Where to start with ZigBee?

A few Zigbee Top Tips:

  • A 90-degree USB adaptor from Amazon works well with a USB stick, to have the radio aerial upwards for maximum range.
  • Some say USB3.0 ports cause interference, with Zigbee/ Z-Wave, so recommend a short USB cable or (e.g. on a Raspberry Pi) using USB2.0 ports instead.
  • If you find Zigbee devices are eating batteries, buy more Zigbee mains switches to extend the mesh (CR2032 are cheap should last months - apart from IKEA 5-button remotes).
  • The reset/ pair button on Sonoff Zigbee remotes is TINY and behind a small pin-hole. Careful with the paper clip, as you might miss the button and bend it off the PCB. Take one apart to look!

The good thing about Zigbee, is it’s a lot cheaper than Z-Wave so a few devices to test shouldn’t break the bank.

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