• out of stock

Sonoff Zigbee 3.0 USB Dongle Plus Gateway US$16.99 (~AU$24.55) Delivered @ Geekbuying

450
6QNMBIKH
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Includes free shipping via their faster Priority Line method (usually less than 2 weeks)

SONOFF Zigbee 3.0 USB Dongle Plus is a universal Zigbee USB stick. It can be used as a universal Zigbee gateway in Home Assistant or other open-source platforms via ZHA or Zigbee2MQTT to locally control all your Zigbee sub-devices, so you don't need to invest in the Zigbee hubs for different brands, all you need is a universal gateway - Dongle Plus!

Edit: OOS at Geekbuying but thanks to VehemenceThePhoenix -$23.27 and eug - $24.08 on eBay. Slightly less and shipping should still be fairly quick.

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closed Comments

  • +1

    Just bought one, hope it works well with homeassistant.

    Thanks OP :)

    • +1

      Yep, work great with Home Assistant

      • could you please recommend a physical button that works with this dongle that isn't too expensive and big. Just to trigger an automation in homeassistant.

        • +3

          Have a look at IKEA's range. They have a small single shortcut button that I believe works with it. Going to try one as to use as a doorbell when I get out to there to grab one.

          There is also these just posted but probably overkill (I use the v1's for room light switches but we're cheaper at the time)

        • +2

          These are pretty small and work.

          This is also a good source of devicesthat work with whichever intergration you are using.

          • +2

            @at9: Is there any ZigBee switches like above from IKEA that run on AAA ? I don't want to throw 2032 buttons away all the time

            • +1

              @noobshoes: Ikea Styrbar 4 button remote uses aaa. Work well.

              • @minidriver: Amazing. Thankyou! Even though its designed for lights you can program it to control other stuff right?

            • +2

              @noobshoes: You would need to use it frequently to be worried about going through CR2032. Depending on the configuration, it probably only wakes up to send the signal.

              • @whats up skip: That is true. I just have a weird thing with non reusable batteries haha

                • +1

                  @noobshoes: NiMH batteries don't seem to be a very good alternative as so many devices these days won't work with them or only for about 25% of the time. :(

                  • @whats up skip: Yeah I'm having this problem but I don't know why. Care to explain or link me to something?

                    • @noobshoes: A device like a simple old globe style torch isn't very sensitive to a voltage drop as batteries drain down, but most modern electronics requires voltages close to the nominal voltage of alkaline batteries such as 1.5V x 2 = 3V. The problem with NiMH is that their voltage starts at 1.25V and then drops fairly quickly to 1.2V at this point many electronic devices will stop working. Different battery chemistries have different nominal voltages, and this is just a problem with NiMH and the electronics we use.

                      There are now lithium ion rechargeable AA batteries available that put out a near constant 1.5V. They are however fairly expensive at this stage as they have electronics in them to convert their internal 3.7V to 1.5V.

                      • @whats up skip: That makes a hell of a lot of sense. Thanks for the detailed info! I keep getting low battery alerts from my sonoff door sensor and didn't understand why!

        • Really like the Cygnett ones which are just redesigned and rebadged Sonoffs and work fine with the Sonoff stick both under ZHA and MQTT.

          Big and round and like a proper switch not a recessed part of the assemble (if that makes sense)

          Might be a bit hard to find though as they may be discontinued.

          https://support.cygnett.com/hc/en-us/articles/360039001533-S…

    • It does.

    • +2

      Zigbee2mqtt -> MQTT -> Home Assistant

      Works very nicely, good range on it as well. Worth using an extension cable and a USB 2 port to minimise interference.

    • +2

      Yep another +1 here for Home Assistant functionality, I prefer ZHA but I've also tested with Zigbee2Mqtt fine. This thing is such good value for the price, considering it's using the latest TI radio, a proper SMA antenna and decent heatsinking. Not much else you could want.

      I'll caveat this by saying a USB extension cable is almost a necessity, I had so much interference when plugging directly into the Pi4 USB port it wouldn't even detect devices at all unless a few cm away (EDIT: my setup is sub-optimal for interference to be fair), but this would be the case for most Zigbee dongles. Once an extension cable is used, the range is excellent.

      • +1

        I’m trying to decide which integration to use, why do you prefer ZHA over Z2M?

        • +1

          Sorry just saw this question

          I prefer ZHA as it's basically the native implementation for ZigBee devices in homeassistant itself, so it works "out of the box" and is quick and easy to get running and pairing devices. No need to mess around with MQTT brokers and the like. I like it for it's simplicity and "just works" usability, but the flip side of that is naturally that it isn't as powerful to debug or dig into settings/configs as this is all abstracted. I didn't mention that I wiped my ZigBee setup when I got this Sonoff dongle and started from scratch (but was still using a CC2650 based device with Z2M before so similar enough), I didn't migrate from Z2M to ZHA directly. I'll probably end up switching back to Z2M eventually if I run into issues, but so far so good.

          If you're starting out I'd give ZHA a go first since its pretty much ready to use with a new install of HA, if you find you want to dig into it more then migrating to Z2M isn't too bad if you keep your entities consistent.

          It also used to be the case that Z2M supports more products than ZHA, that might still be true but ZHA supports most well known and used ZigBee devices by default now, you'd only run into compatibility issues if you use some niche/obscure ZigBee product.

  • +1

    Pretty good unit, I run HA on my Synology NAS and it has been reliable!

    • Can you connect this to HA if it’s running on Synology?

    • Got this unit and wasn't able to get it to work on DSM7, how did you manage to get it working?

      • +1

        They disabled external USB device support in DSM 7, use the link above to get it working, HA then should see it fine.

      • +1

        As Vinnie said, otherwise run HA in a VM as will always be supported

  • Where do you enter the code? I want to pay using PayPal checkout but it doesn't give me the option to enter the code.

    • You need to use the normal checkout process but can still pay with PayPal.

      • +1

        Yep had to set up an account. Grrr.

  • Can it work to control Phillips hue

    • Yes if you're using with something like Home Assistant

  • +1

    Can this be powered off a RPi?

    • seems like it gets the power from the USB port

    • Is this dongle required if you can setup home assistant directly on the raspberry pi?

      • +1

        The dongle is just the ZigBee co-ordinator, so is necessary if you want to use ZigBee devices as the Pi can't by itself.

    • Yes. Have one

      • Are the RPi USB ports enough to power it?

  • can i back-trace potential crackers with this?

    • Crackers? Possibly.

      Biscuits? No chance.

  • i was going to give a shot and upgrading some of my home automation, i'm still running just some old stuff that runs off wifi…

    was tossing up between zigbee or z-wave…..which do you reckon is better? and why?

    • I couldn't say if one is better than the other, but it seems like you'd have more choice of devices on ZigBee (and probably cheaper).

      One positive of z-wave I could think of was that it doesn't run on the crowded 2.4ghz frequency like ZigBee. That said, I run a mix of WiFi (just under 50 devices on 2.4ghz) and ZigBee (only about 10) and haven't had any issues.

    • Both are limited IMHO, but I use a lot less Z-wave devices (mainly their increased cost, and less AU devices available due to the fact it uses regional frequencies). If you can wait, Matter is just around the corner.

      • i certainly can wait…i might do that and for it.

        It's 1 of those things i want to do once and have it last for as long as possible, rather than needing to refresh every 5 years as standards change

        • I don't know if I'd wait.

          They still need to release the finalised standard, then you still need to wait for the devices.

          Your existing stuff won't stop working, and the beauty of Home Assistant is being able to use all types of devices and standards (which is kind of what Matter is trying to achieve), so when Matter does come along you'll be able to use alongside your existing stuff (and some will get upgrades to work with Matter).

          I believe the protocol Matter will use is based on ZigBee 3.0, so it's not like it will be some magically better thing, just that it's standard across various manufacturers so everything works together (again what you can do with Home Assistant now)

          Plus you know what happens, they bring out one standard, then announce a new one. It's like always waiting for that next release new graphics card that's just around the corner..

          I reckon just jump in ;)

          • @bamzero: yeah i know what you mean. but at the same time matter has the likes of amazon, google, and apple all onboard with it, surely it's a different scenario to waiting for the next release of GPU….waiting on the next version of GPU is the equivalent of not getting zigbee 3.0 because you want to wait for zigbee 4.0

            Also, as mentioned, i'm not in a hurry.I can still get by doing everything i'm doing in my house with or without the smarthome integration, it's purely for a combination of ease of use, and wow factor.
            Whilst something like a GPU's, i can't actually play the latest games or do most of my work without a decent GPU.

            • +1

              @whitepuma: Yeh. I guess it depends on how you plan to use it too.

              I think Matter will be more important for those that use standalone hubs for automation. For myself I don't see it offering anything more than I can do now with Home Assistant.

              Either way I think the most important thing is local control. My first search is device compatibility with Home Assistant and whether it can be controlled locally.

              Don't rely on anything you buy still working in 5 years if it only works via the cloud.

              • @bamzero: i completely agree with that, if i can't host it myself i don't want it

              • @bamzero: I agree that if one is happy to setup HA then there is no reason to wait. But the learning curve for HA is still large and if the end user isn't comfortable digging through forums and occasionally writing some YAML I'd always recommend an OOTB solution.

                Having said that HA changed my life! I now have spent more hours programming my lights than I'd have walking to them - for the rest of my life.

    • +2

      Z-Wave is not worth using in Australia IMO, if you're happy with the offerings from Aeotec, Fibaro and Vera then it's fine and go ahead, but the overall product offering here is limited as Z-Wave uses a different frequency in Australia (921.4 Mhz and 919.8 Mhz) due to the regulations and our frequency is not commonly supported elsewhere, so many of the US brands cannot be used here, even if they support 240V/50Hz on the power side. Z-Wave is also already more expensive than Wifi or Zigbee, and anything that is developed to support our tiny market would be even more expensive then.

      Most of the pros vs cons videos you'll find on Youtube regarding Z-Wave are not as relevant for Aus market for these reasons.

      If you're using older WiFi based gear, it's worth checking the latest products with WiFi like the Shelly offerings, the fact they can be controlled on the local network only (and are not pinging an overseas sever for every instruction) makes them much more usable and secure than others. Same applies to newer Tuya gear if I recall correct. So you may not even need to go Zigbee or Z-Wave, depending on your setup.

  • +2

    Ordered one. Cheers OP.
    Just finished setting up a new HA install.
    Now the hair pulling of configuring begins!

    • In case its helpful for when your dongle arrives, I found this Youtube tutorial really good

  • Got one, thanks OP :)

    Sadly couldn't stack the discount code with the 2% one you get for signing up for their newsletter

    Unsure if I'll setup a spare RPi 3b for HA or run it as a Docker container on my NAS

  • +1

    sold out

  • What does it do? Gateway analyzer?

  • If I have a CC2531 and buy this, would I have to re-pair all the devices? Would that have to happen if I change the sniffer every time?

    • Unfortunately that seems to be the way.

    • +1

      Everything Smart Home did a vid about backing up one coordinator and restoring the config to the Sonoff - here

    • There are a few posts on the HA forum indicating that it may be possible to backup and restore on the new device.

  • Waiting List @ Geekbuying … Apparently you can find that on Aliexpress for $32.66 after tax. Link Here
    I'm starting with Home Assistant as well and literally want to install and automate everything, lol.

  • Coming up as US$ 23.99 with coupon now

  • Oh my, nice dongle!

  • +4

    For anyone who missed out, I bought this a few days ago for $24.08 delivered off eBay.

    Shipping is via SpeedPak. Ordertracker.com says delivery is expected to be 13-20 days based on 1000 similar deliveries.

    • +1

      Or another listing from same seller $23.27 https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/384598223889?hash=item598bd72c11…

      • Even better!

      • And if you're EBay Plus and haven't used your $5 dollars voucher it goes down to AU $18.27.

    • Good find. Geekbuying's Priority Line is usually pretty quick but they can take their time actually shipping the order.

      Speedpak is usually pretty reasonable shipping time so might not take any longer anyway.

    • Shipping is via SpeedPak. Ordertracker.com says delivery is expected to be 13-20 days based on 1000 similar deliveries.

      Just my luck, the seller sent it from China on the 23rd of June, it arrived in Australia 10 days later on the 3rd of July, and has been stuck in Australia since then. It was "waiting to be processed for delivery" on the 8th of July, then nothing till the 15th of July where it's "Received by Australia Post for transportation to processing facility", and still nothing today.

      It's silly when shipping within Australia is so much slower than shipping from China to Australia.

      • That sucks mine arrived a couple of weeks ago!

        • I guess I struck the bad-luck lottery this time. :)
          I've got my Aqara FP1 and P1 ready to go, along with some new wall switches. My Sonoff wifi zigbee receiver isn't stable, hopefully this USB one will work better.

  • Does it need to be connected to a PC or raspberry pi? Or can it be run standalone?

  • Will this be an upgrade over the old Sonoff wifi bridge (flashed with Tasmota) ?

    Oh bugger, sold out. Buy first and ask questions later! :)

    • +2

      You can still buy it off eBay for slightly less than this.

      • +1

        I made an offer out of curiousity, and seller counter offered with $23.75
        Save 33 cents :-) The OzBargain way.

  • Received a week after purchase ,

  • Does this do anything the conbee 2 doesn't?

    • No, just a lot cheaper. Not sure if the external antenna has any advantage though.

  • Anything similar that can do zwave? Or even better ZigBee and zwave together under a single USB?
    Thanks

    • +1

      I've never looked into Z-Wave dongles but I remember Nortek had a combo one. Unfortunately I also seem to remember it wasn't available with AU frequency Z-Wave but maybe that's changed.

  • In stock again…

    • Code only brings it down to US$23.99 now unfortunately. The eBay links are a better option.

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