What are Zigbee and Z-Wave? Everything you need to know!

So…close…:wink:

It’s a decent article with just a couple of errors, like the following, which just isn’t true:

Every Zigbee network needs at least one controller device but can support more than one.

That statement would be true for Z wave. Zigbee, in contrast, can be configured for some profiles without any coordinator, but most typically can only have one.

Still, pretty good.

They got it right that zigbee handles hostile environments better, but failed to mention that that’s a specific factor for outdoor devices, because humidity, rain, and snow can all create signal dispersion.

Also, they got it right that Z wave only allows for 4 hops, but failed to mention that Zigbee home automation allows for 15 into the hub and 15 out, and potentially thousands of devices versus the 232 for Z wave.

Still, mostly right, which is impressive these days. :sunglasses:

For those who’d like to read a little more, the following:

And the Wi-Fi issue, which they sort of mentioned but didn’t really emphasize:

http://thingsthataresmart.wiki/index.php?title=Z-wave_versus_Zigbee

I would also strongly disagree that zwave is “more mature” than zigbee. They were both standardized in the same year, 2003. But they had different missions and different ways of getting there. In terms of do it yourself home residential devices, right now you have more choice with Z wave, although that may very well change because of the echo plus. But it is zigbee which is used in the very high-end home automation and security systems, including control4. It’s just that zigbee was never designed for “piece at a time” Device acquisition for DIY residential work. In most cases you bought a whole set of devices at once and they were all tuned to work together.

If you live in the US, you likely already have zigbee devices in your home. Most television set top boxes use zigbee, as well as most smart meters. And there are many more medical devices that use zigbee than use zwave.

The difference isn’t maturity. The difference is ease-of-use for the do it yourselfer.

Just sayin’… :wink:

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