SONOFF Dongle Plus MG24, also called Dongle-PMG24, is a Zigbee/Thread USB dongle based on Silicon Labs’ EFR32MG24 wireless SoC, which offers the same features as the SONOFF ZBDongle-E with an EFR32MG21 SoC, but with “better performance”.
SONOFF says the Dongle Plus MG24 comes with 300% more RAM (256KB) and 100% more flash (1536KB) than the ZBDongle-E/Dongle Plus E (I wish the company would just stop giving two names for each of its products…), offers a range of up to 200 meters with the provided 3dBi antenna.
SONOFF Dongle Plus MG24 specifications:
- Wireless SoC – Silicon Labs EFR32MG24
- MCU core – Arm Cortex-M33 MCU @ 78 MHz
- Memory – 256 KB RAM (300% more RAM than ZBDongle-E)
- Storage – 1536 KB flash (twice the flash of ZBDongle-E)
- Radios/Protocols – 802.15.4, Matter, OpenThread, Zigbee 3.0, BLE, Bluetooth Mesh, Proprietary 2.4 GHz, Multiprotocol (for the SoC, but only Zigbee is used here)
- Connectivity
- Zigbee 3.0 with external 3dBi SMA antenna (upgradeable to 4.5dBi antenna)
- Range up to 200 meters (line of sight)
- Tx Power – Up to 20dBi + 3dBi from the antenna
- Host interface – USB Type-A male port using CP2102(N) USB-to-serial bridge; 1-meter USB cable provided
- Power Supply – 5V/100mA via USB port
- Power Consumption – 40 mW (Standby)
- Dimensions – 214 x 18 x 10mm (Aluminum, ABS+PC enclosure)
- Weight – N/A
- Temperature Range – -10°C to 40°C
- Humidity – 5% to 95%RH
SONOFF Dongle Plus MG24 is compatible with Windows, Linux, macOS, Raspberry Pi OS, and other operating systems with USB serial drivers, and works with Home Assistant, Zigbee2MQTT, IoBroker, and OpenHAB.
The USB dongle supports the EmberZnet (EZP) by default, but it can also be flashed with Zigbee NCP, Zigbee Router, OpenThread RCP, MultiPAN RCP, or custom firmware as explained in the online user guide.
The table above compares all four Zigbee dongles from SONOFF: the Dongle Plus P, Dongle Plus E, Dongle Plus MG24, and the upcoming Dongle Max (aka Dongle M), which has a different design with PoE support, an ESP32 WiFi and Bluetooth SoC, and a SiLabs MG24 Zigbee 3.0 SoC. The Dongle Max will be released later this month, and I’ll likely cover it in detail once it’s out, although Paisit should also get a sample for review.
The main differences between the MG21-based Dongle Plus E and the Dongle Plus MG24 are that the latter works better for MultiPAN firmware and comes with a USB extension cable, likely to prevent potential interference between USB 3.0 and Zigbee 3.0.
SONOFF sells the Dongle Plus MG24 for $35.50, which compares to $23.16 for the MG21-based Dongle Plus E. You can use the coupon code cnxsoft for a 10% discount on any products on the new SONOFF store.
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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