this post was submitted on 24 Jun 2024
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I like zooz 5 button scene controllers. They are z-wave.
I also like kasa's switches. They are wifi, but being on mains powered I'm not concerned with wifi draining batteries and I have them in a vlan with minimal access.
Doesn't Kasa phone home to China?
They have an app and they do connect up to it. But they can be put on a vlan and null routed to only work locally.
How do WiFi switches do when you have a lot? Is it an issue to put in 50 WiFi switches, wouldn't that overload the network?
I currently have 54 things connected to WiFi in my house. Only 10 of those are connected to 5 Ghz. The rest only support 2.4.
With one good access point it would probably work no problem. I have 3 access points due to the layout of my house.
Use channels 1, 6, and/or 11. Those are the only channels that don't overlap with other channels. If you live in a dense area, 2.4 gets tricky. 5 is easier, because more channels.
Interestingly. I was a bit worried about adding dozens of new WiFi devices but it sounds like it's not an issue so I will consider the WiFi switches after all.
Actually now that I think about it, without more than 1 access point, everything will all be on the same channel. I have 3 different channels due to having 3 different access points, all set to individual channels. This reduces conflicts (more than one device trying to use the same channel at the same time, a weakness of wifi).
As of right now, my "busiest" access point has 23 devices connected to it on 2.4 GHz. The AP is reporting that channel being 23% utilized. Still, I wouldn't want anywhere near 100% utilization. Things would certainly slow down as it gets higher.
Newer versions of WiFi reduce this problem, but smart devices use whatever is cheap and effective. 2.4 GHz travels better through walls and has better range compared to 5 GHz, but 5 GHz is faster and has more available channels.
Oh I didn't thing about access points. With something like ZigBee, the switches add to the network range. But for WiFi, each switch will need to be in range of an access point. We have pretty decent coverage but the benefit of using ZigBee is other devices can take advantage of the extended network.
Others have talked about Zwave, I'm not sure which camp they sit in.
I have a bunch of z-wave, too. Z-wave and Zigbee, I think, only broadcast when needed. That's why they're much more battery friendly. If they're plugged in, they do more listening and re-broadcasting to do what you're talking about.
Wifi has, relatively, a ton more traffic. DHCP renewals, keep-alive messages, and basically always listening all the time to see if something is looking for it. That being said, these smart switches use very little data overall. Unifi shows them using about 700 bits per second, which is 0.0007 Mbps.
They don't have a lot of traffic. I have over 40 kasa devices between switches, outlets, and bulbs with no issues.
I was under the impression that WiFi could only handle so many devices connected. 20 years ago if you got more than 10 or 20 some would start getting kicked off. Maybe that was my short router. Is that never an issue with modern routers? Even adding hundreds?
You could have shitty routers. I use unifi access points, make sure I set the channels so I don't have a lot of interference with any nearby wireless networks, and I should be able to handle a few hundred devices at once. You could also have a small DHCP scope that limits the number of devices on the whole network.
Sweet, I was a bit wary of WiFi switches but maybe I'll consider them after all