ITEAD has launched a new Zigbee dongle with the Sonoff Zigbee 3.0 USB Dongle Plus powered by Texas Instruments CC2652P wireless MCU which follows the company’s Zigbee 3.0 USB Dongle based on Silicon Labs EFT32MG21 Cortex-M4 microcontroller.
The dongle is pre-flashed with Z-Stack 3.x.0 coordinator firmware which enables ZHA in Home Assistant or Zigbee2MQTT compatibility.
Sonoff Zigbee 3.0 USB Dongle Plus (ZBDongle-P) specifications:
- Wireless MCU – Texas Instruments CC2652P SimpleLink Arm Cortex-M4F multiprotocol 2.4 GHz wireless MCU with integrated power amplifier for Bluetooth 5.2 Low Energy, Thread, Zigbee 3.0
- Connectivity – Zigbee 3.0 with SMA antenna connector, +20 dBm output gain
- Host interface – USB port with CP2102N USB to TTL chip
- Expansion – 5-pin IO header with programming pins
- Misc – Boot and reset buttons, LED, DIP switch for hardware flow control
- Power Supply – 5V/100mA via USB port, LDO
- Dimensions – 87 x 25.5 x 13.5 mm (Aluminum alloy enclosure); antenna: 108 mm length
- Weight – N/A
- Temperature Range – -10°C to 40°C
ITEAD does not directly compare the “Plus” version with the earlier Zigbee 3.0 USB Dongle, but the new model should have a longer range, and possibly support more nodes with “21 direct children by default and up to 40 children”, while also writing “you can modify the relevant configuration to support up to 100 children”.
As a universal Zigbee USB stick, SONOFF Zigbee 3.0 USB Dongle Plus can be used with a Home Assistant gateway or other open-source platforms via ZHA or Zigbee2MQTT to locally control Zigbee sub-devices as explained in a short getting started guide. That means it can be connected to Home Assistant Blue or a Raspberry Pi board for additional Zigbee connectivity. Such gateway would support any compatible Zigbee devices include the many Sonoff “ZB” devices
The SONOFF Zigbee 3.0 USB Dongle Plus ships with an antenna and a user manual for $9.90. But note that supply is limited, and the USB dongle is only up for pre-order, with the second batch of dongles soon to be sold out, and orders after October 18 will only be shipped at the end of November.

Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
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