this post was submitted on 03 Mar 2024
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Home Automation

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Discussion about general home automation ideas and projects, home automation protocols like Z-wave, Zigbee, Matter, etc, and home automation software and hubs like HomeSeer, Home Assistant, OpenHAB, Homey.

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wifi vs zigbee (lemmy.ml)
submitted 8 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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What's the advantage of the zigbees? I can get both bulbs, wifi and zigbee for ~5 bucks.

I tried reading a lot of articles/ posts. This is all confusing. Some write zigbee is better with battery because wifi lamps need to stay connected with wifi. But the zigbee lamps need to stay connected with zigbee (however they communicate. must be waves as well) as well, does it consume less power? What's the range of these hubs? Wifi is available everywhere. Do I need multiple hubs?

I want to connect them to home assistant, so arguments like zigbee can be better automated should fall short as well, right? I already have one wifi lamp which is automated enough for my taste. What shall I more automate than turn off at x and turn on at y.

And I haven't even read properly into zwave or matter.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

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[–] [email protected] 38 points 8 months ago (3 children)

My reason for preferring Zigbee over wifi was pretty simple: I don't trust IoT manufacturers, so I want as few smart home devices connected to the Internet as possible. With Zigbee not providing Internet connectivity, that's one less thing for me to worry about.

Additionally, lots of Zigbee devices act as repeaters, so it's unlikely you'd need multiple Zigbee hubs. My only Zigbee hub is in the basement, and I can control my Hue lights in the attic no problem, thanks to the devices in-between rebroadcasting and commands they see.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 8 months ago

And usually those wireless protocols for IoT consume way less power than WiFi.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 8 months ago (1 children)

The end of easily flashable Tuya devices was what prompted me to migrate to Zigbee too. The few devices that require cloud connection are blacklisted from any other network access.

But it is also a benefit that Zigbee can operate independently from the controller. If HA goes down for whatever reason and automation with it, at least light switches and whatnot are still working as usual.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

Isn't that the same for the tuya wifi devices?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago

I don't know. Maybe, if your WiFi and internet is up and you're invested in their products only. With Zigbee there is no vendor lock in.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 8 months ago (2 children)

That sold me. Thanks!

[–] [email protected] 9 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Just take into consideration that battery powered zigbee devices most likely won't act as repeater/router, for that you may need a wall plugged device.

And yes, the few non-tasmota flashed wifi devices I have ping home a lot

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago

Good to know!

[–] [email protected] 8 points 8 months ago (2 children)

You've already been swayed, but keeping these devices off the Internet was my main reasoning too. Sometimes WiFi is your only option, of course, but when the choice is there I go Zigbee every time. Other factors to consider include:

  • Zigbee was designed specifically for IoT stuff. WiFi was not.
  • lower power consumption
  • self healing mesh
  • much easier/cheaper to extend the range by strategically placing bulbs or smart sockets compared to extending WiFi range
  • avoids clogging up WiFi bandwidth with IoT noise
  • there's a limit to the number of devices most WiFi routers can handle

I assume Z-wave is similar but Zigbee devices are much easier to find, at least in the UK, and - someone correct me if I'm wrong - but I believe Thread is essentially Zigbee 2.0.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Thank you! That is valuable information!

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago

Just to add that the low power consumption is not to be underestimated when it comes to battery powered sensors. It's not uncommon to get 1-2 years of life out of a single battery in Zigbee devices, even the ones that report their status regularly like temperature and luminance sensors.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago

I believe Thread is essentially Zigbee 2.0.

No. It is not at all compatible. However i believe it came from the same group and uses the same radio frequencies so people do describe it that way

[–] [email protected] 8 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Zigbee is a low power mesh protocol, unlike WiFi which is a constant connection central hub protocol. Zigbee will use less power because the devices only wake up to send a message then go back into low power mode. They also have more “resiliency” because it a node goes down it is likely that the other devices will still be able to communicate to HA through a different route.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Thanks!

I read about the network as well. Is that a relevant argument? It's not like a router wasn't reliable.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago

Not sure what you mean.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

I want to connect them to home assistant, so arguments like zigbee can be better automated should fall short as well, right?

Wrong. Too many WiFi devices depend on “cloud” services. Home Assistant controlling an automation by calling a cloud service, then waiting for the device to synchronize with that cloud service frequently causes noticeable delay.