I’m new to Home Assistant, but am running Hue for quite some time in my house. I recently discovered HASS and love the wide integration of other protocols. Right now, I’m investigating how to automate more in my house, but am a bit lost in the protocols and how they integrate in HASS.
This question right now mainly arises in the choice for temperature/humidity sensors for temperature and humidity control of individual rooms. I can go for WiFi or Zigbee. The Philips Hue system works on Zigbee and ofc there’s coverage of Wifi in the house. I’ll also add Ikea Tradfri and LSC Smart Control (Tuya) to the system. I don’t mind splitting protocols when there are benefits for one or another.
Which protocol would have your preference and why?
That question brings out heated debate around here. There are good reasons for each protocol, and for choosing more than one.
I’ve drifted toward using Zigbee wherever possible, and ESP devices (WiFi) where I need to create my own.
The Zigbee network is largely self-managing. No setting up static IP addresses and pools, no keeping track of MAC addresses. The network is local and not shared with other devices or (directly) accessible through the internet connection.
That said, it does share the same part of the spectrum with 802.11G. It may be possible to have some interference issues, like if the power goes out and all your and your neighbors’ routers pick new channels when they come back on line. I haven’t run into that yet, but it’s a possibility.
ESP devices running ESPHome are just so easy to build and use that WiFi will always play a big role in my HA implementation. I also have a number of different off-the-shelf WiFi devices. I avoid buying any more now. Initial configuration is complicated. There are usually dependencies on the vendor’s cloud servers. Manufacturers drop support or push out firmware updates which change functionality I depend on. In general they’re designed for dummies to use, only within one vendor’s ecosystem. Sometimes you can get them to work with HA, but it’s rarely easy.
I’d say it depends on the type of device you want. If it runs off battery then zigbee is better as it’s lower on energy consumption. Some of the zigbee controllers limit the number of devices they can control so you need to be careful you don’t overload that network. You can add more controllers to help deal with this issue, but my network still needs to be re-adjusted every once and a while so that devices don’t fail to connect. Interference is also a big concern with zigbee. WiFi is more reliable. Once it’s set up it always reconnects. I use zigbee for contact and motion sensors and Wifi for switches and plugs. From a security perspective zigbee is better, that is it will not be calling out to the world creating a vulnerability. With WiFi I always set fix IP addresses and then block all internet traffic to and from the device with my boarder router/firewall. I like shelly cloud switches (WiFi) as they don’t demand remote access. Also depending on how your switches are wired, with or without a neutral line you can put the device either behind the switch or at the light/plug. I also use kasa (WiFi) devices, but once set up I block the internet traffic. For sensors I like aqara zigbee devices.
I’d add also coverage aspect to discussion. For WiFi devices you are limited to WiFi coverage of your router/access point(s). In ZigBee network every mains powered device can act as a mesh router, expanding coverage of entire network (so every bulb you add to system). If needed also dedicated ‘repeater’ devices are availble to extend the range, but what is important, adding such devices does not affect overal network performance as it is in case of WiFi, where range extenders usually share the bandwidth with usable traffic.
Thanks for the complete replies, those are very helpful. I see several good advises and I think I’ll just make a mix of all of them. In the end, I can use WiFi (good coverage in- and outside the house) for mains operated devices and Zigbee (for a start with Philips Hue) for battery powered devices. Most of the lights are Hue, but I’ll also have some Ikea Tradfri, therefore I’ll keep the Tradfri gateway for firmware updates.
I actually read differently couple of days ago essentially saying that some vendors intentionally don’t add router function to light bulbs
Having over 100 esphome wifi based devices on 10 year old wifi consumer gear (running openwrt) doesn’t in any way decrease the traffic or performance noticeable to any (of the 5 regular) participants and there devices which are producing traffic . That’s probably because the device hardly send anything (beside maybe the esp32 cams ).
I would add the aspect of “use your infrastructure already installed” to the discussion
Building a new network is always pain - why not use your present one which is designed for local high speed communication and use them together with a lightweight and very efficient protocol
@mischa.mi The new protocol Matter is hitting the market now, that will subsume Zigbee, deadend ZWave, and have one protocol to rule them all, so to speak, Routers and devices are just now starting to come out on the market. Home Assistant now supports it, so I’d recommend giving it some consideration.
And if you want to get started soon with Zigbee and “graduate” to Matter, there is the Home Assistant Sky Connect that will control both, and another production batch of these will be coming out in a month or so.
I’ll believe the promises of matter when I see it. I watched that video before, and read this article belkin is already pulling out of it, and I’m not sure matter will live up to the hype.
I would definitely not be making any design or purchase decisions right now around matter’s future until I see some more progress with it.
Until the next hype protocol shows up. And that one will really rule them all ! And this time for real ! Seriously ! Trust us ! We swear ! Just buy our new devices, okay ?
Well, could be! Then I’m lucky as use mainly IKEA bulbs and these works as router. Wnen I look at network map in Phoscon it is hardly readible due to number of mesh connections between them
With this point I meant use of WiFi range extenders, not the actual devices. IoT WiFi devices indeed use very little bandwidth. But WiFi range extenders (if any used) share the bandwidth with client devices to exchenge traffic between them, so it effectively doubles the load for devices connecting through the extender.
Or maybe unlucky. If you put those bulbs in lights that people can turn off with a switch, and you have people in your home who do that, things could get messy as the mesh is continually being re-configured. I assumed that’s why they don’t usually configure the bulbs as routers.
Indeed that might be confusing… that’s why I bridge connections to always on in all of mechanical switches that I can’t hide. Not the most elegant solution, but does the trick
. That’s probably because the device hardly send anything (beside maybe the esp32 cams 
).
