Hi,
yesterday I moved from a Raspberry PI 4 to an Intel NUC.
I am using a Sonoof 3 Zigbee USB Dongle, and operated it on an exctension cord due to the interference from the Raspi.
Is this still neccessary on a NUC?
I Installed the NUC right next to my wifi router so I believe it is still a good idea to keep the Stick a meter away from those sources.
Kind regards
Nils
Absolutely! Look at Hedda’s excellent guide on Zigbee network optimization HERE.
What he said. I believe it’s the USB sockets that cause all the grief, more than the machine itself.
Thank you, thats what I thought.
I have a love hate relationship with zigbee.
I started with a couple of fritz dect sockets and bought a Xiaomi starter set.
I was very annoyed by the Server in Mainland china stuff and 2 months later I discovered ioBroker.
I started building my smarthome with a couple of Zigbee switches and fitted every room with a temp and hydro sensor.
I soon ran into issues regarding the mesh. The behaviour of those things seems so unpredictable.
I now have all actors from shelly and only use zigbee for the temp and door sensors.
However after switching to home assistant the support got WAY better but the behavior is still a riddle to me sometimes 
Nils
Weird Zigbee behavior can usually be solved by having enough routers.
Hi,
I know that.
I have a couple of old xiaomi sockets for that but the layout isn’t optimal, I also had some switches build like shelly but they were pretty unreliable.
I was thinking about putting some ac powered zigbee actors somewhere just for routing tasks.
That’s interesting… i connected my first zigbee dongle (sonoff plus) on my NUC just a week ago, directly on nuc’s usb front port (skull canyon nuc) and so far it works flawlessly, even via two flats signal is almost full (i have oneTRV valve connected to it for testing, more of these valves will come later). I also have my main router just under 1m away, and my NUC is standing directly on my synology nas…
So, i guess i should i expect some problems?
That could very well happen, yes.
It also depends on the USB port(s) of the host. I.e. USB 3.0 ports are much more prone to interference on 2.4GHz compared to USB 2.0 ports. Some in-depths about the latter you will find HERE.
“When USB 3.0 is in use, it will add about 20dB of noise in the 2.4G band, causing radio frequency interference to the 2.4GHz ISM band.”
Yes, thanks, i know about usb3.0 interference, that’s why it’s recommended to disable usb3.0 function on built-in usb port on Asus routers if not strictly necessary, and that’s what i did.
My NUC doesn’t have front or rear usb2.0 (only internal as an option), only 3.0, so I’m stuck there.
But, putting ZigBee dongle on a short cable and fix it away from devices is pretty small problem, i can do that, now that i know it can cause problems.
This is my first ZigBee device - all my devices are wifi, but Sonoff’s trv doesn’t exist in wifi version, so I’m still learning all about ZigBee.
The cost for a high quality USB extension cable is neglectable compared to the headache interference can bring to your Zigbee network 
I’m reading tips on the link above… i guess that using a usb 2.0 extension cable effectively converts usb3.0 to usb2.0, correct?
It downgrades the speed, but the point of avoiding a USB3 port is the radio frequency interference (RFI) it generates. It can interfere 2.4 GHz devices that are close by.
The cable is the best option imho.
There are Ethernet dongles available so you could put the stick anywhere.
When I first built my Raspberry with ioBroker I put it into a drawer with the router.
Last year I built it into my staircase but the Raspby still was too close to the router.
I jsut added 75cm Shieldes USB cable and the quality drastically improved.
Looks like sh*t though.
Yesterday I installed the NUC and was VERY happy that the usb stick worked instantly without repairing etc.
The short patchcables will get rerouted today when the new 75cm Patchcables arrive.
In my opinion it is still too clouse to the router but it is the only way to reach all zigbee sensors because it is the middle of the house.
Nils
True, but if i understood correctly if usb3.0 is working in usb2.0 mode then interferences are not as strong as they would be in usb3.0 mode. (but, i could be wrong…)
I believe this can be clarified best by @Hedda.
There are a lot of factors, but the distance between devices matters. If have a 2.0 USB device in close proximity to that port you’ll still get interference because the 3.0 port is actively transferring data.
The interference will be reduced in the cable
review 4.3 Wireless Antenna Placement
I believe a 3.0 cable is preferable to 2.0 cable - more shielding.
Abolutely, I bought a nicely shielded cable. It worked well.
Imho getting about 0.5m away is the trick.
Unfortunately the ceiling of my cellar has a lot of rebar in it so zigbee connection only works if I put a router directly under the staircase .
If I switch of that router nearly all zigbee devices in the basement loose contact.
Wifi is also very poor.
I have 3 mesh repeaters in the house.
If your network depends on one router, you’re heading for trouble.
For the network to be properly self-healing you need multiple connections everywhere. Ideally every router should be able to connect with pretty much every other router.
It will depend on the layout and construction of your home, but for comparison in my house (small Victorian building with thick walls) I have four or five routers in every room - nine in one of them.
Zigbee is not cheap. 
