ITEAD has just introduced the SONOFF Zigbee Bridge Pro WiFi <-> Zigbee gateway as an upgrade to the Sonoff ZBBridge gateway launched in 2020.
Both devices look exactly the same, and the changes are under the hood with the EFR32MG21 and ESP8266/ESP8285 combo being replaced by Texas Instruments SimpleLink CC2652P and ESP32 chips to boost the number of supported sub-devices from 32 to 128. Other changes include the addition of a buzzer acting as an alarm or doorbell chime, as well as a “built-in high-precision local RTC” for gateway time synchronization of local scene schedules.
SONFF Zigbee Bridge Pro (aka ZB Bridge-P) specifications:
- Wireless MCUs
- Texas Instruments CC2652P SimpleLink Arm Cortex-M4F multiprotocol 2.4 GHz wireless MCU with integrated power amplifier
- Espressif Systems ESP32-DOWN-V3 dual-core processor with WiFi 4 and Bluetooth LE
- Wireless Connectivity – 2.4 GHz 802.11b/g/n WiFi 4 and Zigbee 3.0
- Supports for up to 128 sub-devices
- Support for home security modes: home mode, away mode, and sleep mode (usable as a local alarm)
- Misc – RTC to keep accurate time even when the network is down
- Power Input – 5V/1A via Micro USB port
- Dimensions – 62 x 62 x 20 mm (PC V0)
- Weight – 35 grams
- Temperature Range – -10 to 40°C
The company does not actually list the microcontrollers used, but we can find those from photos shared on the FCC website.
Just like the previous model, it’s supposed to be controlled through eWelink Android app, is compatible with Zigbee devices from SONOFF and third-party, and supports Google Home and Amazon Alexa voice assistants.
Many users may expect support for open-source firmware support, and for instance, the SONOFF Zigbee Bridge model supports Tasmota for integration into Home Assistant, but it’s not quite there for the Pro version. The good news is that Zigbee2Tasmota (tasmota-zbbridge) is already supported on Tube’s Zigbee Gateway with a similar ESP32/CC2652F combo. The code can be found on Github, so I’d expect Zigbee2Tasmota support to come very soon to the SONOFF Zigbee Bridge Pro as well.
SONOFF Zigbee Bridge Pro gateway can be purchased at the ITEAD store for $24.90, and the company offers a range of Zigbee sensors to go along with smart switches and sensors (temperature, humidity, motion, etc…).
Thanks to Hedda for the tip.
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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128 sub-devices in “direct children” or 128 devices if you have many routers ?
Strange that the USB version which have the same chip CC2652P supports only 21 direct children and up to 40 children…
Note that at the bottom of this page about the USB version :
https://itead.cc/product/sonoff-zigbee-3-0-usb-dongle-plus/
We can read :
“*Updated version (in the near future) will be supported to work with maximum 200 children.”
They talk about an update hardware or firmware ?
Firmware as at least that dongle uses unmodified firmware images built by Koenkk available at https://github.com/Koenkk/Z-Stack-firmware/tree/master/coordinator
Suspect they mean that it supports 128 devices in total as if they are using unmodified Z-Stack firmware build images from Koenkk with the same chip) then the CC2652 chip is configured to support 50 Direct Children 100 normal routes and 200 source routes. That is also what their Sonoff Zigbee 3.0 USB Dongle Plus adapter support as it used unmodified Z-Stack firmware build images from Koenkk even if it says something else on ITead’s website. With the limitation probably being ESP32 RAM just as the previous ESP8285 based model supporting 32 devices was limitation of RAM on ESP8266 and… Read more »