Home Assistant Connect ZBT-2 is a Zigbee or Thread adapter designed specifically to work with Home Assistant. It connects to your Home Assistant smart home hub via USB, allowing it to build either a Zigbee or a Thread network via Home Assistant's built-in Zigbee or Thread integrations.
Important:
Home Assistant Connect ZBT-2 is not a standalone product.
- It requires Home Assistant installed on a smart home hub (such as Home Assistant Green).
- It requires devices that are Zigbee- or Thread-capable.
- Optional: Home Assistant Companion app installed on your smart phone.
- Note: the app does not run Home Assistant. It connects to your existing Home Assistant instance, allowing you to interact with it remotely.
Device characteristics
A few device characteristics are listed below:
- Home Assistant Connect ZBT-2 supports either the Zigbee or Thread protocol.
- You can choose the protocol during setup and also switch later, if needed.
- Running Zigbee and Thread at the same time on the same adapter is not supported.
- Home Assistant Connect ZBT-2 does not support Bluetooth or Z-Wave.
- Frequency band: 2.4 GHz
- Processors used: Silicon Labs MG24 (running either Zigbee 3.0 or Thread firmware) and ESP32-S3 (USB-serial bridge).
- Supports ZHA, Zigbee2MQTT, and OpenThread Border Router.
- Hardware and software are open source. The device is easy to open (no clips or glue), with accessible pads and pins.
Compatibility
- Home Assistant supports 2 Zigbee solutions:
- You can run another adapter with the deCONZ or Zigbee2MQTT add-on alongside a Home Assistant Connect ZBT-2 with Zigbee Home Automation.
- You cannot run 2 Home Assistant Connect ZBT-2 adapters with the Zigbee Home Automation integration at once in Home Assistant.
- The Zigbee Home Automation integration is single instance only.
Differences to Home Assistant Connect ZBT-1
Home Assistant Connect ZBT-1 (formerly known as SkyConnect) was Nabu Casa's first Zigbee/Thread adapter released in 2022. It is now discontinued and replaced with Connect ZBT-2. Here is a short comparison between the two generations of devices.
Related topics
- Home Assistant Connect ZBT-2 product page
- Home Assistant Connect ZBT-2 device overview
- Home Assistant Connect ZBT-2 status colors (LED)
- Home Assistant Connect ZBT-2 datasheet
Getting started with Home Assistant Connect ZBT-2
- Getting started: Forming a new Zigbee network
- Getting started: Migrating an existing Zigbee network
- Getting started: Forming a new Thread network
- Switching from Zigbee to Thread