Zigbee antenna - USB vs LAN?

Hardware
1

Until recently, I’ve been running Home Assistant on a Raspberry Pi 3 without Zigbee but using bridges from the devices I use (like Philips Hue, IKEA, Aqara etc).

To get a more powerful setup, I bought a SmartLight Zigbee 06 antenna and just finished moving my Home Assistant install from Raspberry Pi to a mini PC.

When adding the SLZB-06 antenna, I can either use it as a USB device or LAN. As I’m probably going to build a proper home server within the next 2-3 months and moving Home Assistant to this machine, I’m not sure what to go for now - either USB or LAN setup of the SLZB-06 antenna.

As I understand it, it’s easier to setup as a USB device but my gut feeling is, that porting Home Assistant to a ProxMox VM when I build my home server, is easier if I setup up the antenna using LAN.

Can I ask what your experience is, to get an idea of the best way to go about this?

2

LAN, always lan if you have the option.

There’s practically zero difference in setup complexity vs Usb. One uses an IP, while the other uses a serial path.

Other than that, LAN provides multiple advantages over usb:

  • Can be located centrally in the house without requiring the server to be moved.
  • Avoids Usb3 interference issues.
  • Avoids the usb path changing (when not using serial by id paths)
  • Avoids having to pass through the usb device once you switch to Proxmox.

I switched to proxmox a few years ago and had a lan coordinator. Didn’t have to do anything beyond loading a backup to switch. ZigBee wasn’t affected at all.

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3

If you’re planning hypervisor - LAN. Usb pass through is one of the #1 issues with hypervisor installs. If you can avoid it and have the option Do it.

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4

This,

But also:

  • If you buy a second lan device, its easier to restore / backup your router ID in case one does break.
  • You can move your docker container to any host.
  • no UUID problems in Linux or UUID rules to tie your USB device to specific /dev/zigbee
  • Z2M starts nicer as the LAN device keeps running during updates (if you need to reboot with a USB stick it can be a pain)

I started with a sonoff usb dongle went trough all this hassle. But now that I have migrated to the network one my gosh is it nice to just have it working.

Do note though V2.7.0 for the SLZB-06 is a firmware to skipp or immediately upgrade from before you do anything.

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5

I went with LAN mode on my SLZB-06 so I could place it in the center of my house. Installation was straightforward, and it’s working great.

The one hesitation I had with this approach is now my Zigbee network is dependent on my wifi network. I’m not too concerned about that since it would most likely be a power outage, and nothing I have in HA is critical.

6

My main concern would be having Zigbee and WiFi radios basically next to each other in the same device.

7

This might always be a problem if your neighbors have WiFi channel 6 (i believe its this one) in use…

I would not be too bothered about it. I would be more concerned about the latency, and prefer a Ethernet cable. So if you have a router close by its def. worth it.

8

I assume that device connects by wired ethernet somehow. If so do that.

Then make sure your zigbee and wifi networks don’t collide in the RF spectrum according to best practices. Make sure you don’t park the coordinator next to a high powered RF anything, but especially 2.5-3ghz sources. Like wifi, USB portable hard drives, old wireless phones, microwaves in certain conditions… Etc.

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9

Exactly the point I was making. A Zigbee coordinator in the same package as a WiFi radio seems like a suboptimal setup.

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10

You mean, like a SmartThings hub? :joy: Totally agree…

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11

I wouldn’t be too concerned about that. I’m running the (ancient) Sonoff ZbBridge which essentially transmits/receives Wifi and Zigbee within the same package for ZHA.

Within a couple of feet away, I’ve also got my (LAN) TubesZB for Z2M, as well as a Unifi Long-Range AP for 2.4G.

Absolutely zero issues for ~4 years.

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12

Okay, I set it (the SMZB-06 antenna) up as LAN with Home Assistant on a virtual ProxMox VM and everything worked.

Then I took a backup of Home Assistant, installed it on a mini pc and recalled the backup.

Now all devices in Zigbee2MQTT is blinking “offline” - they do, however, work and they also show up on the map where I can see the different connections / relations between them on the network.

I’ve tried rebooting everything (Home Assistant, the Zigbee2MQTT integration, the mini PC and the SMZB-06 antenna) but still cannot get the devices “online”.

Do you know how I can solve this?

13

Check the zigbee2mqtt logs.

14

CleanShot 2025-04-02 at 09.52.00@2x
CleanShot 2025-04-02 at 09.52.00@2x1920×593 146 KB

15

please use codeformatted text, not screenshots. Seems your devices are online in z2m. Can you check that they don’t have created new devices with _2 in their name (in HA)?

16

info 2025-04-02 09:54:19z2m:mqtt: MQTT publish: topic 'zigbee2mqtt/Philips Hue Sensor Pip', payload '{"battery":100,"illuminance":720,"led_indication":null,"linkquality":87,"motion_sensitivity":null,"occupancy":false,"occupancy_timeout":0,"temperature":24.24,"update":{"installed_version":1124102917,"latest_version":1124102917,"state":"idle"}}'

info 2025-04-02 09:54:34z2m:mqtt: MQTT publish: topic 'zigbee2mqtt/Philips Hue Dimmer IT-Rum', payload '{"action":"off_press","action_duration":null,"battery":100,"linkquality":138,"update":{"installed_version":1124102917,"latest_version":1124102917,"state":"idle"}}'

info 2025-04-02 09:54:34z2m:mqtt: MQTT publish: topic 'zigbee2mqtt/Philips Hue Dimmer IT-Rum/action', payload 'off_press'

info 2025-04-02 09:54:34z2m:mqtt: MQTT publish: topic 'zigbee2mqtt/Philips Hue Dimmer IT-Rum', payload '{"action":"off_press_release","action_duration":null,"battery":100,"linkquality":138,"update":{"installed_version":1124102917,"latest_version":1124102917,"state":"idle"}}'

info 2025-04-02 09:54:34z2m:mqtt: MQTT publish: topic 'zigbee2mqtt/Philips Hue Dimmer IT-Rum/action', payload 'off_press_release'

info 2025-04-02 09:54:34z2m:mqtt: MQTT publish: topic 'zigbee2mqtt/Philips Hue Bloom IT-Rum B', payload '{"brightness":254,"color":{"h":70.7,"hue":70.7,"s":20,"saturation":20,"x":0.4573,"y":0.41},"color_mode":"color_temp","effect":null,"linkquality":160,"power_on_behavior":null,"state":"OFF","update":{"installed_version":1124103171,"latest_version":1124103171,"state":"idle"}}'

info 2025-04-02 09:54:34z2m:mqtt: MQTT publish: topic 'zigbee2mqtt/Philips Hue PLAY IT-Rum A', payload '{"brightness":254,"effect":null,"linkquality":138,"power_on_behavior":null,"state":"OFF","update":{"installed_version":16786434,"latest_version":16786434,"state":"idle"}}'

info 2025-04-02 09:54:34z2m:mqtt: MQTT publish: topic 'zigbee2mqtt/Philips Hue Iris IT-Rum', payload '{"brightness":254,"effect":null,"linkquality":109,"power_on_behavior":null,"state":"OFF","update":{"installed_version":1124103171,"latest_version":1124103171,"state":"idle"}}'

info 2025-04-02 09:54:34z2m:mqtt: MQTT publish: topic 'zigbee2mqtt/Philips Hue Bloom IT-Rum C', payload '{"brightness":254,"effect":null,"linkquality":120,"power_on_behavior":null,"state":"OFF","update":{"installed_version":1124103171,"latest_version":1124103171,"state":"idle"}}'

info 2025-04-02 09:54:34z2m:mqtt: MQTT publish: topic 'zigbee2mqtt/Philips Hue Bloom IT-Rum A', payload '{"brightness":254,"effect":null,"linkquality":116,"power_on_behavior":null,"state":"OFF","update":{"installed_version":1124103171,"latest_version":1124103171,"state":"idle"}}'

info 2025-04-02 09:54:34z2m:mqtt: MQTT publish: topic 'zigbee2mqtt/Philips Hue Play IT-Rum B', payload '{"brightness":254,"effect":null,"linkquality":149,"power_on_behavior":null,"state":"OFF","update":{"installed_version":16786434,"latest_version":16786434,"state":"idle"}}'

info 2025-04-02 09:54:34z2m:mqtt: MQTT publish: topic 'zigbee2mqtt/Philips Hue Go IT-Rum', payload '{"brightness":254,"effect":null,"linkquality":76,"power_on_behavior":null,"state":"OFF","update":{"installed_version":1124103171,"latest_version":1124103171,"state":"idle"}}'

info 2025-04-02 09:54:35z2m:mqtt: MQTT publish: topic 'zigbee2mqtt/Philips Hue Dimmer IT-Rum', payload '{"action":"on_press","action_duration":null,"battery":100,"linkquality":138,"update":{"installed_version":1124102917,"latest_version":1124102917,"state":"idle"}}'

info 2025-04-02 09:54:35z2m:mqtt: MQTT publish: topic 'zigbee2mqtt/Philips Hue Dimmer IT-Rum/action', payload 'on_press'

info 2025-04-02 09:54:35z2m:mqtt: MQTT publish: topic 'zigbee2mqtt/Philips Hue Bloom IT-Rum B', payload '{"brightness":254,"color":{"h":70.7,"hue":70.7,"s":20,"saturation":20,"x":0.4573,"y":0.41},"color_mode":"color_temp","effect":null,"linkquality":156,"power_on_behavior":null,"state":"ON","update":{"installed_version":1124103171,"latest_version":1124103171,"state":"idle"}}'

info 2025-04-02 09:54:35z2m:mqtt: MQTT publish: topic 'zigbee2mqtt/Philips Hue PLAY IT-Rum A', payload '{"brightness":254,"effect":null,"linkquality":138,"power_on_behavior":null,"state":"ON","update":{"installed_version":16786434,"latest_version":16786434,"state":"idle"}}'

info 2025-04-02 09:54:35z2m:mqtt: MQTT publish: topic 'zigbee2mqtt/Philips Hue Dimmer IT-Rum', payload '{"action":"on_press_release","action_duration":null,"battery":100,"linkquality":138,"update":{"installed_version":1124102917,"latest_version":1124102917,"state":"idle"}}'

info 2025-04-02 09:54:35z2m:mqtt: MQTT publish: topic 'zigbee2mqtt/Philips Hue Dimmer IT-Rum/action', payload 'on_press_release'

info 2025-04-02 09:54:35z2m:mqtt: MQTT publish: topic 'zigbee2mqtt/Philips Hue Iris IT-Rum', payload '{"brightness":254,"effect":null,"linkquality":109,"power_on_behavior":null,"state":"ON","update":{"installed_version":1124103171,"latest_version":1124103171,"state":"idle"}}'

info 2025-04-02 09:54:35z2m:mqtt: MQTT publish: topic 'zigbee2mqtt/Philips Hue Bloom IT-Rum C', payload '{"brightness":254,"effect":null,"linkquality":116,"power_on_behavior":null,"state":"ON","update":{"installed_version":1124103171,"latest_version":1124103171,"state":"idle"}}'

info 2025-04-02 09:54:35z2m:mqtt: MQTT publish: topic 'zigbee2mqtt/Philips Hue Bloom IT-Rum A', payload '{"brightness":254,"effect":null,"linkquality":116,"power_on_behavior":null,"state":"ON","update":{"installed_version":1124103171,"latest_version":1124103171,"state":"idle"}}'

info 2025-04-02 09:54:35z2m:mqtt: MQTT publish: topic 'zigbee2mqtt/Philips Hue Play IT-Rum B', payload '{"brightness":254,"effect":null,"linkquality":149,"power_on_behavior":null,"state":"ON","update":{"installed_version":16786434,"latest_version":16786434,"state":"idle"}}'

info 2025-04-02 09:54:35z2m:mqtt: MQTT publish: topic 'zigbee2mqtt/Philips Hue Go IT-Rum', payload '{"brightness":254,"effect":null,"linkquality":76,"power_on_behavior":null,"state":"ON","update":{"installed_version":1124103171,"latest_version":1124103171,"state":"idle"}}'

17

Yeah they are online and working in z2m. Check what devices are shown in the MQTT integration, they might have been renamed to _2.

18

This is a configuration option in Z2M… https://www.zigbee2mqtt.io/guide/configuration/device-availability.html

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