My HA server is in a metal rack in the attic with no USB access, does the ZBT-2 need a usb connection to the HA box or it talks to it wirelessly and just usb for power?
#Does the Home Assistant Connect ZBT-2 need to be plugged into the HA server directly?
polar pewter
celest herald
My HA server is in a metal rack in the attic with no USB access, does the ZBT-2...
The ZBT-2 only works via USB.
celest herald
ok so that's out then
yeah, there is some work being done on making it compatible over network with an adaptor but its not got a timeline or even guaranteed to exist.
celest herald
is the SLZB-06M still one of the best for poe?
I have no personal experience with it but yes it does seem to be a popular choice.
noble saffron
slzb-06 works fine with poe 😉
celest herald
If I was needing a poe one then the smlight ones would be what i would look at currently.
noble saffron
running over half a year without hickups
celest herald
If you have an old RPI playing around you could run z2m on that then plug a zbt-2 into it then integrate the z2m running on that with home assistant. but this would only really be a way to go if you happen to already have these things. if buying new then getting something fit for purpose is better.
polar pewter
If I was needing a poe one then the smlight ones would be what i would look at c...
there are loads of different models, which is the best?
only want to be able to use some aqara zigbee sensors and maybe the ikea ones (if the work with it)
celest herald
there are loads of different models, which is the best?
one of the SLZB-06 would be what i would go with. there is a few subversions. you can look at the smlight website for more details but i dont think it makes a huge amount of difference to most people.
celest herald
only want to be able to use some aqara zigbee sensors and maybe the ikea ones (i...
older ikea stuff is zigbee, new ikea stuff is thread (although some have an undocumented zigbee mode)
whilst zigbee and thread run on the same hardware they are different and if you want both you will need 2 adaptors.
polar pewter
didn't I see that one of them slzbs do thread over matter or something?
and zigbee together or either or?
celest herald
didn't I see that one of them slzbs do thread over matter or something?
most of them do support it but its a different mode (some may require changing firmware too).
polar pewter
this seems to do both, but at the same time?
celest herald
this seems to do both, but at the same time?
so yes, there are versions that have 2 seperate controllers and atenna in them so you can run 2 different modes but i wouldnt suggest these because then you have 2x2.4 atenna close to each other. i would go with seperate ones you can space apart.
will they "work"? yes
will they work as well as 2 separate adaptors spaced apart a bit? no
its just a physics problem at that stage.
having both means you need to build out 2 meshes too. i would keep to just zigbee if that is an option.
thread and matter has some issues and is not as mature as zigbee is.
polar pewter
yeah zigbee would be my preference too, other is a nice to have
eager parcel
The SLZB-MRx are multi radio so separate chips for two radios it differs between models what chips. I'm looking at the SLZB-MR5U myself it has the same chip as the ZBT-2 but two of them so it can do zigbee and matter at the same time.
For me an added advantage is that I want to move my HA install to a VM and the radios being a thing separate from the server makes positioning easier.
It also has a USB port it can share via Network which I'll have to test but I hope to use for a Homematic stick.
simple pelican
For me an added advantage is that I want to move my HA install to a VM and the r...
It's OK for Zigbee but not recommended for Thread.
eager parcel
It's OK for Zigbee but not recommended for Thread.
What exactly?
The dongle, the VM, something else
simple pelican
What exactly?
The latency
eager parcel
The latency
Because of the PoE? It does have the option of being used directly connected via USB that should solve that for now but in the future when the Server is in the basement PoE would be nice in a different location.
I only have one Matter device for now that I bought by mistake, thought I'd give it a try anyways, but just the minute long join procedure I've now seen in a few videos makes me doubt how ready this is for actual use. I wouldn't want to be a company setting up a complete smarthome having to wait that long each time.
simple pelican
Please read this
eager parcel
Huh, I thought this thing would act as a thread border router by itself in PoE mode ... aparently not.
Certainly a weird way to set this up then. For now I'll be fine with just Zigbee but anyways I derailed the topic pretty good...
polar pewter
well good question, poe worse than direct usb at latency? will I even notice?
celest herald
well good question, poe worse than direct usb at latency? will I even notice?
I suspect for most setups there is little to no perceivable difference in practical usage.
simple pelican
This can become more problematic with a large Thread network that will generate significant traffic.
In any case, PoE is not a supported scenario for Thread. It is not recommended.
Fast acknowledgements are required because the serial port speed is much higher than with Zigbee.
polar pewter
but poe is ok for zigbee right?