ZigBee / Xbee

Can anyone point me to how to use a stock ZigBee/xbee transceiver with the system?
Thanks

Well I figured it out. The answer is… It’s incredibly difficult but do-able.

Care to explain a little.

I said I figured it out, not that I did it. Turns out you need an xebee pro model with he HA stack. You then have to write a device handler https://smartthings.zendesk.com/entries/21603249-Introduction-to-Writing-Device-Type-Handlers to pair it with the ST system. Way too much work for way too little functionality. I’ll pass on xebec as an option until someone comes up with a sim,e way to integrate them. Sorry.

Thanks, Not a problem. It will get done! :-:slight_smile:

@solardave1:

I am planning to do more exploring of XBee usage. The SmartThings Device Handler writing doesn’t scare me off (especially if they will share, as I have requested, their methods for zigbee.* (and zwave.* too…).

But I still am nervous about ensuring the XBee has the ZigBee HA profile. I thought XBee was a superset.

Turns out you need an xebee pro model with he HA stack

I think there is an XBee setup “Project” here on the board (can’t stand this *%$##@$!@ forum/project software that ST is using, WTF?).

But if you can please point me to some steps? I have various surplus XBees, USB connector, and Arduino shield … to start.

I’m totally confused (a fairly common state). My assumption is that among the gazillion versions out there, there’s a xbee pro model with an HA specific stack/firmware. I’ve sent a note to the brainiacs at seed studio with the question. They happen to be running a fire sale on xbee pro’s at the moment and considering the range advantage, especially with the wire antenna (or full to external antenna) this is a high priority issue (range) for me. I’ll post whatever I get back.

https://www.sparkfun.com/pages/xbee_guide

As far as I can tell, nearly everything but XBee series 1 is hardware ZigBee compatible. XBee is built on ZigBee!

https://www.sparkfun.com/pages/xbee_guide

ZigBee HA is a software subset (higher in the network stack).

Still, for multi vendor ZigBee interoperability, you still need the proper firmware on the Xbee.

Question is: Does it require a $300 development kit to flash firmware, or can USB adapter be used with a free download from somewhere.

ZigBee Pro is a superset that supports multiple ZigBee sub-standards.

XBee 2 and Xbee Pro are in the set of XBee ZB modules and thus are ZigBee compatible
(but probably superset of ZigBee HA unless dumbed down with firmware).

http://tutorial.cytron.com.my/2011/03/06/is-xbee-zigbee/

Quora confirms this:

However, Xbee series2, series2B, and seriesZB are full on zigbee chips complete with the full zigbee protocol. An Xbee device is a specific brand of a zigbee device. Xbees are a zigbee chip placed onto a prototyping chip for easy hobby use and prototyping use. But they are one in the same. Series 2, 2B, and ZB are all capable of anything zigbee can do, including mesh networks and self healing networks.

That’s all correct.
A ‘standard’ Xbee 24ZB will communicate well with smartthings hub.
What you do need is some external controlling capacity to send the required HA command, such as Arduino or you can use XCTU terminal to send the commands just to test it.
The key is the settings. Other folk have published them elsewhere on this forum.
I tried it today and it works great. Lots of fun if that’s your thing.

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Hi @Falcogeorge ,
I consulted your work with xbee and smartthings. I have a similar project : I want to control smartthings sensors with xbee .
Here is the forum link in which you can see in detail what I have done and my problem to solve.
I hope you can help me
link
thank you