Zigbee coordinator
The device that forms a Zigbee network, assigns addresses and holds the network key; in a home it is usually a USB or Ethernet radio adapter driven by the hub software.
Photo: Tommy L / Unsplash
Every Zigbee network has exactly one coordinator. It starts the network on a chosen channel, lets new devices join, hands out network addresses and acts as the trust center that holds the security keys. Mains-powered devices then act as routers and extend the mesh, so the coordinator does not need to reach every device directly. In commercial hubs it is built in; with open-source software such as Home Assistant or Zigbee2MQTT, it is an adapter built on an IEEE 802.15.4 radio chip and loaded with coordinator firmware.
The firmware and chip family decide which software can drive the adapter, so check compatibility before buying. Placement matters as much as the chip: a USB coordinator plugged directly next to a computer’s USB 3 ports suffers interference, and a short extension cable or an Ethernet-connected coordinator in a central spot usually improves the network. Replacing the coordinator without a backup of its network settings means pairing every device again. See Zigbee explained for how the mesh works.
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