#What wireless standard to go for if starting fresh

1 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

obsidian folio
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I currently use HA only with Tapo/ TP Link devices which have their own bridge, and Philips hue, which also have their own bridge.
Now I wanted to get a TP Link motion detector but the delay is not bearable, because of how the integration works.
There should be some solution to that with matter, but I would rather switch to a more open standard/ system.

So I'm looking for recommendations on what wireless standard to go for. I know that there is matter, thread, zigbee, z-wave and what not. What standard should I use when I currently have no devices from any of the above?
Key aspects that are important to me:

  • easy to use
  • not super expensive
  • doesn't need to be for super large ranges, because I will use it in an apartment
  • working standalone (meaning I don't need to rely on my phone, or apple homekit for it (if I understood that correctly, matter works like that, doesn't it?))
  • my HA host device (currently a NAS with free USB ports) needs to be upgrade-able to this standard. So no antenna that is not using USB
  • works with a lot of wireless networks nearby/ around, because I live in a multi apartment building
  • mesh like would be good, but I have no justification for that. I just believe this is a good way to approach

Region: EU/ Germany

If you have a solid recommendation for a wireless standard, can you please also give me a recommendation for an antenna that works together with it, as well as a motion/ presence sensor/ detector?
If you need any further information please let me know 🙂

Thanks!

still mauve
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note that matter over thread works standalone once devices are set up. a mobile device is only used once for initial setup, to set up keys over bluetooth. (in some cases you can get by without a mobile device by using a bluetooth adapter connected to the HA server instead)

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but given that you already have a bunch of zigbee devices (philips hue), that's probably the best option to stick with.

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get a Home Assistant ZBT-1, SMLIGHT SLZB-07, or similar USB zigbee coordinator. I'd recommend moving your Philips Hue devices off of the Philips Hue hub and instead connect them directly to HA, so you have a single mesh.

summer garden
summer garden
still mauve
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if the philips hue stuff is working fine right now, then you should be fine there.

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(but don't add a second zigbee network, that will make things worse)

summer garden
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I’d price compare Z-Wave vs Zigbee devices personally and see if it’s a huge difference in price. If not, I’d go Z-Wave.

obsidian folio
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Alright, thank you very much!
Although the name is somewhat similar (well both start with Z and "Z-Wave" sounds like s short term for Zigbee) they are not compatible right?
I also thought about zigbee and connecting my Hue stuff with it. But I thought it's not the best standard with some weaknesses and if I start fresh (by ignoring the Hue stuff) it's something nobody would do in 2025 as it's a bit "older tech" isn't it?

still mauve
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at the moment, thread (the "newer tech") is interesting to experiment with, but there's really not much variety of devices on the market for that protocol yet.

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and like zigbee, it's a mesh network where you want to have some routing devices in your network in addition to any battery powered sensors

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it also uses the same frequency bands as zigbee, so work is needed to avoid interference when you run both.

obsidian folio
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Alright, thank you very much!

still mauve
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in your case, if you use zigbee with your existing hue devices, the hue devices will provide a solid mesh that you can use to connect battery powered motion sensors, etc.

obsidian folio
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Yeah thats true and a good point!

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One last question about it: When I set up the hue stuff (I'm using Ikea bulbs, not original hue). I needed to run around with the hue bridge and a long lan + power cable so the bulbs got found by the bridge. I needed to be really close to everything. Running around with my NAS to discover any new devices is something I'm not really interested in doing😂

So is this the normal zigbee way to connect stuff, or probably just a communication problem between hue bridge and Ikea bulbs?

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So "normally" it should find new devices over a greater distance than 5cm, or is the first setup of new devices always like that?

still mauve
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normally you should be able to (and it's better to!) commission devices in-place, but note that this requires having a way to put the devices into pairing mode.