Is there a known dongle I could use that incorporates both Bluetooth and Zigbee protocols?
The reason I ask is because I’m running from a Synology 920+ NAS via a virtual machine, currently with a SONOFF Universal Zigbee 3.0 USB Dongle, which occupies the only USB port available to the VM.
So as I have a number of devices that could work via BT, it would be greatly advantageous if I could get a dongle that reliably operates both Zigbee and Bluetooth without having to choose between them (which I currently do, and Zigbee won).
I happened up this one here, could I get some thoughts & opinions?
Most all the zigbee chips are also bluetooth capable, but their firmware does not support doing both at the same time. I doubt the linked adapter is any different, but don’t really know.
A usb hub is a cheap, easy, reliable solution.
Esphome bluetooth proxies another cheap and easy solution for many BT devices.
Not quite as cheap, an ethernet connected coordinator could free up the port.
Right, and that’s why I’m asking for help with finding one
Right, BUT, the VM device only sees one USB - I don’t believe a hub would reliably show up in HA running on the VM.
Forgive my ignorance, but even after a glance over Google, I am not entirely certain what this does? Given my brief check it seems to be a wifi dongle that pretends to be BT?
Again, I’m not sure this is relevant in the context of a VM.
My NAS (and by extension, the VM) is connected to a dedicated Switch - so would it be possible to use an RJ45 from the Switch, which connects to the NAS, to an ethernet coordinator?
You are suggesting that on my NAS’ USB I replace the current Zigbee dongle with a Bluetooth one and then connect a new Zigbee coordinator to my Switch via RJ45 - correct?
If you only have 1 USB port, that would be a wise decision. Addition advantage : you can place your coordinator anywhere where there is RJ45 available. Mine is placed in the middle of the house, far away from my HA installation.
Well I have tried it and it doesn’t play ball at all
The Virtual Machine Manager does indeed allow for multiple USB devices to be physically attached, but when you try to set more than one it removes the other… So I’m still left with a or b, not a & b.
Would this suffice for said purposes?
USB to Ethernet Adapter, Maxhood USB to RJ45 Adapter, 2Pack USB 2.0 Female to Lan RJ45 8P8C Male Crystal Ethernet 10Mb/100Mb Network Adapter https://amzn.eu/d/0NtJLMk
Please note, the above states in the documentation:
NOTE: Please do not directly connect this USB to RJ45 Ethernet adapter onto a USB port to obtain network connection.
Am I correct in thinking the above warning is not applicable as I am looking to connect the female USB to the male USB connection of the Zigbee dongle and the other side will connect directly to my RJ45 on my switch and so, no cable is necessarily required anyway?
Could you advise on a sufficient alternative device, please? I have scoured Amazon for devices and this seems to be the only type available. All others are the opposite (they convert RJ45 to USB).
From the above link, I own this device and have it flashed for ZigBee.
SONOFF Zigbee 3.0 USB Dongle Plus ZBDongle. But it doesn’t help with the Bluetooth issue
The 2nd link … is just waaaaaaaaaaaay over my head.
That is an USB dongle, not an Ethernet Zigbee coordinator. I don’t know any device that can turn that into an Ethernet device, except maybe a Raspberry Pi with ser2net.
Alternative can be to use your Zigbee dongle, and use an esp32 flashed with ESP Home Bluetooth proxy.
eg - connect my zigbee devices to the camera hub and have them operate via the camera’s zigbee instead of the dongle? That would free-up my USB on the NAS VM and allow me to use the bluetooth there instead…
ETA: Answering my own question, it seems this won’t happen as Aqara have a closed ecosystem for their Zigbee application… the gits!
OK I have it resolved… and you will not believe how ridiculous the solution is…
So basically when I got my BT adaptor I new from all the reading up I’ve done I can only use one USB on the NAS. With that in mind, I duplicated my VM and removed the USB Zigbee. I tested the BT using a 2nd USB port and it all worked fine.
For all intents and purposes, I figured I could run two VMs, one for BT and one for Zigbee…
I later decided to try and put both ZigBee and BT together on the same HA VM. It wouldn’t have it - as I tried to add one, it would remove the other (USB connections) thusly reinforcing my understanding the NAS VM could only operate one USB at a time.
Having chewed on this for a good while, I finally realised something… the BT dongle was still tied to the unused VM - I had assumed that by stopping the VM it would have stopped the obvious connection to the USB/BT… anyway, I removed it from the stopped VM.
I then stopped my normal VM (running Zigbee)… then I could edit it and I tried to add the BT as a second from the pulldown… I had tried this previously but it had kept swapping it from a to b rather than allowing a & b. But now that it (BT) was free from the redundant VM, it finally COULD be added as a 2nd USB.
So finally - I have Zigbee AND Bluetooth running on ONE HA VM!!!
Apologies for wasting so much of other’s time and my appreciation & gratitude to all who tried to help - but the answer was insanely simple. Finally I can have BT running… yay!!!
disco dancing… oooh yeaaaaahhhhh
TLDR; do NOT tie BT to another HA. Just plug it in. Shut down the VM running HA. On the ‘other’ tab for the VM (Synology) add a second USB and select the now available BT dongle. Restart the HA VM.
