Serious issues with MESHED Wifi routers and SmartThings

[JDRoberts]

As a rule of thumb, we usually recommend using Wi-Fi channel 11 with Zigbee channel 11. These two are actually as far apart from each other as you can get, and then it’s easy to remember. Of course that assumes you have a choice.

For those who are interested in details, the existing FAQ has a link to a chart of the exact overlap between Wi-Fi and Zigbee.

FAQ: What WiFi Channel is least likely to interfere with SmartThings?

Z wave and wifi don’t interfere with each other, so you don’t have to worry about that. But WiFi can drown out nearby zigbee, particularly boosted Wi-Fi. At my house, we have a Wi-Fi booster. If we plug it in on the north wall in one room, all the smartthings – controlled zigbee devices to the west of it drop off-line. If we just move the Wi-Fi booster to the east wall, all the zigbee devices work fine. So the first step is to make sure that your SmartThings hub is at least 3 m away from your Wi-Fi router or any access point. But sometimes the problem is bigger than that, and your Wi-Fi router is broadcasting on a channel which is just drowning out your zigbee devices. You do have the option to change your Wi-Fi router, typically between channels 1, 6, and 11, so what’s the best Wi-F…