I see a lot of posts about people who like their Zigbee and Z-Wave products. As I’m setting up the hardware in my home, I’m using Wi-Fi products because I already have Wi-Fi. I don’t see much difference in price. What is the actual benefit of setting up a separate network for home devices? Is there a reason that I should consider setting up one of these networks?
ZigBee devices are really nice because they are low energy, easy to set up and don’t add extra strain on your wifi access point(s). The battery operated ones last for months to years on a small button cell battery and most plug-in/wired ones act as repeaters. Also, a lot Wi-Fi devices are cloud based or require flashing to make them completely local. With ZigBee or even Zwave you are certain they have no internet access and cannot phone home without you having to put any precautions in place.
Do you know roughly how much range they can get? I have wifi sensors out like 500 feet from my house that work OK, but in my research on Zigbee most people say like 100 feet or less?
While I don’t have a good real life answer since I haven’t done that, the newest z-wave devices have a long range mode for exactly this type of thing and at least on paper have well over this range. You might do so research on those and look for those devices specifically
Thanks, I’ve seen a few but they seem more expensive than the WiFi equivalents, I’ll look into some more
If this were my decision, I’d put batteries as the top decision factor.
If your devices are battery powered, Zigbee/z-wave will last several times WiFi devices before you need to replace the battery. I would get frustrated with this very quickly.
If your devices are plugged in to a reliable source of power, then obviously this is not a factor. Or maybe phrase that the other way: if your devices are WiFi, future you will thank present you if you can find a way to plug them in
If I already have a handful of WiFi devices, do you think it is worth it to replace them? Say, 4-5 switches. I’m planning to invest in a few more and a home thermostat. I certainly want to commit before buying a thermostat, since they tend to be a little more pricey.
Is there a greater danger of ZigBee not being sustainable over decades? WiFi will probably be available for the remainder of my lifetime because it is already so ubiquitous.
ZigBee is already so widespread that I don’t see it going away. I’d be much more worried about your WiFi devices.
While WiFi as a network technology certainly isn’t going anywhere, most WiFi-connected devices talk to a service on the internet. You probably created an account somewhere to manage your WiFi devices. So if the manufacturer shuts down their service, which happens all the time when they either shut down the whole business or abandon a product line, you will have no way to manage your devices.
ZigBee will continue working as long as your hardware does, because you control the software managing it.