Sonoff Dongle-E as a router not showing in the network

Configuration Zigbee
1

I have a strange behaviour of the Sonoff Dongle-E version configured as a router. Everything worked fine (it paired successfully and was showing on both, device list and a routing map) until I decided that I will give a chance to the Matter integration.
Since my coordinator is also “E” version, the firmware supporting multiprotocol is available already, and even if I don’t have any Matter devices yet, I thought that it will be better to setup the Matter integration now, when my zigbee network is relatively small, than later, when it will probably get more complex.

So I flashed my controller according to the manual found here: Enabling Thread and Matter on Sonoff ZBDongle-E - SmartHomeScene

Everything went fine, initially all my devices disappeared, but that was no surprise, and I was aware that most probably I will need to re-pair all of them.
After such procedure most of devices appeared again (for some of them it was just putting controller into pair mode to re-create themselves, other needed to push pair button), all with their original names - so far so good.

The only issue I have with the dongle flashed as a router - it is not included on the list of devices anymore, I don’t se it on the map either.
I tried to repair it, reset, reflash to the controller firmware, then back to the router one, and pair again - no luck. It is just as it doesn’t exist.

Surprisingly, it seems that it is working anyway (!)
I can guess that as I have some device which is out of the reach without that router, and it started to work with the network immediately after I placed the “router” into its original location. If I unplug the router from the power, I am immediately losing connection with that device so it seems that the router - “though invisible” for the network - is doing its job.

I’m not sure if the cause is flashing the controller with multiprotocol firmware, or it is something else (i.e. recent “breaking” changes in the entity naming convention for zigbee).

Any Idea what might be the issue and how to fix it?

2

No one faced such issue?

3

No. You could try flashing your router with a new IEEE-address.

4

How to perform such flashing?

5

Flash using this webservice: Silabs Firmware Flasher | Web based flasher for ZB-GW04 and ZBDongle-E. MultiPAN RCP firmware enables these devices to be used with Silabs Multiprotocol Addon in Home Assistant. Allow Zigbee and Thread to co-exist on the same dongle. Get ahead of the tech an experiment with Matter!
Need to use Chrome or Edge.
Might need to enable Experimental Web Platform features, link for Edge: edge://flags/#enable-experimental-web-platform-features

1 Like
6

OK, I solved the issue.

One thing is that I completely reinstalled Z2M addon (deleting all configuration files, fresh start)
Second, despite the Sonoff manual says that the dongle is going into the pairing mode after flashing the firmware, that was not the case (maybe it is when you have new device, but in my case putting controller into pairing mode was not enough). There is no information in the Sonoff manual nor readme for the latest router firmware how to force device to go into pairing mode.
To do so, you need to press boot button for about 5 seconds, until the green led start flashing.
After such procedure my dongle was paired successfully and appeared on the device’s list

1 Like
7

Thank you for the clue about pressing boot button for >5secs

8

Based on your finding I’ve created a step by step guideline for future reference.

To reset the Sonoff Dongle-E in router mode, follow these steps:

  1. Disassemble the device
  2. Re-attach the antenna (to avoid burnout)
  3. Provide power to the device.
  4. Permit join (allow pairing) to Coordinator
  5. Press the boot button for about 5 seconds (green LED might not flash)
  6. Monitor device becoming available
  7. Power down device, remove antenna
  8. Re-assemble device and attach antenna
  9. Place router to it’s designed location

Device updates it’s status (last seen) in every 4 hours.

If you want to use a power bank for temporary convenience, note that the device uses very low power, so the power bank may turn off. To keep it on, you might need to repeatedly press a button on the power bank. If this doesn’t work, use a power brick instead.

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