Technical specifications for the ZBDongle-E and ZBDongle-P indicate the use of either the Silicon Labs EFR32MG21 or the Texas Instruments CC2652P SoC. Material analysis confirms a full aluminum alloy housing designed for electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding and thermal management. The hardware features an external SMA antenna port for high-gain signal propagation and is specified with an integrated +20dBm power amplifier.
Performance metrics demonstrate support for over 200 Zigbee devices when used as a coordinator. Standardized testing protocols show the device utilizes a CP2102N USB-to-UART bridge. Technical documentation specifies that the dongle should be deployed with a USB 2.0 extension cable to mitigate 2.4GHz interference generated by USB 3.0 ports on host computing hardware.
System requirements include a host environment such as Home Assistant or Zigbee2MQTT, as the device lacks a native cloud interface or consumer-facing mobile application.
Users requiring a plug-and-play consumer experience should consider the ThirdReality Matter Bridge as an alternative to this professional-grade radio coordinator.
This hardware acts as a foundational tool within the open source hubs e g home assistant kits classification.
