Why Do I Need to Add a Zigbee Gateway Before Adding a Zigbee Device?

Question

Why do I need to add a Zigbee gateway before I can add a Zigbee device?

Answer

Zigbee devices cannot connect directly to your phone or Wi-Fi network. They communicate using the Zigbee protocol, while phones and routers generally use other network protocols such as Wi-Fi.

To add and control a Zigbee device in the eWeLink app, you first need a compatible Zigbee gateway.

The Zigbee gateway acts as a bridge between your Zigbee devices and the eWeLink app. It allows the app to communicate with and manage your Zigbee devices.

A Zigbee gateway can also:

• Centrally manage multiple Zigbee devices.
• Maintain communication between Zigbee devices within the local Zigbee network.
• Support certain local device interactions even when the internet connection is unavailable, depending on the gateway and device features.

Therefore, you need to add a compatible Zigbee gateway before pairing Zigbee devices with the eWeLink app.

If you have any other questions, feel free to reach out to us at support@ewelink.zendesk.com. To help us assist you more efficiently, please include as much detail as possible about the issue, along with any relevant screenshots.