Today, I’m taking you inside my smart home to show how I set up a powerful, budget-friendly Zigbee network that all works within Apple HomeKit. I’ll reveal how I optimized it across multiple floors, avoided WiFi interference, and made it all work seamlessly. So Let’s dive in!

In Todays video I’m going to show you how I set up a strong and reliable multi-floor Zigbee network throughout the house using white labeled devices all purchased from AliExpress. I’ll also share how much I spent on this setup and the websites I used to select my devices. The good news is that All of these devices work together and seamless in Apple HomeKit.

But First – Let’s start with a quick Zigbee 101. Zigbee is a wireless protocol designed for smart home devices and IoT. It works on the same 2.4GHz frequency as WiFi, but it’s optimized to connect devices reliably and efficiently. Well, Imagine you and your friends are playing a game where you pass a message around.

Just like Chinese Whispers or game of telephone. You whisper it to the friend next to you, then they pass it to the next friend, and so on, until it reaches the last person.

That’s kind of how a Zigbee network works! It basically creates its own mesh network. So within this mesh network – Each smart device—like a switch, light or a sensor—is like a friend in the game. They help pass messages to each other to make sure they get to the right device. So, if you want to turn off the light in another room, the message travels through other devices to reach the light and turn it off.

This way, all the devices work together like a team to make sure the message gets where it needs to go and it happens in the speed of light. Basically Zigbee is a powerful choice for smart homes as it is self managed, Does not create bottle necks on your Wifi Network, There’s No need to assign network IP address, it helps connect everything from lights and locks to sensors and thermostats in a secure, low-power network that scales well with more devices.

With those benefits in mind, here’s how I set up my Zigbee network. I primarily used a Raspberry Pi 3, a Conbee II stick,  a 32GB Class 10 microSD card, a USB cable extension, and an open-source software called Zigbee2mqtt. I assembled all these components to create a dedicated server for my Zigbee devices, as I anticipated significant reliance on it.

Don’t worry – I’ve created numerous tutorial videos on how to set up Zigbee2MQTT. As always I’ve included the links in the description.

Now, The Zigbee2MQTT software offers numerous advantages, including the ability to control everything from a single web page with complete local control, eliminating the need for cloud reliance. It provides faster responses, enhanced security, gets regular updates  and seamless integration with Homebridge or Home Assistant.

When it comes to finding affordable Zigbee devices, I rely on two main websites and have left links in the description.

  • Website 1 is my go-to compatibility resource. It lists Zigbee devices supported by various open-source platforms, with filters on the left to sort by device type or platform.On the top right hand corner, you’ll even see the total number of devices supported and it’s updated on a daily basis.
  • Website 2 is the official Zigbee2MQTT repository. Here, you can filter by vendor or feature, but all devices listed are specifically compatible with Zigbee2MQTT. If you don’t see your device, there’s a guide to help you add support for it.

Now, Using these WebSites & Ali Express – I purchased the switches, in wall modules, lights, blinds, extenders, buttons, scene panels and sensor. And again all these purchases were done based on our smart Home blue print.

Now, to make sure all the devices worked seamlessly on my multi-floor layout, I had to plan the network carefully. With Zigbee, everything starts with a Coordinator which in my case is the Conbee 2 stick. This devices creates & forms the zigbee network, communicates with all zigbee devices and is installed in the network rack which is connected to the Raspberry Pi running Zigbee2MQTT.

Next up is I needed devices to act as repeaters or “router” devices, meaning they help extend the network’s reach by relaying signals. So, I placed more routers—like smart switches, smart lights and blinds—strategically on each floor. These are powered devices that stay connected, helping strengthen my network signal.

Others are end devices, or “child” devices, which only receive messages. They are basically your Battery-powered devices, like this button & Scene panels. They  don’t act as repeaters because they’re conserving power, so I placed fewer of these around the house.

An unexpected challenge I had was discovering that not all white label powered devices act as routers! Some are only end devices, which means they don’t strengthen the network. Even though I purchased it from the same vendor. So, A tip here – If you’re building a multi-floor Zigbee network, definitely check if your powered devices are actually routers before installing them.

Now For outdoor spaces – I installed 3 zigbee lights to extend the network into the open air. So if required, I could technically install an outdoor battery operated sensor.

For hard to reach spots like my maintenance room – I used a USB Zigbee extender thats connected to the upper floor zigbee network.

And For my homes entrance which is a floor below – I used inline zigbee modules connected to a Dumb Switch which are all routers and they all connect either to the zigbee extender or to the nearest zigbee devices. So This complete setup gave me a stable Zigbee network across all 4 floors, with 33 devices in total—22 acting as routers and 11 as child devices.

Now to get stability – Another big step was setting up my Zigbee network channel to avoid interference. And this needed to be done before pairing any device to the Zigbee Network. This is because –  Zigbee and WiFi both use the 2.4 GHz band, so they can easily overlap, causing drops in connection or slow responses.

To prevent this, I picked a Zigbee channel that didn’t overlap with my WiFi. So currently my Wifi 2.4GHZ operates on Channel 1, 6 & 11. And on my Zigbee network – I used channel 25 which was further away from the WiFi network.

If you’re doing this yourself, I recommend using tools or apps that analyze your home WiFi channel layout. Since I was using the Unifi Network – it displayed the data and also allows me to tweak the channels as well. The bottom line is – Choosing a clear Zigbee channel can really make a difference in performance.

As I mentioned earlier – To manage my devices, I use Zigbee2MQTT, which is an open-source software running directly on my Raspberry Pi. With this setup, I can view all my devices, and monitor battery levels on sensors—all in one place, completely locally. And the devices are all exposed through the official Homebridge Zigbee2MQTT plugin which responds in  Apple HomeKit flawlessly.

What’s even better is that this setup gives me complete control to make my home just the way I want it, without relying on proprietary cloud services. Now to get more out of Zigbee2MQTT – do watch this video that provides 10 EASY Zigbee2MQTT Tips That will Make YOU an Expert

So, the big question—how much did all this cost?

I bought and installed all these Zigbee devices myself, spending around $1,100, which is less than 1% of the total cost of my home. For the size of the house and the benefits of a low-power, scalable network, it’s definitely worth it. This setup shows you can build a smart home on a budget—even with automated blinds

So last but not the least – Setting up a Zigbee network in a multi-floor home came with a few learning points:

  • What I learnt is that The key to a great and healthy Zigbee network mesh is to add/have many “Zigbee Router” devices relatively close to each other (and always powered on) in order for the Zigbee network as a whole to get good coverage and range, as well as improving the overall robustness and resilience in the network to handle the loss of some Zigbee Routers in case of failures.
  • Select a Non-Overlapping Channel: Avoiding interference is crucial.
  • Make sure to Use a USB extension cable as well as connect to a USB 2.0 port (and not to a USB 3.x port) to avoid any electromagnetic interference.

If you keep these points in mind,  your Zigbee network setup without a doubt will be stronger, smoother and faster in Apple HomeKit.

So I hope this walkthrough helps you plan and build your own Zigbee-based smart home as well as keeping you on a budget. If you have any questions with it – Feel free to Drop me a comment.

Thanks for watching! Don’t forget to Like & subscribe for more updates on our Smart Home journey and other exciting DIY smart home projects.

Until The next time, cheers and happy automation

⏱️ TIMESTAMPS ⏱️:
================
00:00 Opening
00:18 Introduction
00:45 What is Zigbee ?
01:58 Zigbee Benefits for a Smart Home
02:20 Zigbee Smart Home Hub
02:56 Why I used Zigbee2MQTT ?
03:19 Zigbee Device Repository
04:25 Setting up the Zigbee Network
06:47 Zigbee Network Channel
07:51 Zigbee2MQTT Overview
08:35 Zigbee Device Costs
09:03 Lessons Learned
10:05 Closing

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➡️ Website 1 – https://zigbee.blakadder.com
➡️ Website 2 – https://www.zigbee2mqtt.io/supported-devices/

➡️ Zigbee2MQTT Update – https://youtu.be/FACXIKy3B-g
➡️ Zigbee2MQTT Tips – https://youtu.be/wgbCjs0yH4M
➡️ Zigbee Extender – https://youtu.be/uPo7Mi0WLb4
➡️ Homebridge & Zigbee2MQTT – https://youtu.be/efmsed9Aj-o
➡️ Synology & Zigbee2MQTT – https://youtu.be/pwOP53FLbiQ
➡️ Homebridge Tutorials: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLp4dzLbaS43C_34XEYkSSeqxBDcrxylO
➡️ Scrypted Tutorials: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLp4dzLbaS41C-v4BbVq6ys1x1pKiVQky

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