Best Xiaomi Mijia Smart Multi-Mode Gateway 3 (ZNDMWG03LM) Zigbee 3 and BLE review

Before we start to discuss the Xiaomi Mijia Smart Multi-Mode Gateway 3 (ZNDMWG03LM), let’s first briefly talk about what made the previous versions special. First, the most obvious thing: the Xiaomi gateway started a Zigbee revolution. A few reasons for the the popularity:

• Xiaomi was one of the first that offered a whole range of Zigbee devices that were compatible with their own gateway.
• All Xiaomi products are very affordable, well designed and good looking.
• Most of the products were and are compatible with projects as zigbee2mqtt.
• Xiaomi Gateway 2 (DGNWG02LM, lumi.gateway.v3)* has a “developer mode” on board, which opens a local access protocol to control Zigbee devices of this gateway. There are integrations of this protocol in many open source smart home systems, for example Domoticz and Home Assistant.

The first gateway only supported the Zigbee protocol. In this article we talk about the Xiaomi Mijia Smart Multi-Mode Gateway 3 (ZNDMWG03LM). This gateway supports Zigbee 3, Bluetooth Mesh and HomeKit. However, it is still offered at a affordable price. Let’s find out the differences with the previous versions and if it’s worth the money for upgrading or buying it as your first gateway.

*The Euro version of this Xiaomi Gateway EU (DGNWG05LM, lumi.gateway.mieu01), as well as the updated version of Xiaomi Gateway 3 (ZNDMWG03LM, lumi.gateway.mgl03) does not have this protocol.

Gateway version 3

The updated version of the gateway has a new chip with Zigbee 3 (EFR32MG1B), as well as support for Bluetooth Mesh and HomeKit technology. Not all devices are supported in HomeKit yet. But there is a solution to add all kind of third party Zigbee devices through a Home Assistant plugin that is in development.

Features and specs of the Xiaomi Gateway 3

Gateway support Zigbee 3, Bluetooth Mesh and HomeKit.

Design

The gateway 3 have Apple looks like you expect from Xiaomi. The USB charger is very small but a design choice to choose micro USB instead of USB 3c has something to do with the costs I think.

Package

Package Included:
1 x Xiaomi Multimode ZigBee 3.0 WIFI Bluetooth Mesh HomeKit Smart Home Gateway
1 x Power Cable
1 x User manual

Xiaomi Gateway vs version 3

In the table below we tried to show the main differences between the old and the new Xiaomi Gateway.

Xiaomi Gateway 3 software

This gateway is still compatible with the Mi Home app and can be added even if you already have an (first edition) gateway.

Xiaomi Gateway 3 (ZNDMWG03LM) compatible with Home Assistant

But we from gadget-freakz are more interested in the possibilities to integrate Xiaomi Gateway 3 (ZNDMWG03LM, lumi.gateway.mgl03) into our own favorite platform: Home Assistant. Integration of the old gateways was easy: retrieve Mi Home token, add IP of gateway and enter the token. This newer gateway works different. You still can retrieve your token.
But it will not be added automatically added in Home Assistant. Therefor you need an custom component.

Read our article about the custom component to integrate into Home Assistant and Pair unsupported devices.https://gadget-freakz.com/xiaomi-gateway-3-highly-hackable/

Is the ZNDMWG03LM Worth your money?

First of all, it’s affordable with an price around 20~25 euro at Banggood. If you are not a tech savvy person and want something that works out of the box with the compatible of most of the Xiaomi devices, buy it! When having lots of different Zigbee brands and devices, you can take a look at the custom component to get those items working (no warranties all devices will be working). But if you want to be sure almost every Zigbee device will work, and you prefer Home Assistant it’s worth checking the Zigbee2mqtt method with one of the products below:

Where to buy?