ConBee II

Had this for a while, but only recently got around to setting it up with my Domoticz HA. Deconz (the software from the manufacturer) is easy to get and install. It just worked for me. Got to the companion 'web app' that is installed with it, click to add a sensor, press the button on the do-hickie, and off you go! Much better than I expected and they have support for a lot of gadgets in there. I've only added the aquaria stuff so far, but that was failed to add back into my aquaria hub for some reason, and this just detected them. Too a couple goes to pair some stuff, but I belive that is fairly normal. Seems like a good product.

If you have Home Assistant, then adding Zigbee devices, after all your Tasmota'd or ESPHome stuff, is the next evolution. Albeit that Zigbee requires you to learn an addition concept of connection. As to why this is probably the best option out there I will explain further. I started with the Conbee II running on a Raspberry PI Home Assistant OS install, this offered a good solution but initially being green with it, I was using the DeConz add on to Home Assistant to control it, which really isn't bad other than the fact that every time you start it that annoying "Add A Light" mimic page appears which you have to dismiss every time... I like to run Home Assistant as lean as possible with the least amount of add-ons that I can get away with, so I exchanged the Conbee II for a Tasmota'd Sonoff Zigbee Bridge, which uses a TCP port via Tasmota to connect to the Zigbee Gateway, utilising ZHA. This seemed to work adequately enough with my Aqara Motion Sensors and Leak Detectors. When I started adding Blind Motor Controllers, things started getting a little chaotic, which devices starting to drop off the Mesh at an alarming rate with me using up time trying to get them to work. Ultimately I think I was asking too much of the Wifi to TCP to Zigbee box, and it just isn't capable of managing all those devices. I had sold the original ConBee II stick so I bought another. This time, I no longer was using the Raspberry PI for home assistant, but a Home Assistant Blue, and no longer using the DeConz Add in, but set up with ZHA. This combination of a cabled device with HAB, provides much more reliability and also a noticeably faster speed of operation with the Zigbee devices, along with the IKEA Tradfri repeater unit that I have located the other side of my house, it appears to have made the entire Zigbee setup a whole lot more resilient. Yes, the ConBee II is expensive for what it is but it seems to offer the best most robust solution to adding Zigbee Networking to Home Assistant.

Works well with HomeAssistant software on a raspberry pi. Best used with a short USB extension cable so that the signal is not mixed up with noise from the computer.

I had several Hue devices and some some Innr smart bulbs and wanted to add some more sensors to the couple of Hue motion sensors I had. I wanted to add some window/door sensors but didn't want yet another hub taking up a precious power socket, and the ESP8266 sensors I'd built were terrible battery eaters on WiFi. Hue motion sensors are very good but hideously overpriced. Zigbee looked like the way to go (OOOH THE ZIGBEE!) as the sensors run on coin cells and apparently they last for ages. It also meant I could ditch the hubs and use one device to talk to everything - so I bought the ConBee II stick and plugged it into my Raspberry Pi (use a USB extension cable!). This is the best thing I've added to my smarthome setup! I have a ton of Aqara sensors and it sees them all, as well as Hue, Linkind and Innr bulbs. I use the DeConz integration rather than ZHA and it does everything I need. Awesome bit of kit!

no complaints, works great with home assistant, super easy to setup with a decent range.

So you're building your smart home and you've discovered that Hue bulbs won't connect to the Tradfri gateway, the Ikea remotes might play nice with Hue with a bit of shoving, Hive kit is a mixed bag and Xiaomi won't work with anything. It's a painful scenario that us smart home enthusiasts live with daily. Enter the Conbee II. The idea is you attach this to a computer running some general Zigbee software (such as Phoscon Gateway or ZHA) and that sorts out all the nonsense, giving you a single point to connect your smart goodies and, more importantly, a strong and stable Zigbee mesh. Attaching this to a Raspberry Pi and the Phoscon gateway software enabled me to connect everything (except Hive sensors, irritatingly) and get them all working nicely together. Since then, it's been migrated to an ageing Dell thin client PC running Home Assistant and ZHA, which allows me to connect everything (including the Hive sensors, hooray!) and get everything to interact with each other. I've got 48 devices connected and there's no signs of it letting up yet. Yes, this isn't a cheap device, but it's a cheaper than forking out for proprietary hubs. If you're serious about having a smart home, buy a Raspberry Pi and one of these instead of all those hubs. Now, does anyone want a Hue hub or a Tradfri gateway? I know someone who wants rid...

Great bit of kit for Home Assistant and Zigbee devices. Works with Philips Hue without the need for a bridge so all your Philips Hue devices can be controlled locally rather than relying on the cloud or internet connection. Also works with IKEA Tradfri Devices, again removing the need for a hub. I tried a few different configurations recently with Home Assistant and found that Hive Devices also work without the Hub. I'm still in the process of learning so will update later if I find anything useful. Recommend to use a USB extender to remove device from interference such as PC, Raspberry PI, etc

update March 10 2024 - i am really quite happy because it does not ever cause problems, it just works. have used it every day since Jan 23rd 2022. original review June 17 2022 - here is some example python code to control zigbee devices via the conbee II deconz rest api - but first run the conbee II instlaller it will install the deconz app/service and the phoscon app import requests, pprint # ***** you must have the deconz app or service running for this to work ****** # - on windows: from start menu run the deCONZ app - it defaults to port 80 # - on pi from cmd line w/ ui: > /usr/bin/deCONZ --http-port=8008 runThis = 0 windows = 0 portWin = '80' portPi = '8008' if windows == 1: ipAddr = 'http : // <ip address here>:' + portWin key = 'A0xxxxxxEE' outlet1 = '1' else: ipAddr = 'http : // <ip address here>:' + portPi key = '7ExxxxxxA2' outlet1 = '1' if (runThis == 0): # ---------------- get api key # # 1) start the 'phoscon app' from the 'deconz app' ui # # 2) enable 'authenticate app' in 'phoscon app'-gateway-advanced # # 3) set runThisApi = 0 and run the code and you will receive an api key payload = {"devicetype": "my application"} r = requests.post(ipAddr+'/api/', json=payload) # [{'success': {'username': '4E2BA46CB6'}}] if (runThis == 1): # ---------------- turn socket on payload = {"on": True} r = requests.put(ipAddr+'/api/'+key+'/lights/'+outlet1+'/state', json=payload) if (runThis == 2): # ---------------- turn socket off payload = {"on": False} r = requests.put(ipAddr+'/api/'+key+'/lights/'+outlet1+'/state', json=payload) if (runThis == 3): # ---------------- light state r = requests.get(ipAddr+'/api/'+key+'/lights') pprint.pprint(r) pprint.pprint(r.json())

Integrates well with ZHA + home assistant in raspberry PI

Great! I've had it running for about Two years now and it works through out the house with my ZHA (Zig-BEE) integration. I have a lot of dead areas for WiFi and the plugs and TRADFRI IKEA lights with Zig-Bee work seamlessly. As well as all of my Aqara devices i.e button switches, sensors etc. Without having an Aqara HUB! Installed with a USB cable onto a Raspberry Pi with a 200 Gig Hard Drive. Much better than WiFi devices and trying to keep track of all the individual I.P addresses. * NOTE: you have to "tethered" it onto a Pi with a good USB Cable and move it away from the PI rather than having it plugged in directly to your Pi. IF you install a larger Hard Drive (KINGSTON 200GIG!) for Home Assistant. Otherwise it causes interference and won't communicate to your devices, plugs, sensors, bulbs. Overall, it's less expensive than a dedicated HUB like IKEA, Aqara, SonOff etc. It works really well, but you should have a solid knowledge of integrating this type of controller into your Home Automation program such as Home Assistant. Hope this helps someone.

La mejor descripción sería - pasan los años y sigue funcionando. Llevo con el conbee más de 4 años y sigue funcionando como el primer día, despreocupado total de él, allí está haciendo el trabajo que se le pidió en su momento, coordinador toda mi red zigbee. No puedo comparar con otros cordinadores que han salido con los años porque tampoco he tenido la necesidad, sencillamente funciona.

I’ve been using the ConBee II with Home Assistant, and it’s been a great addition to my setup. The installation is pretty straight forward and once that’s done, it runs reliably and integrates well with automations. It’s stable and consistent, which is exactly what you want for a smart home hub. The range covers about two to three rooms in my apartment, which is fine for most setups. For larger spaces, adding a few Zigbee wall plugs or repeaters helps build a stronger mesh network. Overall, the ConBee II is a dependable, well-supported gateway that works as expected once everything’s set up.