Sonoff ZigBee 3.0 USB Dongle Plus (CC2652P) vs Zigate 2

[djdehaan]

I currently use the Zigate 2.0 zigbee coordinator. I notice that many people mention the Sonoff ZigBee 3.0 USB Dongle Plus (CC2652P). Is that coordinator better that the Zigate 2? And do I need to re-connect all devices to the Sonoff if I switch?

I expect a much better coverage and signal strenght because of the external and bigger antenna. Is that to be expected?
Is there any better coordinator that work with Domoticz?

Thank,
DJ

[lostodos]

Hi DJ,

I currently have a PiZigate+ V2 (internal antenna) and I am not so impressed with the stability and range of it. This is why i purchased the Sonoff 3.0 USB dongle plus. My goal is to move the devices from the Zigate to the Sonoff and then remove the Zigate (not going as smoothly as I hoped but working on that).

I think it is safe to say that devices need to be paired from scratch with the Sonoff dongle as it is a completely new (and different) coördinator.

I also expect better range and coverage with the Sonoff. I hope to get it to work soon so I can share my findings.

Regards,

Mark

[Thorgal789]

To expend coverage, you need to use more routers, not a more powerfull coordinator.
It's a meshed network, devices need to use the closer router, not necessarily the coordinator.

If you have only sensors, change the protocol, zigbee is not for you.

[mce35]

Hello,

Recently I had some issues with my Zigate v2 (error 87 - not able to add any new object anymore, I tried to flash the latest firmware which was supposed to fix the issue, but it looks like the Zigate was somehow corrupted and not detected correctly by the firmware update tool). I had some other issues (random loss of objects in the network) in the past with Zigate (both v1 and v2).

I bought a Sonoff dongle plus (CC2652P) a few weeks ago, and for now it is working well.

Of course I had to recreate the Zigbee network (pairing all objects), but since the Zigbee for domoticz plugin supports both the Zigate and the Sonoff dongle, I just had to reconfigure it to use the new dongle, the same widgets are used in domoticz - no loss of history data from sensors.

I hope it will continue working well.