I've been building Zigbee devices using the below TI CC2530 based Zigbee board. They work great and I've had no issues with them. I don't have TI development tools for the devices but the firmware offered by PTVO has provided more than enough firmware options.
I've designed my own carrier board for the below Zigbee transceiver (green). The carrier board provides a 5V to 3.3V supply and some other minor abilities.
Would there be a hobby market for a ZIgbee extender using the CC 2530 + CC2592 ? This is claimed to have a 100m+ range using an external antenna.
If I were to do this, I would offer the carrier board with the Zigbee transceiver only, i.e. no housing or power supply. It would be programmed with routing firmware and perhaps some general I/O. I've not created such a thing so while I believe they would provide the best results when used in pairs, I don't really know the best configurations(s).
Thanks for your response. Currently I'm still in the "should I bother" stage. I would be doing it mostly as a service to this community. I'm not interested in creating and selling a product as a side business.
If this sounds a little terse I don't mean it that way.
This is a good idea. Just as an FYI, there are similar devices on the market right now that work with Hubitat as zigbee routers (repeaters). Here's one:
Another really versatile device is the Sonoff zigbee 3.0 USB stick. It comes flashed as a coordinator. However, it can be flashed with router firmware (available with flashing instructions here)
One concern that often surfaces is that the power amp can only boost the TX signal to a wider range. I do not believe that it similarly improves RX range. There could still be use cases in which two of them are yelling at each other.
I would not consider trying to make another since these are available and with a case and all.
As I mentioned I would only consider this if it would help the community with issues with no other solution.
It would seem these would be an option for the poster who has a outbuilding 100M from their house.
It looks now like I won't be working on a High Power Zigbee Router for now. However if you want information on how I put mine together and access to the bare PCB on OshPark, let me know.
I don't know if there's a thread here. The zigbee2mqtt thread in the home assistant forums have reports of a range that is at least 50 yards. I have a similar router (not made by Tube) that does 50+ feet .....
I've designed two PCB designs. Both basically are a carrier for the as a carrier and addes a 5 to 3.3v supply to the board.
Buildind the board requires some soldering of the cc2530 to the carrier board. then programmimg
requires an programing Arduino sketch. This program turns an WEP nodemcu V1 into a serial programmer. with this inplace a program which runs from the command promp on a PC will sent data to the nodemcu which knows how to plash the cc2530
The whole process and does not make one write any code.
If it is transmitting 50 yards, that's interesting for some outdoor zigbee fun. 50 feet ...not so much. And this pairs with HE directly without any flashing?
