#SLZB-MRW10 Hub: Good for HA Beginner? Questions on Z-Wave Certification & Zigbee/Thread

1 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

terse meteor
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I’m considering the SLZB-MRW10 hub as my entry point into Home Assistant. It supports Z-Wave, Zigbee, and Thread, and I’d like to use Z-Wave for my security sensors to avoid relying on mesh connections and the crowded 2.4GHz band.

Two things I’d like to know:

  1. Is this hub a good choice for a beginner with HA, especially given that the Z-Wave support is listed as “non-certified / evaluation only”? Do you think proper/certified Z-Wave support could be added later via firmware/software updates?

  2. Can Zigbee and Thread actually run simultaneously on this hub, or do I need to pick one at a time?

Thanks in advance!

rigid gate
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https://smlight.tech/product/slzb-mrw10 should answer your certification questions. That also points out that there is only one 802.15.4 radio (the CC2674P10) so i'd expect that it won't be able to do simultaneous zigbee and thread.

terse meteor
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@rigid gate
Thanks for the clarification and the link, that makes sense. Given these limitations, would you still recommend the SLZB-MRW10 for someone who’s new to Home Assistant but already has some experience with MQTT?

rigid gate
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Something to be aware of is that the home assistant folks explicitly did not include ethernet support on their ZWA-2 z-wave adapter, because they had issues with the serial protocol such that timing was very important. It might be fine if you have a well-planned reliable network :/

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the network-connected SLZB devices are not "hubs", they're just radios. Home assistant connects to the radios via serial-over-ip to use them.

terse meteor
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Thank you for pointing that out. Initially I intend to run the radio via USB, so the network timing issue should not apply. I appreciate the advice.

rigid gate
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yeah, most of the SZBL devices do support USB, but I don't have any experience with the dual-radio devices to know how that works.

uneven pendant
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Personally I'm not a fan of dual radio setups. Having two separate ones allows for more flexibility down the line.

terse meteor
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Thanks a lot for the input and sharing your opinions. I think I’ll wait until the certification is done, but I’ll most likely go for the SLZB-MRW10 afterwards since it combines Z-Wave and Ethernet support and I’m not aware of any other hardware that offers both.

uneven pendant
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We're working on bridging Z-Wave through ESPHome. Theoretically that should alleviate most issues with serial over ip

rigid gate
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That would be interesting as an alternate/replacement firmware for devices like the MRW10 in the future.

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Which, like most smlight devices, implements the serial over IP on an esp32.