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Z-Wave

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tom baker

First Chief Moderator & NEC Expert
Staff member
Location
Bremerton, Washington
Occupation
Master Electrician
I am getting started on Z-Wave and looking for a controller. I see there are some USB sticks and then a regular controller. Perhaps the controller is best as it would have Wi-FI- so could use Alexa and an cell phone app.
I bagged up my X-10 and sent it to Good Will
 

hhsting

Senior Member
Location
Glen bunie, md, us
Occupation
Junior plan reviewer
I am getting started on Z-Wave and looking for a controller. I see there are some USB sticks and then a regular controller. Perhaps the controller is best as it would have Wi-FI- so could use Alexa and an cell phone app.
I bagged up my X-10 and sent it to Good Will

Z wave? Whats that?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

GoldDigger

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Placerville, CA, USA
Occupation
Retired PV System Designer
It is an RF communications and control protocol (including physical layer) used by some Smart Bulbs, Smart Thermostats, etc., and their associated controllers. Using an optional internet bridge it allows control over arbitrarily long distances..
It seems to be winning the battle against competing protocols for interoperability.

 
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DrSparks

The Everlasting Know-it-all!
Location
Madison, WI, USA
Occupation
Master Electrician and General Contractor
I am getting started on Z-Wave and looking for a controller. I see there are some USB sticks and then a regular controller. Perhaps the controller is best as it would have Wi-FI- so could use Alexa and an cell phone app.
I bagged up my X-10 and sent it to Good Will
Check out Home Assistant.

Sent from my BE2028 using Tapatalk
 

egnlsn

Senior Member
Location
Herriman, UT
Occupation
A/V/Security Technician
I've been using a Samsung hub for a few years. No complaints. It does both Zwave and Zigbee. One of the cool things about both of these protocols is that each hardwired device (includes plug-in devices) also acts as a repeater, so while the distance limit is 100 feet , devices can be a few hundred feet from the hub itself by virtue of the repeaters.
 

GoldDigger

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Placerville, CA, USA
Occupation
Retired PV System Designer
I've been using a Samsung hub for a few years. No complaints. It does both Zwave and Zigbee. One of the cool things about both of these protocols is that each hardwired device (includes plug-in devices) also acts as a repeater, so while the distance limit is 100 feet , devices can be a few hundred feet from the hub itself by virtue of the repeaters.
The practical unit to unit range indoors, particularly for Zigbee on WiFi frequencies, can be less than 40 feet, depending on line of sight obstructions. But the mesh network can still extend the range past 100 feet. Zwave limits the mesh to 4 hops.
 

egnlsn

Senior Member
Location
Herriman, UT
Occupation
A/V/Security Technician
The practical unit to unit range indoors, particularly for Zigbee on WiFi frequencies, can be less than 40 feet, depending on line of sight obstructions. But the mesh network can still extend the range past 100 feet. Zwave limits the mesh to 4 hops.
I didn't know that about it being limited to 4 hops. It's pretty interesting to see the route it takes sometimes.
 
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