The most important piece of my smart home puzzle is on sale right now; don't miss this deal

Published Oct 7, 2026, 1:30 PM EDT Richard is the PC Hardware Lead at XDA and has been covering the technology industry for almost two decades. He's been building PCs since young, and when not creating content, you can often find him inside a chassis somewhere. Sign in to your XDA account This discount doesn't seem like quite the steal, but it's what this little USB adapter can achieve that can make all the difference. Wi-Fi networks aren't suitable for building the smart home. They can become congested with all the clients connected to the LAN when other smart home devices are thrown into the mix. You don't want to have countless smartplugs on the same Wi-Fi as laptops, TVs, computers, phones, and other hardware. That's why the Sonoff Zigbee 3.0 USB coordinator is one of the best things to buy for your smart home. Right now, for Prime Day, you can save around $6 and create a solid foundation for building a smarter home. Sonoff Zigbee 3.0 USB Dongle Plus Coordinator $29 $36 Save $7 Dimensions (exterior) 3.4"L x 1"W x 0.53"H Compatibility Linux, MacOS, Windows The Sonoff Zigbee 3.0 USB Dongle Plus is a great coordinator for a Zigbee network, featuring a powerful transmitter and great support with both Zigbee Home Automation in Home Assistant and with Zigbee2MQTT. Creating the ultimate Zigbee network I rely on one of these to help run the entire smart home. With this Sonoff dongle running alongside Home Assistant, I can connect Zigbee devices to Home Assistant with a dedicated network. The best part is that many of these IoT products can act as signal repeaters for maximum coverage. This dongle deal isn't the most exciting product in the world, but I'm highlighting it because I view it as a requirement for my smart home and believe many others should switch from congested Wi-Fi networks to Zigbee. If you're looking to get started with a smart home, there's no better place to start than with Zigbee. If you've not used it before, Zigbee is a local wireless communication protocol, separate from Wi-Fi, designed for lower-power and low-data networking between devices. It's separate from Wi-Fi and can be interfaced with through the software of your choosing. While Home Assistant has the Zigbee Home Automation integration (and I set up this dongle with it first), you'll be better off using something like Zigbee2MQTT instead for better compatibility. Once up and running, the Zigbee network can communicate with supported hardware with a simple pairing procedure. As aforementioned, powered Zigbee hardware like smart plugs can even repeat the signal broadcasted by this dongle, so you can reach most parts of the home. Either way, this dongle is fantastic, and I wholeheartedly recommend it as an entry point to smart home newcomers or those who want to get started with Zigbee on a budget.