Recommended Z-Wave and ZigBee sticks & "repeaters"?

There are not any modern combo radios anymore for Zigbee and Z-Wave (those that are available are old and not as good as having dedicated radios for each protocol). It is also easier to maintain and upgrade if you have seperate radio dongles for each IoT protocol.

Personally, I can recommend ITead’s Sonoff ZBDongle-P as a Zigbee 3.0 Coordinator which works great with either Home Assistant’s built-in ZHA (Zigbee Home Automation) integration or third-party Zigbee2MQTT (Z2M), and the Aeotec Z-Stick 7 as a Z-Wave 700 Series Controller that works great with great either Home Assistant’s built-in Z-Wave integration or a stand-alone Z-Wave JS installation, (though you might consider getting the newer Zooz ZST39 Stick Z-Wave 800 Series Controller instead for a brand new installation). If you really want a centralized all-in-one solution then suggest installing the built-in ZHA integration and Z-Wave integration using the default configurations/settings with those USB radio adapters connected via USB extension cables.

Zigbee is extremely sensitive to EMF/EMI/RMI interference and infamously known to get jammed by computers and devices/peripherals with USB 3.x so important to connect via a USB 2.0 port (or via a USB 2.0 hub if have none) and also to get the Zigbee Coordinator away from such sources of interference by using a long USB extension cable (tip is to get a USB to RJ45 conversion adapter kit as those will convert any shielded Ethernet cable into a very long USB extension cable).

Also very important to add several “known good” mains-powered Zigbee and Z-Wave devices that act as Zigbee Router devices and Z-Wave repeaters (range extenders), especially for Zigbee which have shorter range and poor penetration of building materials like walls. There are no combo repeaters for Zigbee and Z-Wave, but since most mains-powered Zigbee and Z-Wave devices act as routers/repeaters/extenders you usually just have to add a bunch of power-plugs of each protocol, however for a great set-up I personally advice adding a few dedicated routers/repeaters/extenders of each, especially for Zigbee (and always if you do not have a bunch of other mains-powered Zigbee and Z-Wave devices like example power-plugs that act as routers/repeaters/extenders).

I highly that you read and try to follow all the tips here → Zigbee network optimization: a how-to guide for avoiding radio frequency interference + adding Zigbee Router devices (repeaters/extenders) to get a stable Zigbee network mesh with best possible range and coverage by fully utilizing Zigbee mesh networking

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