"Zzh!" (short for "Zig-a-zig-ah!") open-source hardware licensed Zigbee USB-stick based on TI CC2652R

Configuration Zigbee
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“Zzh!” (short for “Zig-a-zig-ah!”) Zigbee USB-stick/dongle/adapter by Electrolama (open-source hardware licensed projects by Omer “omerk” Kilic and friends) is now available for purchase for $35 via Tindie.

Based on the Texas Instruments CC2652R (a.k.a. CC2652R1 / CC26X2R1) MCU radio chip this can be seen as a much more powerful radio and Zigbee 3.0 capable replacement for the popular CC2530 and CC2531 Zigbee coordinator USB-sticks/dongles/adapters.

More detailed information is available on the project page at Electrolama:

Zzh! (Zig-a-zig-ah!) design is released as open-source hardware licensed under the Solderpad Hardware License 2.0 with its PCB schematic source files available in EAGLE format on GitHub, meaning that if you have the skills you can help the community improve the hardware and/or build your own adapter.

Z-Stack 3.x (Texas Instruments Zigbee Stack) based Zigbee 3.0 coordinator firmware already available for it from the Zigbee2mqtt project makes it already compatible with the Zigbee2mqtt gateway with Home Assistant (as well as with other home automation software such as IoBroker, Domoticz, and OpenHAB).

There is also initial experimental support for it in the native ZHA integration built-into Home Assistant (which is compatible with many different Zigbee adapters from multiple manufacturers, without Zigbee2mqtt).

It should be highlighted that while both Zigbee2mqtt and the native ZHA integration in Home Assistant can be generally be considered stable, the newly added support for this and other types of Texas Instrument CC chip-based Zigbee adapters to the native ZHA integration is still experimental thus not yet stable so I would only recommend these dongles to developers wanting to help the development of the native ZHA integration or experiment right now.

Note! I have no direct or indirect affiliations with this product or any of its manufacturers/parts.

PS: FYI, I read on the Electrolama project page that Omer Kilic also has plans to design an even more powerful version (nicknamed " zzh-p") based on the most costly CC2652P chip which CC2652/CC26X2 radio chip has an integrated PA (Power Amplifier).

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Damn…

Out of Stock

already :joy:

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You snooze… you lose

:rofl:

Well that just put off my foray into zigbee until they have these (newer chips) more widely available and the implementation niggles sorted.

@Gamester17 Thanks for the news snippet

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Sold out after only 8-hours! @OmerK posted on Twitter that there should be more in stock this weekend

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There are new stock, just ordered one.

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Out of stock again. Hope that more will become available this weekend

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Anyone actually running one of these?

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Yes, using mine with zigbee2mqtt on my pi4. Required a USB extension cable as I guess there was too much interference from the pi4 itself when i had it plugged in there directly and it simply wasn’t seeing any of my zigbee devices when i tried to pair them. This is not the zzh’s fault, apparently this is common on pi4 with the older zigbee sticks too.
Only took me 2 days of colourful language and digging on google to figure this out (it’s my first zigbee stick), and since then it has been working flawlessly.

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FYI, I read that Omer sent out prototypes to developers of Zigbee2mqtt and zigpy (zigpy-cc and zigpy-znp) and they have publicly confirmed that they tested the zzh adapter with Zigbee2mqtt and ZHA (zigpy)

I have ordered one myself and it just arrived the other day but not made the time to unpack it yet.

You can assume Omer is not mass-producing as Tindie seller only list “27 Orders” yet it is sold out.

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i’m actually trying to decide whether to do a run and build a few units myself from his design files. There’s not a lot to it, just trying to weigh up whether its worth the effort/time/dollars/performance over my current CC2530 setup.

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FYI, Omer is also working on a “zzh-p” version design that is based on CC2652P (built-in Power Amplifier) instead of CC2652R. I think that might could provide more value if doing an upgrade.

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Ahh yes, interesting. This might be the way to go, will keep an eye out. Cheers!

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I would like to hear experiences with this stick. Especially with when you have a lot of zigbee devices.

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Currently I’m using the CC2531 USB sniffer in combination with zigbee2mtqq hooked to Home Assistant. All works fine but the range of this thing isn’t that well. According to this page https://www.zigbee2mqtt.io/information/supported_adapters.html the range of the zzh stick would be very good. Can some somebody tell me more about the range of this thing an hopefully also into comparison with the CC2531? Would be much appreciated!

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zzh stick has an external antenna so it will have better range if you compare to those CC2531 adapters which does not have an external antenna, but as niether the CC2652R or CC2531 has a PA (Power Amplifier) you probably won’t get much better range if your existing CC2531 also has an external antenna.

However if range to and from devices that are direct-attached to the Zigbee coordinator if your main concern then you are really designing your Zigbee mesh network the wrong way as you should be using routers (mains-powered Zigbee devices) which acts as repeaters. Your routers should be connected to your Zigbee coordinator or another router and your end-devices (battery-operated devices) should only be connected to the closest router. Suggest that you start by buying a few “IKEA TRÅDFRI Signal repeater” (E1746) to act as routers in your Zigbee mesh network.

Another must is to use a 1-meter or longer USB-extension cable to move away your Zigbee coordinator adapter as far away from your computer/NAS and any walls or ceilings/floors as possible.

You could otherwise think about buying a better external antenna and/or wait for the upcoming “zzh-p” version in development as mentioned because that will be based on CC2652P (Power Amplifier) instead of CC2652R and thus have improved range.

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I do not have that many Zigbee devices myself but suggest that you read comments in and [HW RECOMMENDATIONS] CC1352P-2 verses CC26X2R1 (CC2652/CC2652P) verses CC2652R/CC2652RB-based Zig-a-zig-ah? · Issue #10 · zigpy/zigpy-znp · GitHub and | Zigbee2MQTT

There is also a general note about how many devices it should handle without problems in Z-Stack-firmware/coordinator at master · Koenkk/Z-Stack-firmware · GitHub

Summery; these have a very fast MCU with a lot of RAM so should have no problems with 100+ devices (tough a maximum of around 200 direct attached devices is recommendaed, so if you want to have more then you need to use routers, which is something that you should be using in any case).

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Wondering when there are new devices on Stock. Seems like the dude is soldering these oh his own. :sweat_smile:

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looks like it should be back in stock soon… https://twitter.com/OmerK/status/1272975489926397957

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Thnx for your reply. I already have an usb extension cable attached to it. Problem I have is that I only use zigbee sensors and no maons powered devices at this point. Getting that IKEA repeater sounds interesting. How do I hook this up to my zigbee2mqtt network. Just like normal I guess. Do my sensor automatically connect to this new router or do o have to rejoin them?

Don’t know if zigbee devices have single ‘parent’ or if that is dynamic.

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Most sensors will find a new route by themselves. The one exception is xiaomi sensors, these have the tendency to stick to the router/coordinator they were originally paired with. Best is to re-pair them to the new router.