Sonoff Dongle Plus MG24 and Dongle Max

Just a quick preview – Sonoff have been producing Zigbee dongles for a long time – I have the E and P models (USB). The new models are more expensive but have more to offer and they now specifically refer to Zigbee2MQTT – a clear break from the eWeLink-oriented approach of the past. I’ve not used their E and P models for some time as I was fortunate enough to get Smartlight SLZB-06 and SLZB-07 devices several months ago.

The new Sonoff Dongle Max Zigbee/Thread POE dongle runs on Ethernet POE or can take power from USB. The device has a web console for mode switching – additionally, it integrates powerful features such as Webhooks, MQTT, VPN, and a one-click Turbo mode, launched September 15, 2025. The aluminium alloy unit supports Ethernet, Wi-Fi, and USB connections and easily integrates with open-source platforms via TCP or USB mode. (that’s the sales info – I’ve not yet fully tested all of that).

Meanwhile the Dongle PMG24 is touted as an upgraded ZBDongle-E. From experience this is important – “Comes with a dedicated USB extension cable to reduce potential interference from USB 3.0 ports and ensure better signal stability”. You may be aware that USB3 and 2.4Ghz WiFi can interact and not in a good way – so this has my interest. There’s an official flashing tool to change modes but that doesn’t seem as convenient to me as changing modes in a UI. Back to the Dongle Max.

Already the company have 2 PDF documents describing the features and operation of these two units. Links for Dongle Max here.. and Dongle Plus here. A lot more when I connect them into my system to test…

I don’t have a spare POE supply so I plugged the Dongle Max into my Ethernet network – and gave it USB-C power. As predicted in the PDF manual – this below popped up when I entered “dongle-m.local” into my browser (even though I use .lan for local devices). Firstly a page asking me to set up a password appeared – I did that and….

Fully up to date firmware and set up ready for Zigbee2MQTT – requiring only the following in the serial setup in Zigbee2MQTT. I will of course fix that address before testing.

Now, like me you may be terrified of changing Zigbee coordinator – so it’s just as well I wrote about that here … note in particular the embedded video in the comments – How to switch dongles… so depending on your setup you have to go into a Zigbee file – in my case as I’m using Zigbee2MQTT inside Home Assistant HAOS it is in /homeassistant/zigbee2mqtt/configuration.yaml -and carefully adjust the “serial:” section from what you have now to the IP and port of the Dongle-M.

I can’t remember what my original “serial:” section was before the SLZB-06 – as it was – well, serial… but the change from my current ZLZB-06 to the Dongle-M is easy – nothing more than a change to the port: line and the “adaptor” line – b ut see link below – using their suggested name save me fixing the address in the router.

I COULD clone the IEEE address of my SLZB-06 into the Dongle-M, having made a note of it’s factory IEEE value. That is available in the webUI for the Dongle-M – under Z2M/ZHA – also note that’s where the address/port settings are. As it happens when I followed the instructions here EXACTLY, changing IEEE address wasn’t needed.

I had to have a couple of attempts at this – first time, I got “bad gateway” because I’d not followed the instructions properly. When I DID, at first it seemed that only some of my devices had come back up but after 10-15 minutes they all appeared as they should. All except for one. Zigbee2MQTT had never updated from a long, unreadable ID of a previous lamp to my new NOUS lamp – I fixed that – sorted..

i.e. Success. Now, whether this unit is more reliable than my (pretty reliable) SLZB-06 remains to be seen. Up to now, looking good.