this post was submitted on 24 Jun 2024
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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.