When a person decides to turn their home into a smart home, there is a question that resonates in their head: Zigbee or Z Wave ? Both connectivity protocols are quite popular and at first glance they do not seem to have significant differences, which can make it difficult to choose between one or the other.
The importance of both protocols lies in the fact that devices such as thermostats, plugs or light bulbs do not communicate with each other only through wireless connections, Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, but also through the aforementioned protocols.
Zigbee and Z Wave: what are they?
A simple explanation is that Zigbee and Z Wave are wireless communications protocols. Both are commonly used in home automation and work through low energy radio waves . Each of these protocols allows compatible smart devices to communicate with each other without the need to connect to a Wi-Fi network.
The main advantage of this is that they avoid network saturation when connecting multiple devices simultaneously. In order to use both protocols it is necessary to have a bridge, hub or concentrator. This will act as a protocol point that will allow your connection to the Internet .
This signal will be the one that will be shared via Wi-Fi to each of the compatible smart devices, but with the advantage that it will not be necessary for each one to connect individually to the router.
Points in common
In the debate about Zigbee or Z Wave, not all are differences. There are some common points between both protocols. For example, they both use a mesh network to function. This mesh network, also known as Wi-Fi mesh ¸ consists of a union of devices through a common language.
This common language ensures that the devices act as repeaters , so that they can transfer the signal from one device to another through the hub .
Thanks to this mesh network, the growth of communication systems improves significantly, as can be seen in its resilience against interference and its range .
Another point in common between both protocols is that they both use AES-128 encryption technology and are transmitted via radio frequency. In this sense, it must be said that they do not present differences in terms of security .
Zigbee or Z Wave: what are the differences between the two?
Obviously, these protocols are not identical, despite the fact that they have some characteristics in common. One of its main differences is that Zigbee is an open standard managed by the Zigbee Alliance. In contrast, the Z Wave standard is managed by Silicon Labs, its owner.
Because it is an open standard, Zigbee has achieved greater expansion compared to Z Wave. However, this positive aspect can become a disadvantage in terms of compatibility .
This is because all people have the ability to access the Zigbee standard, so they can adapt it to their personal needs. For example, Phillips took it upon itself to tailor its Hue line to its own needs, thus limiting the compatibility of its hub .
On the other hand, Zigbee is also characterized as a protocol used for the automation and digitization of health . These scenarios could have problems running simultaneously at times. Fortunately, with the release of Zigbee 3.0, the discrete protocols of the ecosystem have been unified, so it is unlikely that this type of problem will occur.
The advantage of Z Wave is that, as it is a closed standard, each of the devices compatible with its standard work well with each other, even when they belong to different brands , since it is an essential requirement that manufacturers acquire the Silicon license. Labs to integrate their standard.
conclusion
With all of the above, it has become clear that in the dispute between Zigbee or Z Wave there is no undisputed winner, since each protocol has its own advantages and disadvantages . Therefore, choosing the best one will depend on our personal needs.
Therefore, before choosing one of these devices, it is recommended to determine the number of devices that are planned to be integrated into our mesh network and what will be the distance between each of them.
If the smart devices to be used are not many, it is probably unnecessary to use a protocol, since the Bluetooth or Wi-Fi connection could work very well. The protocols are designed to be used in those cases where the objective is to completely automatize a place .
If the distance between all the devices will not be very wide, but the number of units to be used is large, Zigbee is the protocol that can work best . On the contrary, when the number of devices is moderate, but the distance is wide, the best option may be Z Wave.
