SONOFF Zigbee 3.0 USB Dongle Plus-E Gateway, Universal Wireless Zigbee USB Adapter with Antenna for Home Assistant, Open HAB, Zigbee2MQTT etc

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.

've been using the Sonoff Zigbee USB Dongle Plus (ZBDongle) with Home Assistant OS running on an Intel thin client for several months, and it’s performed flawlessly as a Zigbee coordinator. Setup was completely plug-and-play. I didn’t have to flash firmware, install drivers, or tweak any settings. Home Assistant (using the ZHA integration) recognized the dongle immediately, and I was able to begin pairing devices within minutes. So far, I have 43 Zigbee devices connected through it, including a mix of brands like Innovelli, Sengled, SmartThings, IKEA, and Bosch. Everything paired without issue—no quirks, no dropped connections, no endless reboots or retries. Pairing was quick, and the network has remained completely stable. I haven’t experienced any range issues, though I do have several hardwired Zigbee switches installed around the house that help form a strong mesh. I also use a USB extension cable to position the dongle about 3 feet away from my Home Assistant box to avoid any USB interference—this is a best practice with any 2.4GHz Zigbee stick, and it likely helps ensure consistent performance. Compared to my previous experience with SmartThings and later Hubitat, the Sonoff dongle offers better transparency, responsiveness, and local control—especially in combination with Home Assistant. If you’re running Home Assistant and looking for a reliable, no-drama Zigbee coordinator, this one is hard to beat. It just works.

Looking to get into home assistant and zigbee devices? You'll need a zigbee controller. This is the one to get. The internet already knows, and I initially bought a different brand that acted up. Plugged this in and three clicks later I had 3 smart plugs added. This thing works, range is decent, price is right. Get it.

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 products Cons: - 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.

I was skeptical about going Zigbee and using this Sonoff Dongle Plus-E Gateway as a coordinator for my home assistant, but I found that the best choice was to implement the Zigbee2MQTT add-on. Since the dongle is flashed as a coordinator, additional units can be configured as router or extender for Zigbee. It actually covered a much larger area that I expected to with sensors being far away, still worked. I ended up buying Zigbee smart plugs that also act as repeaters which home assistant picked up immediately. So far, it has worked flawlessly and no delays noticed.

I bought this to use with Home Assistant on a Raspberry Pi 5. The system detected it immediately when I connected it, and I followed an Internet video to install it in the software. It works. I followed the advice of everyone in the community to plug it into a USB 2.0 port with an extension cable, rather than a USB 3.0 port or even directly plugging it into a USB 2.0 port - this isn't the fault of this device but rather a fault of the Zigbee protocol itself and of USB 3.0, as USB 3.0 ports tend to generate RF interference that causes trouble for Zigbee devices. The device doesn't need the extra speed of a 3.0 port, and the extension cable allows it to be placed with more flexibility anyway.

Been using mine for over a year now and it’s never failed. Super easy to set up too.

I installed this on my M1 Mac Mini running Home Assistant in a VirtualBox VM. It was pretty much plug and play, except I had to tell the VM to allow access to the native USB device (very easy and not directly related to this product). To illustrate its wide compatibility, I have this dongle connected to 12 ThirdReality smart plugs, one off-brand high-current relay for my well pump, and one Sonoff temperature sensor. Four of the smart plugs have power monitoring, so I was able to create automations for detecting that the washing machine was done, coordinating a surround amp with its associated TV, and alerting if my refrigerated cat feeder is no longer cooling (I use the rest for simple lamp timers). Recommended.

Fungerar till raspberry pi.

Ho acquistato il Sonoff ZBDongle-E per trasformare il mio Raspberry Pi in un gateway Zigbee universale, e devo dire che è stato uno degli upgrade più utili per la mia smart home. Il dongle arriva già pre-flashato con firmware EZNet 6.10.3, quindi è pronto all’uso: l’ho collegato alla porta USB del Raspberry Pi, e Home Assistant lo ha riconosciuto subito tramite l’integrazione ZHA. In alternativa, è compatibile anche con Zigbee2MQTT, che ho testato in un secondo momento per una gestione più avanzata dei dispositivi. Entrambe le soluzioni funzionano alla grande. L’antenna esterna SMA garantisce una copertura eccellente: riesco a gestire sensori Zigbee anche in stanze lontane, senza perdita di segnale. Ho integrato interruttori, sensori di movimento, termometri e prese smart, tutti perfettamente funzionanti. Il dongle è basato su EFR32MG21, con potenza di trasmissione fino a +20dBm, e il guscio in alluminio aiuta a ridurre le interferenze. In sintesi, è un dispositivo affidabile, potente e facilissimo da integrare, perfetto per chi vuole un sistema domotico locale e flessibile. 🧪 Esempi di utilizzo 🏠 Gateway Zigbee su Raspberry Pi: con Home Assistant + ZHA o Zigbee2MQTT 🔌 Controllo locale di dispositivi smart: interruttori, prese, sensori, luci 📡 Copertura estesa: antenna esterna per ambienti grandi 🧑‍💻 Domotica open-source: compatibile con OpenHAB, ioBroker, ecc. 🔧 Espansione rete Zigbee: possibilità di flash come router Zigbee ✅ Pregi Compatibile con Home Assistant, Zigbee2MQTT, OpenHAB Preinstallato con firmware EZNet 6.10.3 Basato su chip EFR32MG21 con +20dBm di potenza Antenna esterna SMA per segnale stabile Guscio in alluminio anti-interferenze Plug & play su Raspberry Pi Supporta decine di dispositivi Zigbee Ottimo rapporto qualità/prezzo ⚠️ Difetti Richiede configurazione iniziale se si usa Zigbee2MQTT Non include cavo di estensione USB (consigliato per evitare interferenze)

I bought the SONOFF Universal Zigbee 3.0 USB Dongle Plus (ZBDongle-E) to use with Home Assistant, and it’s been absolutely excellent. Setup was quick and straightforward, plugged it in, configured it in Home Assistant, and it was ready to go. Devices pair quickly, are recognised instantly, and connections have been extremely stable. I’ve since added multiple Zigbee sensors and devices, and everything works flawlessly. Range is very good thanks to the external antenna, and responsiveness is fast with no noticeable delays. The dongle feels well built, runs cool, and has been solid running 24/7. I’m using it with SONOFF Zigbee devices as well as other brands, and compatibility has been excellent across the board. If you’re building or upgrading a Home Assistant Zigbee network, this dongle is a no-brainer. Reliable, powerful, easy to set up, and great value for money. Highly recommended.

Have used this with Home Assistant (Zigbee2MQTT) to run dozens of Zigbee devices and have been working great. Make sure to follow the recommended guidelines for optimal performance (i.e. using a USB2.0 extension to connect the device has solved a lot of my issues).

Excellent dongle Zigbee, surtout pour une installation Home Assistant. Reconnu immédiatement avec ZHA ou Zigbee2MQTT, ce qui permet de se passer totalement des hubs propriétaires. Très stable et bonne portée, réseau fiable même avec plusieurs appareils. Compatible avec énormément de périphériques (Aqara, IKEA, Philips Hue, etc.), ce qui le rend très polyvalent. Petit plus : firmware déjà prêt à l’emploi et possibilité de le flasher facilement si besoin. À savoir : prévoir une rallonge USB pour éviter les interférences. Globalement, un indispensable pour une domotique propre, locale et évolutive.