The ConnectPorts are very flexible and powerful devices that can connect your ZigBee network to any Internet service in pretty much any way you like. The seemingly unlimited range of options can sometimes feel overwhelming to a beginner. Rather than learn about TCP/IP addressing, port numbering, DNS, application-layer protocols, and Python programming—terrific as all those things are to know—you probably would like to start with something simple that opens a path between your prototype and the teeming mass of terrific services that are available on the Web.

The XBee Internet Gateway is a Python program that can be loaded onto any ConnectPort right out of the box. It’s an interface that mirrors the interactions humans have in web browsers. Once XIG is running, any radio that sends it a standard plain-text URL will receive back the regular results from that URL. Redirects to other pages, timeouts, security, retries, and so forth, are all handled behind the scenes just like they are in a web browser. Take a look at View Source in your browser; you can see the web page’s underlying HTML. With the XIG, the radios in your project see the exact same thing. Each can send out a URL and receive back the source for that web page—whatever it is. This simple service shifts....