[ale] Z-Wave or ZigBee

[Alex Carver]

On 2015-08-04 15:57, Chris Fowler wrote:
> ----- Original Message -----
> 
>> From: "Alex Carver" <agcarver+ale at acarver.net>
>> To: ale at ale.org
>> Sent: Tuesday, August 4, 2015 6:40:32 PM
>> Subject: Re: [ale] Z-Wave or ZigBee
> 
>> There's modules from Digi that support Zigbee (the Xbee series) and they
>> also have Xbee modules that support wifi (I currently have three for
>> various HA tasks).
> 
> I've seen the ZigBee and I see shields for arduino. How would my desktop interface with that system? Is there a USB transceiver that will communicate with the modules over RF? 
> 

Sure there are many choices including building one.  The interface to
the ZigBee radio is usually a very simple two wire UART so you can use
that to get to your desktop via a USB UART.


Check this page from Spark Fun:

https://www.sparkfun.com/categories/111

You'll see at the top the Xbee USB explorer (in dongle and wired form)
upon which you mount one of the blue Xbee ZigBee Mesh modules (caution
because there are other versions of Xbee).  That's the DIY route (which
is what I like to do).  For the packaged version you can get something like:

http://www.adaptivem2m.com/zigbee-technology/zigbee-usb-dongle.htm

There are others around, too.

Either way it exposes a serial terminal to the computer and works as a
bridge.  There are also ZigBee to Ethernet gateway modules available
which would allow any machine to speak ZigBee via TCP.  For example:

http://www.digi.com/products/xbee-rf-solutions/gateways/xbee-gateway

(there are USB sticks and other modules at the bottom of that page, too)