Home Assistant Launches the Bigger, Faster Connect ZBT-2 Zigbee/Thread Dongle

Home Assistant has announced another new USB radio dongle, following on from the launch of the Connect ZWA-2 earlier this year: the Connect ZBT-2, a Zigbee or Thread adapter designed to replace proprietary hubs with a direct link into your Home Assistant server.

"Too many people have too many smart home hubs in their homes. Every time they need a new device, it requires another app, and who knows what that app is doing with your data," says Home Assistant founder Paulus Schoutsen of the thinking behind the new gadget. "Connect ZBT-2 combined with Home Assistant, ends this smart home hub chaos, and lets you take back control of privacy. It opens up the biggest selection of devices available on the market, from some of the biggest brands. It lets you connect them directly to a smart home system that lives in your home, not some random cloud. On top of that, it provides a faster, more reliable connection to those devices."

The Connect ZBT-2 is, as the name implies, a successor to 2022's Connect ZBT-1, the first in Home Assistant's Connect family. The biggest change: a major boost in performance, the company claims, with internal testing showing it delivers "quadruple the [internal] speed" thanks to a shift to the Silicon Labs EFR32MG24 Series 2 multi-protocol wireless system-on-chip. There's also an Espressif ESP32-S3 on-board, as with the Connect ZWA-2 launched back in August — delivering support for custom firmware and on-device data processing.

You don't have to make use of the ESP32-S3, though: Home Assistant promises plug-and-play compatibility, linking any Home Assistant install to wireless devices by simply plugging it in to a free USB port — with configuration handled by a step-by-step wizard, supporting either the creation of new Zigbee or Thread networks or migration of existing networks. ZHA, Zigbee2MQTT, and OpenThread Border Router modes are fully supported, along with over-the-air (OTA) update compatibility with "major brands," and the company says it can replace hubs from companies including Philips, IKEA, Aqara, and Sonoff.

Those who straddle technologies and run co-existing Zigbee and Thread networks, however, should take note of Home Assistant's warning: while the Connect ZBT-2 can be configured to work with Zigbee or Thread, it can't do both at the same time — so you'll need two running side-by-side. "Though it is theoretically possible with the hardware within Connect ZBT-2," the company explains, "in our experience, this functionality doesn't work well, and we don’t plan to implement it. We previously thoroughly tested multiprotocol with our Connect ZBT-1 adapter and found its operation to be inconsistent, often causing device stability issues. We do not believe multiprotocol is suitable for operation in the home, and strongly recommend dedicating a device to each protocol."

The Connect ZBT-2 is now available, from $49, with more information available on Home Assistant's product page.