Problem communicating with xbee pro s2b using xctu

I’ve bought an xbee pro s2b and want to connect it to SmartThings Hub. I plug the device into a simple USB adapter.

I start up XCTU, attach the USB cable to the PC and attempt to connect to the device. XCTU initiates the connection, throws up a prompt to press the reset button which then automatically disappears after a few seconds (there is no reset button on this USB adapter) and then a few seconds the failed to connect message appears.

I’ve tried Xbee recovery and it appears to install the firmware fine but then the same problem occurs.

Hmm… you can try resetting the module without a button by shorting pin 5 (RST) to pin 10 (GND). Assuming the headers are through-hole, you can just touch a bent paperclip between them on the back side of the board.

Not sure if you found it already, but I had pretty good success using this guide to getting an XBee working with SmartThings. Biggest hiccup was related to the encryption key. You must use the key in the guide. That is the key that all HA Profile devices use. Don’t go randomly generating one like I did… the network join will fail.

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What is probably happening is your xBee is configured as an end-node and going to sleep. It shouldn’t do that while your communicating with it, but it will go to sleep if you don’t send any traffic to it for awhile. In the perfect world you would never know it is sleeping as the serial traffic will just be buffered for a brief second while it is sleeping and processed when it wakes up. But if your USB to serial device is having communication problems it will appear to lock up. You may want to try turning hardware flow control on in your XCTU “Add radio device” settings. If it is already on turn it off and try different settings.

Once you get it communicating you will need to follow the instructions I laid out in this post FAQ: Mapping your ZigBee network with Digi's XCTU

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Thank you for your reply.

I eventually got to the bottom of the issue by using a different USB adapter for the Zigbee module that I borrowed from work. I plugged the module into the adapter, put it into the Mac’s USB port, scanned for devices using XCTU and immediately got a device to pop up. After that it was plain sailing using your instructions.

So I’m binning the cheap USB adapter that I bought and am now looking for a reliable alternative that I can easily buy in the UK.

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