Limitations of Sonoff Dongle Max (dongle-m)

Configuration Zigbee
1

I am a new user of Home Assistant using a HA Green box. I am using a Sonoff dongle-E as the coordinator plugged into a USB port. I have another small building next to the house which is out of range of Zigbee from the coordinator, and seeing the release of the Sonoff Dongle Max I thought that it would be a good solution as a router with backhaul to the HA Green by Ethernet cable via my LAN.

The Sonoff website implies that this mode is possible - nothing says that it cannot operate as a Zigbee router with backhaul through its ethernet connection. Here is what it says:

Flexible Connectivity Options - Supports Ethernet, Wi-Fi, and USB connections, giving you the freedom to deploy Dongle Max wherever it fits best.

And:

Whether using it as a Zigbee coordinator, router, or Thread RCP, Dongle Max makes it simple.

Furthermore the web UI for the dongle does not in any way say that this is not possible - you can switch the dongle between coordinator and router mode and when it is in router mode the section about ZHA integration tells you how to integrate the dongle to HA using a TCP/IP connection. It does not say that this does not work in router mode.

However this mode does not appear to be supported (or even possible). I have been in contact with Sonoff support and they have responded with a couple of very confusing replies which essentially say that when operating as a router the Dongle Max can only connect back to the coordinator through Zigbee. This may be obvious to some, but I can’t find anywhere that this is stated on the page on their website which describes the features for the product.

What is the point of the ethernet connection if this is not possible? I suppose it enables you to use it as a way of configuring the dongle, but if you cannot use it for a backhaul function that is a very significant limitation which surely should be explained on the webpage for the product.

The recent email from Sonoff says the following:

The previous reply cannot be interpreted as ZB routers only being accessible via WiFi. ZB and WiFi are completely different protocols; they not only cannot interact but also interfere with each other.

The ZHA/Z2M connection status displayed on the webpage’s front side only indicates whether the EFR32 chip under the coordinator firmware is being called by the platform. However, under the ZB router firmware, Dongle-M can only be added to the network by other coordinators via 2.4GHz ZB communication without going through the EFR32’s serial port transmission. Therefore, it cannot be effectively detected, and the webpage’s front side will always display “ZHA/Z2M not connected” when using the router firmware.

Please try to search for Dongle-M in the same way as pairing ZB sub-devices. To manually enable Dongle-M pairing mode, click “Reset” below the router firmware on the firmware switching page.

Maybe I am being naive in thinking this would work, but I feel that there should be some warning that this mode is not possible. Is there another more capable product which would work as a Zigbee “range extender” using ethernet as the backhaul?

2

You can not route Zigbee over Ethernet, so you will not find any product that does what you want.

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3

Look at similar coordinators from Smlight, such as SLZB-6

Z2M can run on the coordinator and are routed in to HA with MQTT.

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4

I use my dongle max in the building next door. I just have it wired on the same network as the HA server (local wired by router) Zha auto discovered it and it seems to work fine. It controls like 30 hue bulbs and 8 Sonoff motion sensors. Everything works fine. In ZHA it I noticed that devices have the status of added via Sonoff dongle max and seems it’s is grouped to that dongle. And has to be configured that way too. I set it up 3-4 weeks ago no dropout so faar.

5

It seems OP wants it to function as a router not coordinator.

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Yes, I have two separate buildings which I want to connect together, but I think it seems that you can only have one configurator per HA host, and you cannot connect to a router over ethernet so this configuration is not possible.

Given that every Zigbee device acts as a router, I am now not sure why one would configure a dongle as a router. It would be simpler to just add a Zigbee device such as a smart plug.

It seems the only way to have hub active in both buildings is to buy a second HA Green, locate one in each building, and log on to them separately. An alternative is to locate them both in the same building with the configurator for the second building connected over ethernet, but either way it will still be a separate hub for each building.

It is a bit frustrating because it seems I won’t be able to easily have a detector or button in one building that triggers an action (such as turning on floodlights) in the second building.

7

Time to clarify some misconceptions:

  1. It’s called a coordinator, not a configurator.
  2. Dongles are configured as routers because they generally have better antennas than a smart plug. Plus, it’s a dedicated router so its only job is to route the signal without having additional stuff to do like reporting power, relay state etc. Also, no - not every device is a zigbee router.
  3. No, you cannot use ethernet if you switch it to router mode. This is true for every zigbee ethernet coordinator, not just the dongle max.
  4. You can have more than 1 coordinator per HA host - what you cannot do is have more than 1 coordinator per zigbee network. In your case, you’d leave your current house network on ZHA with the dongle-E, then set up a separate Z2M network using ethernet on the dongle Max. You don’t need an additional HA Green for this.
  5. The above will result in 2 separate zigbee networks, so their meshes will not route over each other. However, since they both communicate with the same HA server, you can indeed have a button in 1 building control lights in another.

I really suggest you have a search through these forums to learn more about zigbee. Not only is there a comprehensive section about zigbee in the cookbook; there are also multiple threads by others about dealing with your specific scenario.

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You can have a Button turn on a Light with an Automation.