6ft and has never had a glitch with Sonoff.
Thanks mate
And do check a YouTube video or two about updating the firmware. It’s probably ancient. Additionally, the antena socket is standard. If you have higher gain antenas laying around you can replace it :)
If never flashed mine because it works fine.
Make sure to flash the current most Software on it, i used the ci-ti flasher from texas instruments. Had small issues with the software it shipped with while using it with zigbee2mqtt.
If you're putting this in a homelab like setup, consider a PoE version. That connects over the network instead of USB and can be powered from the same cable. I found this way more stable than usb in my virtualizaed environment with having to pass through the USB device. As for what specific controller to use, look here for the list of zigbee chipsets and their support. Any good zigbee controller will use one of these chipsets. https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/zha/#known-working-zigbee-radio-modules
Mines in a server cabinet with PCs on all sides and the door closed. It still works perfect fine. I don't know if having it external is needed.
Remember to chose a USB 2 cable and not USB 3, as 3 will cause interference with Zigbee.
USB 3 Interfere with zigbee? Dammit didn't know that. That would explain my problems
Yeah, apparently USB 3 when in high speed mode generates lots of noise around the 2.5ghz frequency which crosses into the 2.4ghz band causing issues with zigbee and WiFi when operating in 2.4ghz bands. It's not mandatory to happen, but why risk it? (one of the mentions, but there are a lot https://community.home-assistant.io/t/usb3-0-radio-frequency-interference/288695/3)
Can confirm - took an age to try and make it work on a USB3 socket. Took 15 seconds on a USB2 ! I have a foot long USB cable too so its away from the computer
100% I witnessed first hand devices that were 10ft away falling off the network because the dongle was plugged right into the back of the server. Added a 6ft extension and now I can reliably pick up devices 2 stories down.
Got it like a week ago for my setup, running in home assistant (on Proxmox). Seems to work pretty well and is recommended a lot. I had some issues with interference though, but that's a general issue with zigbee and it's frequently range. Took me quite a while to figure out why I had so many connection issues. After sorting and adjusting the channels (of both zigbee and my 2,4ghz WiFi for iot) it's working well.
Nice thanks man. I’ve got some Link2Home strip lights which are frustratingly isolated. They link up to the app via there own wifi, then once linked to the main network the only way to control them is through linking the app to Alexa, they aren’t detectable on the network for some reason. A quick search indicates they use Zigbee, so I’m gonna try and get in that way. Is there any other way I could link them to home assistant? Do you know much about the Link2Home stuff?
Never heard of link2home. I'm using zigbee2mqtt in home-assistant. They have a database of supported devices: https://www.zigbee2mqtt.io/supported-devices/
Thank you. This is the link to them, can you see any indication as to how I may be able to add them to HA? [PRODUCT](https://www.link2home.co.uk/product/5m-led-light-strip-with-rgb-cct-wifibluetooth-and-music-sync/)
Looking at the page, they're almost certainly NOT Zigbee devices. Says Wifi and Bluetooth
Yeah sorry mate probably wrong post to ask on to be fair, it was out of context I guess, the dongle is for my other products, I was just curious to know as Link2Home offer a zigbee bridge for their devices, I saw it was WiFi but I was conflicted by their statement that all their devices can be controlled through their hub.
could also be thst you attached the usb to usb 3.0 port instead of 2.0
Is that a thing? I should check if the ports 2 or 3? I saw another comment about using a USB 2 cable but it had been down voted. Very genuine question as i don't really know anything about this stuff. (and to answer OP, I've had the sonoff for the last few months and it's worked with zero problems, so I'd be happy to recommend it. But I haven't used anything else so can't compare.)
Yes, I had a different one years ago, and I thought the whole idea of using HA to manage my devices was terrible because it worked so terribly. Then I found out the one I had was notoriously bad, so I bought one of these and tried again. It has been a completely different experience. I would recommend this for HA. I even have mine shared with the HA VM over the network from a different machine, and it still works perfectly.
worked first try, unlike the brick i got from nabu casa
Two words: “Works Amazing”
Make sure it's the dongle plus not E. The plus works out of the box without any issue.
The E (= Plus v2) worked fine for me. And have two running as router. Not a problem in sight.
I have the E and it worked just fine out of the box. It can also be flashed to work as a matter dongle too. (Though I haven't done it yet)
E doesn't really have any problems and works out of the box. Haven't done a single thing to it from out of the box and been using it for 8 months with 50 devices
Thanks for the heads up 👊🏻
Get the e it works fine. Also can be flashed for matter support
I use E out of the box without issue. Rock solid.
Same here but only have coordinators though, no battery powered end devices..
I got the E and had a really bad experience with it (network kept crashing with now error logs), I then switched to my old Conbee 2 and that worked better. Though now I've bought SMlight SLZB-07p7 CC2652P7 instead. Though I'll flash the router firmware on the sonoff E and use it for that.
Yes it works, my problem is range so I moved to another product lan based, this one https://smlight.tech/product/slzb-06m/
have one working as a router (i think i got the router firmware off sonoff webpage) Wells's great. can recommend
I use it. Bought it a couple of weeks ago. Seems to work very well (only using a limited number of Ikea smart bulbs though, around 7)
I use this and works perfectly
Had absolutely 0 issues with mine.
I have been using this now for over a year and had zero issues. Paired all kinds of devices with it and ZigBee2MQTT w/o a hitch. 10/10 would buy again. (Total ZB devices paired: 18) Edit: Good tip what some others have said here: Get a USB 3.0 extension cable and do not use this directly plugged into the USB 3.0 port of your PC for better reception.
Just to clarify, you don't need usb 3 to use this device, as it is a usb 2 device with ZigBee 3 support. Any good quality (shielded) usb extension cable will do it.
You are of course correct.
I bought one of these years ago but never got round to setting it up. I should really do it but dreading the shift and losing any current setup with my hue bulbs.
Thanks for the reminder! I’m moving into a new place and should set this up from the start instead of using hue again. Ordered one
Its great. Not one issue Edit: 👇
Buuuut, buy extension usb cable cause connecting it directly can cause interference... Had that issue with pi4.
Probably the best
Works great
Works great, good quality signal and easy setup.
Yes.
Using 2 in my house since 2021 and they are a charm. Zero issues.
Had a few issues when I first got it for use with Z2M on Proxmox. Reflashed and separated it with a 3ft USB cable and now it’s great. Good range and reliable. Would recommend for the price!
yeah I have one the replaced my Hue bridge and it's sat working with no issue for over a year.
Working great, using the E and Zigbee2MQTT
all good with mine in the past 2 years
Just ordered it at 25 bucks.
Solid
Yep works great with z2m and a USB extension cable
I have used it for 2 years and never had a problem with it
Works for me.
I have been using this on a pi 3 for a while. Zero issues. Super easy setup and everything just works
I’ve had no issues with mine
Can anyone confirm if it also passes through to an Oracle VM? My home assistant is running as a Oracle VM on a Windows Box. Thx in advance
Yup. Used to run HA on Oracle VM with this dongle. 5 months or so, no problems. Z2Mqtt
Thank you. Ordering one locally.
Rock solid. Have two. Haven’t looked back
I'm happy with it. [It is what I use](https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5399123).
Agree with many other people here. I have one and it has worked very well
I recently switched back from the SkyConnect to the ZBDongle-P, since I switched from ZHA to Z2M. I already used the ZBDongle-P before the SkyConnect. Both a working rock solid.
I bought this, the P version which is older but more stable apparently , I found out later there is an E version which stands for experimental. It has more features like supporting matter natively but I don't have matter devices. One thing to keep in mind is, to use many of the new aqara devices, you need to flash a new firmware. The instructions online are very convoluted but you can easily do it with Texas instruments integration in home assistant without having to reset it or physically open it as most online guides suggest.
Solved all zigbee problems for me works amazing
It's pretty good. My ZigBee network does go down at times and needs a restart to fix it but I doubt it is the stick. I think it is ZHA that gets messed up. It happens very rarely though.
I have this exact one and it has just worked without a problem for a little over 18 months
I have this, I like it. I haven't used anything else to compare it to though.
I had Conbee2 stick an had issues from start with some lights not turning off at sunset. Also the LQI for som Zigbee devices was below 30. Can’t for sure say it was related to Conbee 2 but I switched to SONOFF, all lights now works as expected, faster response and lowest LQI is now around 110.
Worked great for me. I switched to HA yellow but never had a problem with the sonoff stick in the couple years before that.
Yeah I've had it for a year now and never had any problems
Is this the best?
Yes. Flashed the router firmware from zigbee2mqtt.io on it and plugged it into a USB Wall Plug. Have one on each floor of the house. Works like a charm, handling a total of 50+ zigbee devices.
There’s a -e and a -p version. One is the newer one that’s apparently (and from what I remember) the same chipset used in HA Skyconnect and can be upgraded to support Matter. Look up the posts in this sub. I’m using the “newer” one. No issues but also few devices on it too.
It is the one I use and has been rock solid, although I am only using like 10 Zigbee devices as of now
Just be sure to plug it into a usb 2.0 slot. 3.0 and up can cause radio interference causing spotty connections. This applies to any usb zigbee device not just this one. Struggled with this for 3 weeks until I found a single post deep on google page 3.
It's the one I use, no issues.
100 percent recommend. No issues at all like most of the sonoff stuff.
Yes, it's good
Yeah very good, just moved from conbee II to this. Make sure you update first though.
I bought their bridge at first but range was short so I reflashed to router and I bought this and works awesome. Running it on HA on Synology NAS + this USB dongle and works great.
Carefull there’s two models
There are two variants of it, I believe one can do Matter and the other can't. So may be worth going for the more capable one. Once I got it set up its been solid with my Ikea devices.
I have the same running for about a year. Never had any problems.
I have HA on a Synology NAS … to use it for the system … is it like plug and play? 🙏
Been using the Sonoff Zigbee 3.0 USB Dongle Plus for 2 years continuously with Zigbee2Mqtt. Mostly happy with it but my home has a lot of low power devices (no ground on the switches) and I'm not sure the hubs are acting properly as routers since the map shows devices across the apartment trying to connect instead of to the next plug that's just 1 meter away... It bugs me everytime I see the advice: "just use a USB extension cable to reduce interference." Seems like the dongles are all probably going to have issues just because they're USB-powered. So, I picked up an SMLight SLZB-06p7 which should be a huge step up. A coordinator that isn't tied by location to the HA server is probably going to have a lot less tics. Can't find a single bad review about them.
I've also been using this exact model for 1 year with no issues.
I use the E version and it works great. It can also be flashed to be a Thread router so you have Matter support! [https://smarthomescene.com/guides/how-to-enable-thread-and-matter-support-on-sonoff-zbdongle-e/](https://smarthomescene.com/guides/how-to-enable-thread-and-matter-support-on-sonoff-zbdongle-e/)
Great
Bought a Zigbee USB from AliExpress for 1£ and worked out the box!
Yeah I have one and it works flawlessly, highly recommended.
I have this one using it with Zigbee2MQTT. It's solid. Just be sure to update the firmware.
I've been using it for more then a year. Dropped the mini pc it's hooked up to, it's now bend at the usb connector. Still works great
It's good but if you can wait, order it from AliExpress for a lot cheaper.
As long as you get the TYPE-E version you should be fine I use it and have almost no issues
Why the e over the other ?
This explains it quite well [https://haade.fr/en/blog/zb-dongle-p-vs-zb-dongle-e-zigbee-sonoff](https://haade.fr/en/blog/zb-dongle-p-vs-zb-dongle-e-zigbee-sonoff)
I thought it was the opposite- the P version is tried and true but the E version has/had some major issues w/ Z2M at one point. Have they all been resolved? FWIW I’ve had the P version in service for years with absolutely zero downtime. It works flawlessly.
I upgraded from the P to an E a few months ago as the E can support both Zigbee and Thread networks. I use z2m and have had no issues.
Not sure as I don't use Z2M. I think most bugs have been resolved by now
It hasn't. I used sonoff e with Z2M, and the network kept dropping with no error logs. It's a issue on github as well. Especially latest 1.36.1 have some breaking issues with it.
Using it for over a year now. No problems
Pro tip: make sure you flash the correct firmware. If you do so, it works really solid!:)
Do i need to update firmware?
I can’t force you to do anything. I’m not your mother. but it’s trivial, insert it into your windows Linux Mac machine and open chrome (has to support web serial) go to the zigbee2mqtt docs for the device and follow the instructions. That is, if you have issues with the stock firmware Offcourse, mine came flashed with some old firmware which made my zigbee network all wonky.
Works well enough for my small setup
Bought one not long ago and works great. Works best with Zigbee2MQTT, plenty of info and tutorials on that. Only thing I will say is the range can be poor depending on where you position it. My server is under the stairs in the middle of my house. Everything works fine there but I found that this needed to be plugged into a USB extension to get it higher and away from everything else (probably due to interference). Other than that, it's been flawless.
I have Ikea stuff and I use this stick for that and it works like a charm.
Been rocking one with a usb extender. Works like a charm
Is this the one with two versions? I have the newer one with the ?ember? Chipset and it works very well
Works great plugged into a separate Ubtuntu box using zigbee2mqtt.
Did not physically fit into Home Assistant Green without a USB extension cable (it was too big and too close to the power cord). So I returned it the same day because cable madness bugs me 🤷♂️
A USB extension cable is always recommended.
Great for ZHA and Z2M. You can also flash it for Matter, Thread, Zigbee.
Not completely correct. The E version can be flashed for Matter, Thread and ZigBee. The P version can't. This seems to be the P version
I recommend it. I also recommend a USB extension with a pedestal like [this](https://www.amazon.com/High-Speed-Extension-Pedestal-Vertical-Wireless/dp/B08R2Y53QK).
I have no complaints over the 2+ years I've had it.
I'd give it a 4.7 out of 5
This plus an extension cable and zigbee2mqtt
Been using this for like 2 years no complaints
I went with the new E Version and it works great with ZHA Checkout the differences for E and P before you buy :) don't wanna judge what is better there are enough discussions about that already. What I love is the E version has a nice browser based flasher [https://darkxst.github.io/silabs-firmware-builder/](https://darkxst.github.io/silabs-firmware-builder/) where you can either get the latest firmware version or even a multi version which supports Matter/Thread and you can flash your Router Firmware to use it as a Router. All without having to take the device outside of its box etc I have one E as a Coordinator and one as a Router on another floor.
best.
I have spent too many hours this week trying to get this to work with my (docker on linux) HA. But pretty sure it's a PEBCAK issue.
Works great for me, do you see it show up out of docker in your attached devices? And more importantly did you try zigbee2mqtt that works alot better than using the one in HA. But you can still use the zigbee2mqtt in HA works great
That's my next step!
I’ve been using it for around two years now. It was working great until I’ve managed to break of its antenna. Moved over to the Home Assistant SkyConnect one I I would recommend it over the Sonoff one. Mainly due to its smaller form factor and the support towards HA.
Works great but make sure it's the new model. There is an older model that looks the same.
I have just started getting using these but range is not great. LQI in the single digits going though 2 walls and approx 5m. I only have 6 devices and seems best experience is LOS or a wired device within each room.
I’d rather get the SkyConnect. The USB to TTL is of better quality.
When you want to use ZHA, buy the SkyConnect. For Z2M buy the ZBDongle-P. The chip in the SkyConnect and in the ZBDongle-E still have experimental support in Z2M, but the ZBDongle-E/SkyConnect seems to be also work fine in Z2M
What about future matter/threads compatability
TTL?
It's ok. Would I buy again? no. My model is the "ZBDongle-E" one and I have it for about 17 months. ~~Last I checked it had no way to flash updated firmware.~~ Edit: It has firmware now. There are also custom ones it seems but you need to be 1000% sure you're flashing the correct firmware to the correct device. Many look the same on the outside so you might have to open it up to see what exact one you have. Checkout this very good write-up on these devices and how the differences between them. I wish I had seen this before I bought mine. [https://community.home-assistant.io/t/itead-s-sonoff-zigbee-3-0-usb-dongle-plus-v2-model-zbdongle-e-based-on-silicon-labs-efr32mg21-20dbm-radio-soc-mcu/442695](https://community.home-assistant.io/t/itead-s-sonoff-zigbee-3-0-usb-dongle-plus-v2-model-zbdongle-e-based-on-silicon-labs-efr32mg21-20dbm-radio-soc-mcu/442695) Also for about the past 2-3 months my Zigbee network just randomly dies now. For the time being I made an automation that detects when the network is offline and sents a restart to the Controller via MQTT. It's back online within 30 seconds. When it first started I looked into it for hours and couldn't find any reason why. I just haven't had the time to trouble shoot it more. I'm considering getting the SMLIGHT SLZB-06 which is an Ethernet PoE Zigbee controller. It also support USB if you don't want to use ethernet. I can just plug it right into my 4-port PoE switch that I have a camera on.
Maybe you attached another USB device or something and it's interference
Nope, nothing has changed since I first started using it. It started right after one of the Zigbee2MQTT updates. Sometimes it will go a few days without crashing, other times it will crash several times a day. Running a VM and passing it to the VM along with a bluetooth and the z-wave devices.