SMLIGHT SLZB-06 – Zigbee 3.0 to Ethernet,USB,and WiFi Gateway Coordinator with PoE, Works with Zigbee2MQTT, Home Assistant, ZHA

Easy setup, good compatibility with all Zigbee devices
Easy to adopt and set up in Home Assistant with Z2M. Worked great with no lag- lights turn on instantly. Seems well build and the price was comparable with other hubs I looked at. Third Reality Smart Plugs, Lutron wall switch, Google Home and a bunch of other devices easily connected since it’s compatible with any zigbee device. This was a good purchase for me.

So much easier than my previous USB setup
Sometimes a product comes along that makes life much easier. This is one of them.I run Home Assistant via a virtual machine running on a Synology NAS.A Sonoff USB dongle connected to the NAS was my Zigbee coordinator.Once I had the Sonoff up and running, I was able to forget about it, because it just worked.The problems started whenever I had to unplug it from the NAS. Inevitably, the USB connectionwas forgotten by the Synology software and I had to remember how to turn it back on again, orthe USB drivers failed. When the drivers failed I was forced to SSH into the NAS and use command line entries to download, and hopefully install, the correct USB drivers. Because this only happened everycouple of years, it was always a challenge to remember how to fix the issue.I have the SMLIGHT connected directly into one of my network switches, and it’s powered via POE.There are no drivers to worry about and it has a very nice web interface that allows complete controlof the device.In my opinion, one of the best features of the SMLIGHT is its ability to spoof the MAC address ofthe Sonoff dongle. Once the MAC address of the Sonoff was entered into the web interface of the SMLIGHT and it was rebooted, all of my devices just assumed that the SMLIGHT was the Sonoff, soI didn’t have to repair any of them. Easy-peasy.The Sonoff was/is a nice piece of tech., but the SMLIGHT takes things to another level.

Works with Home Assistant, support is sketchy or non-existent from my experience.
I use one of these for both Zigbee and Thread. I’m not exactly happy with thread performance as I seem to have limited range. Needed several routers to add coverage. I tried to contact the vendor twice, but got not response, hence my 4 stars.These devices work great with Home Assistant. The Zigbee interface is Ethernet (POE), and the Thread is connected via passthru USB over proxmox powered by POE.

Though complex, these are AWESOME coordinators / routers…
Pros:* POE makes positioning these a breeze. No more “dead zones.”* Rock-solid in both Zigbee coordinator and router roles.* Role for Matter/Thread is currently in beta, which may offer a bit of future proofingCons:* A bit pricey (purchased 3 at ~$65 each).* These are not “plug and play” like a USB coordinator, you need some IT/HA/Z2M experience to get them configuredLocations:* The coordinator is located roughly in the center of the primary floor.* One router in the basement on one end of the house.* One router in the upstairs hallway on the opposite end of the house.Technology Environment:Home Assistant OS virtualized on Proxmox with ZigBee2MQTT integration.Experience:These devices are not for someone looking for an “it just works” Zigbee installation, however, the complexity gives you the power to build the foundation for an extremely strong mesh. Changing roles requires flashing between different firmwares, which if that is something you have never done before, may be a bit confusing though it is all possible from a WebUI hosted on the device itself accessible through LAN/WiFi. If you are already familiar with Z2M, especially if your current coordinator is already not direct-attached USB, getting these devices deployed and configured should be well within your reach. I completely re-built my mesh after installation and fortified even more with some router-capable devices like smart plugs. We now have coverage to practically every square foot of our home.

Plug it in, connect as per instructions….. works GREAT!

Ich nutze den SMLIGHT SLZB-06 seit mehreren Wochen in meinem Smart-Home-Setup als ZigBee-Koordinator in Kombination mit Home Assistant OS. Nach diversen Tests mit ConBee und Sonoff-Dongles kann ich sagen: Der SLZB-06 spielt technisch in einer anderen Liga.Schon die Hardwarequalität überzeugt – das Gehäuse ist kompakt, sauber verarbeitet und wird nur handwarm. Der verbaute EFR32MG21-Chip arbeitet sehr stabil, die Reichweite ist beeindruckend und die Mesh-Performance deutlich besser als bei USB-Dongles. Besonders angenehm ist die Flexibilität bei der Anbindung: Der SLZB-06 kann über Ethernet, USB oder WLAN betrieben werden, wahlweise sogar mit PoE-Versorgung, was in professionellen Umgebungen richtig praktisch ist.In meinem Setup läuft das Gerät per PoE direkt am Switch – kein zusätzliches Netzteil nötig, keine Signalabbrüche. Die Integration in Zigbee2MQTT war innerhalb weniger Minuten erledigt, die Firmware ließ sich problemlos updaten. Auch bei vielen gleichzeitig verbundenen Geräten (aktuell über 60 Sensoren und Aktoren) bleibt die Verbindung stabil, ohne Lags oder Aussetzer.Die Weboberfläche ist übersichtlich gestaltet, zeigt Signalstärken, Firmwarestände und Logs klar an. Besonders positiv: Der Hersteller liefert regelmäßig Firmware-Updates und dokumentiert Änderungen transparent.Fazit: Der SMLIGHT SLZB-06 ist derzeit einer der besten ZigBee-Koordinatoren am Markt. Hervorragende Reichweite, stabile Performance, flexible Anschlussmöglichkeiten und PoE-Support machen ihn zur idealen Lösung für alle, die ihr Smart-Home zuverlässig und professionell betreiben wollen. Absolute Empfehlung für fortgeschrittene Anwender und Technik-Enthusiasten.

Don’t fall into youtube influencers trap, this is not worth buying. It loses connection to zigbee devices, after each interaction needs reload to be able to send commands to device. Just returned it and replaced with SONOFF Dongle MAX, problem solved. Sonoff has far better build quality, plus, it works!!!.