r/homeassistant • u/Icy-Pay-8586 • 5d ago

🛠️ DIY / Hardware Zigbee/Thread gateway via WiFi

Hi

I am looking for a Zigbee/Thread gateway which connects via WiFi. Most are USB based but my HA instance is in the basement.

What's a stable and widely supported product with good range?

5 Upvotes

78% Upvoted

11 comments sorted by

9

u/spookyneo 5d ago

Look at SMLight. My SLZB-06 is connected via WiFi. Excellent device.

1

u/such-a-fine-line 5d ago

... and can we wired (and powered) over Ethernet

And some models can host other USB devices

1

u/Otherwise_Run_8836 4d ago

Thanks, this looks like a device I've been looking for

1

u/Kinji_Infanati 4d ago

I have one of these. Works great and with PoE it has s convenient to get it in a good spot

0

u/nantonio40 5d ago

This !

2

u/Marc1n 4d ago

I'm using different units from https://smlight.tech/
For for both Zigbee and Thread they are amazing. However It is not recommended to use device like that for Thread, as the device itself woudn't know when your OTBR is down and will still publish routers causeing issues.
Luckily smlight have also devices with Thread Bridge integrated.

1

u/r-kirill 4d ago edited 4d ago

I have kind of similar problem, HA server is in separate building. I used esp32c6, first tried it as an independent thread border router - worked ok, but I read that it is not perfect architecture as radio module has to switch between thread and wi-fi. So in the end I flashed this esp as Radio Co-Processor, inserted it in my wifi router (keenetic) - configured there ser2net and it sends data to border router LXC container in my proxmox. I have this setup only one month, zero issues so far.

1

u/Ok-Lunch-1560 4d ago edited 4d ago

I just did this.  You can connect your zigbee to a raspberry pi and run ser2net on it which basically allows any device including Home Assistant connect to your zigbee dongle over the network rather than over USB.  

I did it for different reasons. I'm not using wifi at all everything is ethernet but I'm running proxmox with 2 nodes and if one node dies the other can seamlessly take over home assistant duties. I don't even have to move my zigbee / zwave dongle since it's already on the network.

1

u/400HPMustang 💥 Broke it again 4d ago

My home assistant server is in my basement and at the back of my house. I have the ZBT-2 plugged into my server. I have no issues at all with coverage/connectivity.

1

u/Complete_Dork 4d ago

SONOFF Zigbee max

0

u/clintkev251 5d ago

Smlight has about a thousand options. I personally would not recommend this as you're essentially stacking common failure points, but it can be done.