ZBT-2 and ZWA-2 vs competition?

[boreal comet]

I am going to be upgrading my networking, and my mini pc server that HA is hosted on. I currently have a Zooz 800 USB stick, and SMLIGHT SLZB-06, but am considering switching to Nabu's new hardware.

I know it probably won't provide any performance improvements, but I am interested if they are possibly more reliable and integrated with HA OS. I am a big fan of a single pane of glass ecosystem from reliable companies, like Ubiquiti, and would be cool to support HA/Nabu team.

Any thoughts appreciated!

[stoic epoch]

I would suggest that they are probably going to be more reliable and better supported by the nature of them being "official" hardware. and if there is an issue it will be tracked doiwn by the community dead quick.

out of the 2 you are likely to see a bigger difference on the zwave side. for ZigBee its probably going to be similar but maybe with some advantages.

both devices have the "correct" size antenna for the wavelengths that they are using along with a large base plate which helps (physics wizardry). which gives them advantages over devices without these features.

also, as you mention it directly supports the project.

[boreal comet]

Thanks! Would you think them being in the basement of my house would be an issue? currently my zigbee router is PoE and in the living room. The zwave stick I have now is in the server in the basement and seemingly performing fine.

[stoic epoch]

for z-wave, I don't imagine there will be any issues. for zigbee it might depend on your building and your mesh etc... you can potentially keep the old device and put router only firmware on it. to help stablise the mesh if you need to.

[boreal comet]

Ah I see what you mean, just keep the PoE SMLIGHT device but instead of it being a coordinator, just being a device to add into the mesh to help the connection back to the ZBT-2?

[stoic epoch]

yeah I believe they have router firmware to do that.

you might not need it but it could be a solution using hardware you already have if you do have a problem.

[boreal comet]

that is a good call thanks! I will probably grab it and if it isn't needed ill sell the old coordinator.

I am a little hesitant though because of the lack of sub gig radio for zigbee 4.0 / thread radio. Might need to consider all that

[copper pebble]

Sub-GHz Zigbee has already existed but is only being used in commercial applications. I wouldn't really worry about Suzi support since it might not even make its way to the consumer space. I also wouldn't stress over 4.0 since it was just announced

[boreal comet]

yeah that is true. I will just get both devices then, and if a new zigbee 4 one comes out, ill use this one as the thread antenna

[stoic epoch]

zigbee 4.0 on the standard 2.4ghz frequency will likely come in a firmware update at some stage. and you are unlikely to need suzi for years anyway.

[copper pebble]

or ever

[stoic epoch]

we are at the beginning of approximately this:

the announcement of the spec -> announcement of certification process -> manufacture decides to use it -> they make device -> they get device certified -> they sell device -> people want to buy it -> You now need a coordinator for the device.