Hello..
I'm new to Home Assistant, using HA with pi 4 and plug Sonoff ZBDongle-E Zigbee 3.0 USB Dongle on usb, I need to add another zigbee gateway to HA. How do I add into the HA ? Do I need to know which chipset to add ?
Thank you for your help.
Why would you need 2 Zigbee networks ?
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Need to add coverage for extended range, not creating another zigbee network
OK I am not technical enough to understand why a second dongle is the solution rather than a repeater.
What kind of repeater should I use ?
I have a repeater that I bought on Temu. I am not sure that it is good and that I even need it. As I understand it (but I am not the most technical user) any non-battery device operates as a repeater, so if sufficient devices are along the route the mesh network should work.
Basically anything that is mains powered AND requires a neutral wire (like most plugs, some switches & bulbs*) will work as a zigbee router.
You could flash router firmware on your Sonoff dongle then add it to your network as a normal zigbee device. Sonoff have a dedicated section on their site to do this.
If I were in your shoes though, I'd leave the 2nd device alone as a backup coordinator in case of emergency (or if you want to run a separate thread network in the future). You'd get practically the same effect from a couple of zigbee plugs while being also able to use them for controlling devices or measuring power consumption.
*Only exception to this are Sengled bulbs. Manufacturer (rightly) decided they shouldn't be routers since people kept cutting power to them & ruined their zigbee mesh.
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