Aeotec
Aeotec Z-Stick 7
- Z-Wave
Verified September 2026
Price is close to the official ZWA-2 (around £46 vs £51), so the real trade-off is form factor and chip generation, not cost. The Z-Stick 7 is a pocket dongle — 37 x 17mm, plugging flush into a laptop or Pi with zero desk footprint — versus the ZWA-2's separated antenna-and-base unit that needs shelf space. You lose Z-Wave Long Range and get the older 700-series radio instead of 800-series; Aeotec's own Z-Stick 10 Pro adds LR if you need it. Pick this for a compact, no-fuss UK/EU setup; pick the ZWA-2 for the newer chip, LR reach, and official Nabu Casa backing.
In Home Assistant
| Control | Type | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Firmware | Update | Shows the currently installed and latest available Z-Wave JS firmware for the stick; installs the image in place without a vendor tool. |
| Node status | Binary sensor | Ready/alive state of the controller node itself, separate from any individual mesh device. |
| Background RSSI | Sensor | Per-channel RF noise floor measured by the controller's radio; a rising value points to USB port or Wi-Fi interference rather than a mesh problem. |
| Successful commands | Sensor | Controller statistics counter for successfully received Z-Wave frames, part of the diagnostic message-health group used to spot a degrading stick or antenna placement. |
| Identify | Button | Triggers the coordinator's own identify/ping action to confirm the serial connection is alive without touching any paired device. |
Unlike the 800-series ZWA-2, this stick runs the older 700-series SDK, which has a documented firmware-level bug band causing the controller to jam or go unresponsive — Z-Wave JS's own troubleshooting docs recommend a specific firmware range and warn against builds outside it. Updates ship through Z-Wave JS's built-in firmware updater, exposed in HA as a standard update entity, rather than a separate vendor tool. One catch: all 700-series USB sticks report the same generic manufacturer/product ID to the firmware database, so before accepting whatever update the entity offers, check its version against the known-bad range yourself rather than assuming the latest offered build is automatically the safe choice.
Specs
- chip
- Silicon Labs EFR32ZG14 (700-series, Z-Wave Plus V2 certified)
- size
- 37 x 17 x 8.5mm, 3.5g
- model
- ZWA010
- power
- USB DC 4.75-5.25V; ~18-20mA standby, up to 40mA active draw
- range
- Up to 150m outdoors / up to 50m indoors (EU/UK model)
- antenna
- Internal PCB antenna, no external antenna or port
- frequency
- 868.42MHz (EU/UK)
- long range
- Not supported (use Z-Stick 10 Pro for LR)