Home Assistant SkyConnect USB Stick: Upgrade Your Smart Home

Looking to expand your smart home capabilities? The Home Assistant SkyConnect USB Stick is a perfect fit, especially if you're already using Home Assistant. This handy device bridges the gap between your smart home hub and devices, allowing for seamless control and automation. 

Home Assistant SkyConnect USB stick is a physical radio adapter/dongle hardware designed to match Home Assistant Users perfectly. It is compatible with multi-protocol (Zigbee/Thread/Matter) and provides consistent Over-The-Wire (OTW) Firmware Update, allowing a beginner-friendly experience for Home Automation integration.

The Home Assistant SkyConnect is designed to be a perfect match for Home Assistant Users. The device provides an easy connection with Zigbee and will support Matter specifications with a firmware update from Home Assistant. The product supports Over-The-Wire (OTW) Firmware Update via the USB interface, which allows easy and quick firmware updates for both protocols. The device is an EFR32 Series 2 (Silicon Labs EZSP v8) adapter that will transmit at a power of +20 dBm. The drive supports full-speed USB 2.0 when plugged into the included USB extender.

The hardware is based on a Silicon Labs EFR32MG21 SoC with an IEEE 802.15.4 multi-protocol 2.4GHz radio MCU that is capable of concurrently running both Zigbee 3.0 (EmberZNet/EZSP) and Thread (OpenThread/Spinel inc. Matter/CHIP over Thread) stacks/protocols at the same time by using firmware in RCP RCP (Radio Co-Processor) mode. Direct local serial communication will be via an onboard USB-to-UART bridge/converter (presumably a chip in the Silicon Labs CP210x series).

The Home Assistant will provide an Add-on to contact the Ember Stacks for Zigbee and Matter. Home Assistant will consistently update the firmware to provide the best user experience from a Zigbee/Matter Adapter. The USB Stick will be Plug and Play, tightly integrated with the Zigbee Home Automation integration, allowing for a beginner-friendly experience. 

Note: The SkyConnect will not run Matter immediately on launch, but using Home Assistant, the firmware will be updated to enable Matter when the firmware is finished being developed. This is due to the matter not being released until November and not all the information being available. The Home Assistant is already working on their Matter implementation, but more information will be provided after November.

• Perfect match for Home Assistant Users: easy connection with Zigbee and will support Matter specifications in the future with a firmware update from Home Assistant.

• High performance, low power, and secure solutions: powered by EFR32MG21 Wireless SoC, 2.4GHz Multi-Protocol USB Transceiver, supports full-speed USB 2.0 when plugged into the included USB extender.

• Reliable communications: transmits at a power of +20 dBm.

• Runs 2 protocols simultaneously: dual-protocol operation(Zigbee, Matter).

• Consistent Firmware Updates: Over-The-Wire (OTW) firmware update support.

Home Assistant is open-source home automation that prioritizes local control and privacy. Powered by a worldwide community of tinkerers and DIY enthusiasts, it is perfect for running on a Raspberry Pi or Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 powered Home Assistant Yellow, reTerminal - RPi CM4, and mini router with dual gigabit ethernet, or a local server such as Seeed Odyssey Blue powered by Intel Celeron J4125. Home Assistant can be accessed via a web-based user interface, companion apps for Android and iOS, or voice commands via a supported virtual assistant like Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa. Home assistant enables the local control of smart home devices, offering better security, greater reliability, and more flexibility than many cloud-connected devices. 

Specification:

• Supply: 5V DC / Up to 150mA

• USB: v2.0 Full Speed (12Mbps)

• Bridge: USB to UART, Silabs CP2102N

• Transceiver: Silabs EFR32MG21

• Frequency: 2.4Ghz

• Antenna: PCB

• TX Power: up to +20dBm

• RX Sensitivity: -104dBm (250kbps)

• Protocols: Zigbee, Matter, Thread

• Stack: EmberZnet Serial Protocol (EZSP)

• 1 x Home Assistant SkyConnect USB stick 
• 1 x USB Extender Cable

• Getting Started with Home Assistant
• Smart Home with Home Assistant on OpenWrt