SparkFun Forums

[RonnyM]

I am going to start a project using the 2420 for short range point to point comms. Has anybody worked with these in non-Zigbee applications, and are there any odd addressing issues or gotchas?
I have worked with the 1000 series and the 1100/2500s so I have quite a bit of experience with the Chipcon format in general, but thought the DSSS modulation format would offer some advantages on 2.4 gig.
Thanks,
Ron

[stevech]

I assume you plan to stick with 802.15.4 and not go proprietary.

I've used other 802.15.4 modules (not chips) sans ZIgBee. It's trivial. But you have to know and set the destination addresses yourself - much like talking on ethernet using only MAC address, no IP addresses. In the $20 XBee/XBeePro modules, you merely issue AT commands on its serial port - like a modem to set the addresses. THereafter, the serial data exchange is transparent and fully buffered.

ZigBee is so much simpler and allows for the repeaters/relays and routing. But if all you want is point to point for a small number of nodes, ZigBee is an overkill.

The gotcha is that if you start out not using ZigBee and later grow to want repeaters/relays and routing, and more modules, you'll regret not doing ZigBee on day 1. Other than that, I'd go with the modules, not chip level, unless you are doing high volumes. Also, the modules are FCC Part 15 certified whereas a chip-level design is not.