Zigbee2mqtt: Esp8266 as zigbee coordinator

[lokomotionn]

Hello, it is possible to use the serial port in esp8266 to connect cc2531 and use it as a coordinator to send data to the mqtt gate. I ask because the server (Raspberry) I have in the basement and I would like the coordinator to be on the floor to get a better range. It would be a nice solution because I have wifi access in the whole house.

[Koenkk]

No, but you could you use another raspberry pi instead of the esp8266.

[kirovilya]

@lokomotionn I think it is possible 😉 I was doing an experiment yesterday...

The main idea is to make a virtual serialport that works on tcp with esp8266.
How will progress - I will write here. I also dream that the coordinator was separate from the server.

further, you can also transfer processing logic to esp8266 later.

[BenNeumeister]

Why not just setup a router on your ground floor as act as the 'center' and then relay the info to the co-ordinator on the pi?

[kirovilya]

Success! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HI4AkD0QGgM

[kirovilya]

esp8266 (wemos d1 mini) flashing with Esp-link https://github.com/jeelabs/esp-link or Ser2Net from EspEasy https://github.com/letscontrolit/ESPEasy

Wiring:
ESP8266 -- CC2530
3v3 -- VCC
GND -- GND
TX -- P02
RX -- P03
GND -- P20
GND -- P04
GND -- P05

For windows virtual serialport https://www.hw-group.com/software/hw-vsp3-virtual-serial-port
For linux http://tibbo.com/support/downloads/vspdl.html (but I am not test)

[JLFN]

Esp8266 flashing
Press the Flashmode button when connection to the computer

Downlad the lastest https://github.com/letscontrolit/ESPEasy/releases
Extract the ESPMega zip file, and open ‘FlashESP8266.exe’
Select the right COM port and select the right Firmware (ESP_Easy_mega-XXXXXXXX_normal_ESP8266_4096.bin)

When it is ready close the flashing tool
The ESP8266 will now emit a wifi signal, connect with it with the following password: ‘configesp’ (more information at https://www.letscontrolit.com/wiki/index.php/ESPEasy#Introduction)
After connection a screen opens in which you can let the ESP8266 connect to your WIFI, if succesfull its new IP address will be shown.
Go to this IP address in your browser and click on devices
or Go to http://192.168.4.1/setup
Click on "Devices" Edit of the first task and select ‘Communication - Serial Server’ from the dropdown list
Fill in the form as following:
a. Name: ZIGBEE2MQTT
b. Enabled: checked
c. TCP Port: a number between 1000 and 9999 "1775"
d. Baud Rate: 115200
e. Data bits: 8
f. Parity: No Parity
g. Stop bits: 1
h. Reset target after boot: - none –
i. RX receive timeout: 0
j. Event processing: Generic
Press Submit

Then its complete the device will get devicename ESP-Easy-0 check your router for the IP or you will get directed after the setup of the Wifi the first time you connected to the device.

You can also try to use ser2net on Linux then use that port.
https://www.letscontrolit.com/wiki/index.php/Ser2Net
Mount with socat
.bash apt-get install socat socat -d -d pty,raw,echo=0,link=/opt/zigbee2mqttdev/vusb/zigbee_cc2530 tcp-connect:IP:PORT

**PLEASE * Make sure the zigbee2mqtt is not using the same chanel as WIFI.

[lokomotionn]

Ser2net has a virtual port client?
How to configure the configuration.yaml file for a virtual serial port?

homeassistant: false
permit_join: true
mqtt:
   base_topic: zigbee2mqtt
   server: 'mqtt: // localhost'
series:
   port: / dev / ttyUSB1

[JLFN]

@lokomotionn
You can mount with socat .

[oriolism]

@lokomotionn Do you have this setup working? If so, its stable? Any downside?

[JLFN]

@lokomotionn and @oriolism check this out https://github.com/Koenkk/zigbee2mqtt/issues/665#issuecomment-445722057

[randybb]

Probably would be nicer to do the whole zigbee to mqtt translation on esp8266. It doesn't make sense to use it just as a wireless (virtual) serial port.

[JLFN]

Probably would be nicer to do the whole zigbee to mqtt translation on esp8266. It doesn't make sense to use it just as a wireless (virtual) serial port.

@randybb You probably should try to make it your self if you believe its possible with the low resource of esp8266 is enough.

[JLFN]

Solved :)

[JLFN]

close this see docs!

[Koenkk]

https://koenkk.github.io/zigbee2mqtt/how_tos/how_to_esp8266_with_cc2530.html thanks to @JLFN

[enomam]

Quick question about the IP used in the socat command - is it the ip of the ESP8266? I'm assuming so, because any other ip doesn't seem to make sense in this use case.

[Koenkk]

@enomam yes

[2016for]

Wow @kirovilya @JLFN @Koenkk. Was in need for something exactly like this!

This basically should act as multiple xiaomi hubs and can be placed anywhere in the house.

How has been your experience with this? How stable are they?
Any interference b/w zigbee of cc2530 and wifi of esp8266?

How's the lag compared to having a router cc2531/0 instead?

Thanks in anticipation

[JLFN]

@2016for i get lag when i controll 3 lamps the same time but i think controlling those as group might solve that. Else its fast response. No problem with interference if you choose right channel.

[2016for]

@JLFN Thanks for the reply mate. Are you using any motion/door sensors?
My current Xiaomi hub setup gives me instantaneous feedback/status of these sensors, really want to be able to replicate that.

[JunShine]

@JLFN Can I replace ESPEasy with ESPHome(https://github.com/esphome/esphome)? How to fill in the ESPHome configuration entry？

[hdo]

Unfortunately this does not work with Docker :-(

As i understand Docker can't deal with symlinks.

[h4nc]

@koenkk is there a reason why the tutorial isn't online any more?

https://koenkk.github.io/zigbee2mqtt/how_tos/how_to_esp8266_with_cc2530.html

[Koenkk]

It has been moved to https://www.zigbee2mqtt.io/information/connecting_cc2530.html which is reachable from the supported adapters page

[tlc76]

Hello,

Meanwhile, the serial server configuration interface has changed. A new field called "TX Enable Pin" was added.
The values in the drop down list are listed in the second screenshot.

Can you please advise how to configure this setting?
Does this mean that one can assign the TX function to one of the GPIO 0, 2, 9, 10 [etc] pins?
Should it be set to "none", due to the fact we are already using the "nominal" TX pin, which is paired with P02 on the CC2530 pcb?

Thanks

---

[tlc76]

And second question: is the configuration mentioned in this post, applicable also to the CC2530+CC2591 version? Or only to the standalone CC2530?

I have the CC2530+CC2591 version and I need to connect it to a NodeMCU board.

Thanks again!

[codmpm]

Is there an interest for building a decent hardware solution (open-source)?
Just sprung to my head, that I have everything (ESP module, CC2530+CC2592 module) on hand needed to built this.