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 GravitySpoiled@lemmy.ml to c/homeautomation@lemmy.world
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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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[–] joelectron@lemmy.world 38 points 8 months ago (11 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.

[–] GravitySpoiled@lemmy.ml 6 points 8 months ago (6 children)

That sold me. Thanks!

[–] isgleas@lemmy.ml 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

[–] GravitySpoiled@lemmy.ml 2 points 8 months ago

Good to know!

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