Starting Zigbee in Home Assistant: A Beginner’s Guide
Zigbee is one of the easiest ways to add inexpensive sensors, switches and other devices to Home Assistant without filling your Wi-Fi network with gadgets. This guide follows my beginner setup using ZHA.
What you need
You need Home Assistant, a supported Zigbee coordinator and at least one Zigbee device. In the video I use an SMLIGHT USB coordinator. If Home Assistant is running in a VM, remember that the coordinator must be passed through to the VM.
1. Connect the coordinator
Plug the coordinator into the Home Assistant machine. A short USB extension can help keep the radio away from interference from the computer itself.
2. Add Zigbee to Home Assistant
Go to Settings → Devices & services. Home Assistant may discover the coordinator automatically. Select it and choose the recommended setup to create the Zigbee network using ZHA.
3. Put the first device into pairing mode
Every device is slightly different, but most have a small reset or pairing button. Hold it until the indicator starts flashing, then choose Add device in the Zigbee integration.
4. Give devices sensible names and areas
Once a device appears, assign it to the correct room and give it a useful name. Future you will be grateful when an automation contains Bathroom Temperature rather than a mystery model number.
5. Build the mesh
Zigbee is a mesh network. Permanently powered Zigbee devices generally act as routers, while battery devices are usually end devices. As your network grows, place powered routing devices around the house rather than expecting one coordinator to punch through every wall.
Buying inexpensive Zigbee devices
Cheap sensors can work very well, but check compatibility with ZHA before spending significant money. If Home Assistant does not understand a device fully, the hardware may pair while some functions remain unavailable.