Frédéric Dubois' ZiGate-Ethernet Is an ESP32 Gateway with Wi-Fi, BLE, Ethernet, and Optional Zigbee
Designed to nestle in Raspberry Pi 4-compatible cases, this ESP32-powered gateway looks to simplify home automation projects.
Engineer Frédéric Dubois has launched an ESP32-based home automation gateway, offering native Wi-Fi, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), and Ethernet connectivity — and optional Zigbee connectivity though a secondary module.
Dubbed the ZiGate-Ethernet, and brought to our attention by CNX Software, Dubois' design aims to simplify home automation installations by offering a central gateway for remote devices — including integrated Wi-Fi and Bluetooth Low Energy connectivity, provided by an on-board Espressif ESP32-WROOM-32E module, and a wired Ethernet offering 10/100Mbps support.
Dubois' design includes an oversized footprint compared to the components used, but there's a method in the madness: The board is built to fit into the official Raspberry Pi 4 Case — and, by extension, any third-party case compatible with the Raspberry Pi 4 Model B.
An on-board general-purpose input/output (GPIO) header provides ten GPIO pins, seven supporting analog-to-digital conversion (ADC), and access to a UART bus plus 5V, 3V3, and ground connectivity — and also offers support for an optional PiZiGate+ module, which adds Zigbee connectivity to the mix.
On the software side, Dubois is recommending Tasmota — though ESPHome should also be supported, and buyers also have the option of running their own code from the board's generous 16MB of flash.
The board is now available from the ZiGate shop at €49 (around $58).