Hello,
I run a small Zigbee network with HA and Sonoff devices, mostly motion sensors,
thermometers and plugs. I am using Sonoff Zigbee 3.0 USB Dongle Plus (EFR32MG21)
as a coordinator.
After setting-up the network, I realize that there can be only a single coordinator.
I would like to extend my IOT network to another building (a small workshop next to my
home, let’s call it “workshop”). There I have a fiber line with POE linked to my home. I tried to use Zigbee devices but the2.4 Ghz signal is too low. The wall are too thick for any wireless
signal to get in from the outside.
So my question would be : howto register Zigbee devices in a single HA instance with
both small networks: home and workshop?
My understanding of Zigbee is vague, please correct if I am wrong:
- Zigbee 3.0 is peer to peer protocol. There is only a single coordinator. I can use a
relay but in my case it is useless as walls are too thick.
Is there a way to add a Zigbee bridge which would work over Ethernet and PoE, to relay Zigbee to my workshop?
- Sonoff devices are also compatible with Zifbee Wifi. I don’t understand what is Zigbee wifi,. I guess that this means that devices are no longer peer-to-peer as we are using Wifi. Is that right?
Example : SONOFF ZBBridge - Smart Home Zigbee Bridge - SONOFF Official
zbbridge claims to be both zigbee and wifi compatible.
This is completely obscure to me what WIFI is …
- zigbee2mqtt is a universal open-source broker. It does not provide connectivity, so it relies on wired and/or wireless network. Should I be using zigbee2mqtt on two 2.4Ghz wireless networks? One for my house, another for the workshop. I can set-up an isolated IOT wireless network on VLANs.
Is that the solution?
Making clear what Zigbee / Zigbee+wifi and zigbee2mqtt are would simplify everything and make clear whether Zigbee is peer-to-peer and/or WIFI.
Kind regards,
FFries
