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.

My purpose for this was to add Zigbee support to my Raspberry Pi-based Home Assistant setup.The day the device arrived, I opened the package, screwed the antenna in, and plugged it into the Pi. Opened up the HA control panel and the device had already been discovered. Setup took no time.From there I added Zigbee IKEA bulbs and smart outlets. HA found them immediately, and I was good to go within minutes.

I have this tied into a Home Assistant on PI-4 and it worked great! Easy plugin. The price point is great and signal strength is solid!

Rock-Solid Zigbee, No NonsenseThe Sonoff Zigbee USB Dongle Plus (aka ZBDongle) is one of those little devices that quietly becomes the MVP of your smart home setup. It just works—and in the world of Zigbee hubs, that’s saying something.Plug it in, pair it with Home Assistant or Zigbee2MQTT, and boom—you’ve got a stable, reliable Zigbee network faster than you can say “why won’t this smart bulb pair?” No cloud nonsense, no vendor lock-in, just pure local control like nature (and nerds) intended.Range? Solid. Device pairing? Snappy. Stability? Chef’s kiss. It’s like the dongle equivalent of that friend who always shows up on time, brings snacks, and never asks to borrow your Wi-Fi password.If you're building or upgrading your Zigbee setup, don’t overthink it—this one’s a winner.

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.