Third-Party Firmware Turns Sonoff's Low-Cost ZBBridge Into a Zigbee Range Extender
Available for installation now, this custom firmware unlocks a new mode for the low-cost Zigbee hub: range extension.
Sonoff's ZBBridge Zigbee Wi-Fi gateway has a new trick up its sleeve, thanks to a replacement firmware: router mode, allowing it to extend the range of a Zigbee network.
Released in mid-2020 for just $16.90, the Sonoff ZBBridge is designed to connect Zigbee 3.0-compatible devices to a Wi-Fi network for command via the eWeLink app. Its low price made it an attractive target as a platform for other projects, though, and it wasn't long before the device gained Tasmota and Gecko support.
Now, the ZBBridge can also act as a range extender for Zigbee networks, thanks to work by pseudonymous developer xsp1989 brought to our attention by CNX Software — and detailed step-by-step on the digiblurDIY website.
Designed for devices which have already been flashed with the Tasmota firmware, the new release requires a little careful handling during install: It's necessary to insert a specific command so that the device can be placed into pairing mode, while Zigbee2MQTT users need a custom converter adding — a temporary workaround until the device is added as an officially supported product.
The new firmware, released under an unspecified license, is available to download from xsp1989's GitHub comment; step-by-step instructions for its installation can be found on the digiblurDIY website.