Bee Explorer

Bee Explorer is a small application that enables you to scan for and discover all potential ZigBee nodes near you. Although ZigBee has been around for almost a decade, it is a less-known wireless serial port compared to Bluetooth or Wi-Fi.

Unlike its more popular counterparts, ZigBee is considered by some an alternative for large-scale applications, such as home automation for example. It can send data across a large area (it can traverse hops as well) and it does not require a lot of bandwidth.

It can be a viable solution for low-powered or battery-powered devices. This is also the reason why ZigBee is mostly preferred in commercial applications. More precisely, it can be used to monitor the sensors for wireless lighting switches, door locks, thermostats or window coverings for instance.

Since it is essentially a wireless serial port, users require at least two ZigBee modules, each with an individual address, to establish a connection. This is also applicable in the case of newer modules that feature USB interfaces, as computers still view them as serial ports.

Bee Explorer allows users to discover the ZigBee nodes around their location and attempt to connect to them. The application can display the information as lists, diagrams or in a tree mode.

Once configured, receiving or sending data packages is done in a similar matter to any wireless network, which can consist of more modes that share a similar Pan ID.

Bee Explorer can support ZigBee API and AT modes. The first includes the data packages that come with a specific API header and a checksum, whereas the latter mode sends and receives raw data.

The application allows users to explore both the transmission of secure and unprotected data to and from their devices. Consequentially, it can be useful for keeping track of sensor-monitoring devices as well as wireless local area networks.