SMLIGHT SLZB-06MG26U Review

Intro:

I was kindly sent an SLZB-06MG26U by SMLIGHT free of charge for this review. However, SMLIGHT has had no editorial control over its content. I’ve been using it with Home Assistant for the past few weeks and, overall, I’ve been extremely impressed with it.

I chose to run the SLZB-06MG26U using PoE (Power over Ethernet), which for me is one of the biggest advantages of the SLZB range. It allows you to position the radio wherever it best suits your setup.

Having power and data carried over a single Ethernet cable means you aren’t forced to keep your Zigbee coordinator next to your Home Assistant server. You can place it somewhere more central in your home, where it may achieve better coverage, without needing to find a nearby USB power supply.

However, PoE isn’t the only option. You can use USB for power and data, or USB for power with Ethernet handling the data connection. Wi-Fi is also available as a data connection, although I wouldn’t recommend using it for your primary coordinator when Ethernet is available.

Setup:

Setup was surprisingly simple. I connected the SLZB-06MG26U to my PoE switch, found the IP address it had been assigned and opened its web interface. From there, pretty much everything you need is available through the browser.

I found SMLIGHT’s software to be one of the best parts of the product. The interface is clean, easy to understand and provides plenty of information without feeling unnecessarily complicated. Firmware updates, network settings, radio configuration and operating modes can all be managed through the web interface.

Being able to update both the main device firmware and radio firmware without messing around with USB flashing tools is particularly useful.

Setting it up for use with Home Assistant and Zigbee2MQTT was also very straightforward. The web interface provides the information needed to connect to the coordinator over the network, so there wasn’t much configuration involved. I simply edited the Zigbee2MQTT configuration file and pointed it to the coordinator’s IP address and the default port of 6638.

Using It:

Once configured in either Zigbee or Thread mode, there isn’t much to say about its day-to-day operation—which is probably the best compliment I can give a network radio. I’ve had numerous issues with USB-based coordinators in the past, but the SLZB-06MG26U simply sits on the network and does its job very well.

I experienced no coverage problems or devices unexpectedly dropping from the network during my testing. The software also received several updates during this period.

If you’re going to use it with Home Assistant, I recommend adding the official SMLIGHT SLZB integration. This allows you to monitor the device’s status and diagnostic information directly within Home Assistant.

Hardware:

The SLZB-06MG26U uses Silicon Labs’ newer EFR32MG26 radio and can be configured for either Zigbee or Thread operation, providing plenty of flexibility.

The EFR32MG26 features a 32-bit Arm Cortex‑M33 processor running at up to 78 MHz, with up to 512 kB of RAM and 3.2 MB of flash memory. This provides considerably more processing and memory headroom than many older coordinator platforms, while leaving room for future firmware development.

The practical size and reliability of a Zigbee or Thread network will also depend on factors such as the firmware, network topology, surrounding interference and the types of devices connected.

Overall:

I’ve been very happy with the SMLIGHT SLZB-06MG26U. SMLIGHT has become one of the leading brands in this area, and based on my experience with this unit, it feels like a high-quality and well-designed product.

I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking to upgrade an existing setup or build a new Zigbee or Thread network. Its newer hardware also provides useful headroom for future development.

As with any coordinator responsible for a large part of your smart home, I would recommend sticking to the stable software channels. I’d also check the release notes and allow time for major firmware updates to be tested before installing them on a production network.