4 ms·

Too bad it's not zwave.

Kirby64 3y ago
At the $10 price point? Z-wave stuff always seems to cost more, and my understanding is that is largely due to the requirements for compatibility and testing per Z-wave alliance. I'd be shocked if this same thing could even be made at reasonable margins for $10. The flip side to this, is Zigbee stuff always has a lot of little quirks, problems, or bugs. There's literally an entire module/database for ZHA (Zigbee Home Assistant addon) called ZHA Quirks that's designed to work around all the little issues with various devices.
- nickthegreek 3y ago
  Agreed. I love zigbee for its HA integrations. Fully off zwave now. Recently just added some IKEA motion senors and bulbs and everything is working so nice.
- _ea1k 3y ago
  Yeah, I used to be a big fan of Z-Wave, but the effective price minimum is killing it. Zigbee and (eventually) Matter seem like the way forward.
- meroje 3y ago
  Have an older z-wave heater valve that seems to be on a version of the protocol no one bothers to be backwards compatible with. Never happened with zigbee no matter the amount of quirks needed from zigbee2mqtt.
asylteltine 3y ago
I prefer zwave as well. As long as you have repeaters (pretty much any light switch) and a good hub (zwave js ui NOT the default one) you will be fine. I run about 20 nodes right now and upgrading to zwave js ui over the default fixed my node graph so everything had a good signal. I do want to see more thread around
- Kirby64 3y ago
  Zigbee does just fine with repeaters as well. You just need to be strategic with placing repeater-capable devices around the house, since the range isn't quite as good as Z-wave gear due the frequency.
alistairSH 3y ago
Meh, I have som Z-wave switches in the house (some in-wall rockers, some wall-wart smart plugs) and the experience has been mixed. Flaky switches (GE-branded), flaky firmware (SmartThings hub), etc. I'll be happy when/if Thread becomes the norm and I can just run everything through Apple HomeKit. Though for some reason, I still don't see a Thread in-wall dimmer available, which seems crazy to me.
- function_seven 3y ago
  Same experience here. Every once in a while a switch will go offline and I have to toggle it to get it to rejoin the network. These switches are all GE (Jasco) units. My Inovelli switches are rock solid, as well as my Kwikset deadbolt. I should probably replace the GEs with Inovellis...
  - rootusrootus 3y ago
    All my older Z-wave switches are Jascos, and while they've been solid for a while now on the Z-Wave part, the relays have been failing over time. One day you turn it on, and instead of staying on, it starts to cycle on-off, on-off, on-off, on-off indefinitely.
- kelnos 3y ago
  I've had really good luck with the Leviton Z-Wave switches & dimmers. Haven't had a single problem with them in about 3 years of use.
  - alistairSH 3y ago
    Ha! All my GE switches have been replaced with Leviton now. So far, so good. I think I've had to hard reset and repair one of them in 3 years, so not too bad. But some days I'm tempted to swap them all for Lutron Caseta. That just gets a bit pricey (both to swap, and then to expand).
rootusrootus 3y ago
I don't agree. I was an early adopter and I still have some Z-Wave devices, but I won't miss them when they're gone. Pairing is a hassle, unpairing just as bad or worse, and licensing costs mean the devices themselves are always more expensive. My USB dongle for Home Assistant supports both Z-Wave and Zigbee, and as I add new devices and upgrade old ones over time, I'm not buying any new Z-Wave.

At the $10 price point? Z-wave stuff always seems to cost more, and my understanding is that is largely due to the requirements for compatibility and testing per Z-wave alliance. I'd be shocked if this same thing could even be made at reasonable margins for $10. The flip side to this, is Zigbee stuff always has a lot of little quirks, problems, or bugs. There's literally an entire module/database for ZHA (Zigbee Home Assistant addon) called ZHA Quirks that's designed to work around all the little issues with various devices.

nickthegreek 3y ago
Agreed. I love zigbee for its HA integrations. Fully off zwave now. Recently just added some IKEA motion senors and bulbs and everything is working so nice.
_ea1k 3y ago
Yeah, I used to be a big fan of Z-Wave, but the effective price minimum is killing it. Zigbee and (eventually) Matter seem like the way forward.
meroje 3y ago
Have an older z-wave heater valve that seems to be on a version of the protocol no one bothers to be backwards compatible with. Never happened with zigbee no matter the amount of quirks needed from zigbee2mqtt.

asylteltine 3y ago

I prefer zwave as well. As long as you have repeaters (pretty much any light switch) and a good hub (zwave js ui NOT the default one) you will be fine. I run about 20 nodes right now and upgrading to zwave js ui over the default fixed my node graph so everything had a good signal. I do want to see more thread around

Kirby64 3y ago
Zigbee does just fine with repeaters as well. You just need to be strategic with placing repeater-capable devices around the house, since the range isn't quite as good as Z-wave gear due the frequency.

alistairSH 3y ago

Meh, I have som Z-wave switches in the house (some in-wall rockers, some wall-wart smart plugs) and the experience has been mixed. Flaky switches (GE-branded), flaky firmware (SmartThings hub), etc. I'll be happy when/if Thread becomes the norm and I can just run everything through Apple HomeKit. Though for some reason, I still don't see a Thread in-wall dimmer available, which seems crazy to me.

function_seven 3y ago
Same experience here. Every once in a while a switch will go offline and I have to toggle it to get it to rejoin the network. These switches are all GE (Jasco) units. My Inovelli switches are rock solid, as well as my Kwikset deadbolt. I should probably replace the GEs with Inovellis...
- rootusrootus 3y ago
  All my older Z-wave switches are Jascos, and while they've been solid for a while now on the Z-Wave part, the relays have been failing over time. One day you turn it on, and instead of staying on, it starts to cycle on-off, on-off, on-off, on-off indefinitely.
kelnos 3y ago
I've had really good luck with the Leviton Z-Wave switches & dimmers. Haven't had a single problem with them in about 3 years of use.
- alistairSH 3y ago
  Ha! All my GE switches have been replaced with Leviton now. So far, so good. I think I've had to hard reset and repair one of them in 3 years, so not too bad. But some days I'm tempted to swap them all for Lutron Caseta. That just gets a bit pricey (both to swap, and then to expand).

rootusrootus 3y ago

I don't agree. I was an early adopter and I still have some Z-Wave devices, but I won't miss them when they're gone. Pairing is a hassle, unpairing just as bad or worse, and licensing costs mean the devices themselves are always more expensive. My USB dongle for Home Assistant supports both Z-Wave and Zigbee, and as I add new devices and upgrade old ones over time, I'm not buying any new Z-Wave.