SONOFFZigbee USB Dongle Plus-ZBDongle-E 3.0 External Antenna Interface SMA Gateway Universal, Pre-Installed with Zigbee Firmware Based on EZNet 6.10.3 Coordinated Home Assistant or Zigbee2MQTT

For anyone starting their smart home journey, the SONOFF Zigbee 3.0 USB Dongle Plus-E Gateway is a fantastic choice. This gateway has been a rock-solid performer in my own home lab setup, seamlessly integrating with my virtual machine running Home Assistant. Its impressive range and reliable performance have made it a cornerstone of my smart home ecosystem.Effortless Passthrough for Virtual Machine Integration:One of the key advantages of the Plus-E Gateway is its ease of integration with virtual machines. I was able to effortlessly pass the device through to my Home Assistant virtual machine, allowing me to manage my smart home devices directly within the platform. This simplified setup process was a major bonus, saving me time and frustration.Unmatched Range for Extensive Coverage:The Plus-E Gateway's impressive range is a game-changer. Despite my server being located in the basement, it flawlessly connects to devices on the second floor, ensuring complete coverage throughout my home. This eliminates the need for additional repeaters, saving money and streamlining your setup.Rock-Solid Performance for Stable Connectivity:Throughout my experience, the Plus-E Gateway has been a beacon of stability. I haven't encountered a single dropped connection or any other performance issues. This reliable operation provides peace of mind, knowing that my smart home devices are always under control.An Excellent Starting Point for Your Smart Home Dreams:If you're just starting your smart home journey, the SONOFF Zigbee 3.0 USB Dongle Plus-E Gateway is the perfect foundation. Its ease of use, impressive range, and rock-solid performance make it a fantastic choice for anyone looking to build a reliable and future-proof smart home system. I highly recommend this gateway to anyone who wants to start automating their home and enhance their daily life.Overall, the SONOFF Zigbee 3.0 USB Dongle Plus-E Gateway earns high marks for its seamless integration, impressive range, stable performance, and ease of use. It's a fantastic choice for anyone looking to take their first steps into the exciting world of smart homes.

While Philips (Signify) has been working hard to force a cloud account on their customers to continue using Hue light bulbs, I've been testing numerous Zigbee products to find an alternative that will allow my family to continue using their bulbs before they turn them all off- or turn us into their product.This works great! It's plug & play with Home Assistant (HA) on a cheap Raspberry Pi. No more Hue bridge, no more worrying how long until Philips starts charging me a monthly fee to use light bulbs I've already paid for.Pros:- Works with every Hue product I have- Great distance (I no longer need two Hue bridges to cover my house)- Virtually Plug & Play with HA (plug it in, it gets detected and prompts for installation and detects your devices)- No cloud account required, no privacy/security concerns, no corporation selling you a product then forcing you to route all their data through them years after you've purchased their products.- Works flawlessly with Apple Home productsCons:- Doesn't work with Amazon Alexa in HA without going through some hoops.- Setting this up on a Raspberry Pi with Home Assistant is still a bit geek-oriented requiring a little instruction-following.

Easy to set up with a few tutorials online. Definitely get a USB extension cable so it can be mounted away from interference. Using it with z2m and it just works. Was able to update with ember drivers with another tutorial. Still new to adding items to me setup but so far so good

Using on my HA server running HAOS. Was supported natively, using a HP ProDesk 600.

Works flawlessly with Home assistant and ZHA. Setup was automatic. No problems connecting to devices inside and out. Zero complaints.

I wanted to use this with Home Assistant. I have the -E version with the MG21 chipset. I wanted to update the firmware to either OpenThread or the multiprotocol ZB/OT firmware. This turned into an unexpected challenge.It came with firmware so old that none of the current flashing tools would get it into flashing mode. I had to open it to use the override buttons. You have to push and hold the Boot button while plugging it in, or hold Boot while pressing Reset momentarily.Once you actually get it into flashing mode, you can use the usual tools. I used the usual darkxst web flasher. It reported old 6.x EZSP firmware while the current version is 7.x. It was easy to either update to the current EZSP firmware, or switch to either Multiprotocol or OpenThread at this point. There were no surprises.Performance wise, it has been reliable and the external antenna is quite a step up over the usual dongles or the Home Assistant Yellow that I was using it with.There is a QR code in the tiny manual in the box that has unlisted documentation links for reflashing. It's not very clear but provided the clues for me to get it to work.Do be careful to not confuse this with the -P version with a different chipset. The -E version is what you want with Home Assistant.Overall, I recommend it still in 2024, but be prepared for some hassle with flashing.

This dongle cleared up many issues that were occurring with a different zigbee dongle.The install was straight forward and did not require any additional drivers.

Works great with Home Assistant. I have used it with TP Link outlets and Martin Jerry no neutral wire single pole Light switches. Discovers everything with no issues. great product