Zigbee, Z-wave, or Wi-Fi: What’s the Best?

What’s the best smart home protocol: Zigbee, Z-wave, or Wi-FI? This is the age old question of any smart home beginner. Don’t worry – fretting over which protocol to use is a right of passage we all go through.

With so many people asking the same question, you shouldn’t have to search far and wide for the answer. But anyone with kids know that “shouldn’t” isn’t always synonymous with “won’t”. In order to lay it all out one place, we have tested, assessed the data, concluded, and then simplified our conclusions here.

If you’re eager to know which tops the list amongst Zigbee, Z-wave, and Wi-Fi, please stick with us till the end.

Network Topology

Understanding how the network structure of each protocol functions is crucial for determining which is the best alternative. 

Wi-Fi uses a start topology. In this structure, the router connects to every other device in the home. If the router gets damaged, all the other devices will be rendered useless, which is one of the biggest problems of start topology.

On the other hand, Z-wave and Zigbee follow mesh topology. Mesh topology is extremely efficient. In this structure, every device is connected through other devices within network using the same protocol. This not only increases the overall range, but it also keeps the network from collapsing if one of the devices gets damaged. 

In the case of network topology, Z-wave and Zigbee get an absolute win.

User-Friendliness

No matter how good a network topology is, if no one know how to operate it, it’s useless

As you can already see from the gadgets around you, it’s very easy to control devices that are connected with Wi-Fi. In most of the cases, you can simply use your smart home artificial intelligence software (eg Alexa), and command the devices with your voice! Not only that, but everyone and their grandma knows how to connect a device to Wi-Fi. Go to settings. Pick the network name (SSID). Put in the password. Three simple steps that most people go through without even thinking about.

The same, however, can’t be said for Z-wave and Zigbee. Most people aren’t familiar with these protocols. They might need some time to get accustomed to these hubs and their controls (remember that if your house has other people in it, you won’t be the only one trying to use the devices – see #10 in our tips for smart home beginners article).

When it comes to user-friendliness, Wi-Fi takes the crown.

The Necessity of a Hub

As we all know, Wi-Fi requires a router to get started. Unless you have a router – or “Wi-Fi hub” – there’s no way you can connect to a Wi-Fi network. 

And just like the router, Z-wave and Zigbee require a hub as well. The prices for these hubs are more or less the same as a mid-range router.

If you get a Z-wave hub, you can control almost every Z-wave device with it, and this is one of the biggest selling points of Z-wave. As Z-wave is controlled and maintained by a single company, they try their best to make sure that this technology remains consistent and well-connected.

This is an area where Zigbee truly lags. They have a certification program that causes a lot of confusion. There are two levels to this program, one certifies the software, and another does the hardware. 

The problem arises when a product has hardware certification but lacks the software certification. In such cases, the product will be able to broadcast Zigbee signals, but won’t be capable of connecting to other Zigbee products. As anyone with substantial Zigbee experience will tell you, this results in resetting your connections fairly frequently.

Frequency

Zigbee and Wi-Fi both use a 2.4 GHz frequency. The problem is, even Bluetooth uses this frequency, which results in a lot of traffic (devices) all trying to use the same roads (wave frequency). This leads to overlap between multiple devices. And the overlapping leads to potential data loss. 

On the other hand, Z-wave uses a different frequency of 0.9 GHz. The best part is that Z-wave is the only one in this band. That’s why Z-wave faces greatly improved connectivity in the setting of a butt-load of gadgets.

Now, as Wi-Fi and Zigbee uses a higher bandwidth, they get the upper hand in data transfer. Even though the transfer rate might get clogged sometimes, when the signal can get through, the usual speed is very high. 

Whereas Z-wave, with it’s lower bandwidth, can’t transfer great amounts of a data in a short time. However, the devices that use Z-wave almost never need to transfer big data like Wi-Fi has to, so this problem becomes moot. 

So in terms of frequency, we have to give the win to Z-wave. Z-wave’s ability to handle large numbers of devices on it’s own channel cinches victory over Wi-Fi and Zigbee.

Note: One way to alleviate the traffic on your 2.4 GHz channel is by using a Wi-Fi 6 mesh system. You can check out why your smart home needs a Wi-Fi 6 network here.

Security

As you’ll likely be using at least some of these for home security purposes, the defense of the data is vital. 

Wi-Fi has an encryption standard of WEP, WPA, or WPA 2. These encryptions are quite reliable as they encrypt data with a 256-bit key, and it’s incredibly hard to crack.

However, Z-wave and Zigbee come with even better security protocols. Both of them are encrypted by AES 128 protocol. This protocol is used by the government as well, which testifies how strong it can be. 

We would give the win to the Zigbee and Z-wave over Wi-Fi, but in reality as long as you take some basic steps, all three are very secure. So we’re calling this one a wash.

Range

Wi-fi has the highest range of 150 meters among the three mediums. However, Wi-fi signals grow weaker as the subject moves further away from the router. 

Then, coming in second is Z-wave has a range of 100 meters. And as we already saw, these are mesh topology devices, meaning their range increases with every device you plant. If you have a smart home, you can cover your entire home with Z-wave devices.

And lastly, there are Zigbee devices. Zigbee devices come with a short range of 10 meters at a minimum. This range can be extended up to 30 meters if there aren’t any blockages such as walls. 

Absolute Device Number Limits

On the surface, Z-wave and Wi-Fi appear to be neck-in-neck on this one. Theoretically, Wi-Fi routers can connect to 251 devices. However, this isn’t possible in real life. If we connected even half that number to a single router with the technology we have right now, the transfer rate would make your blood boil.

Each Z-wave hub can connect to 232 devices, full stop. There isn’t data drop when more devices are added. In fact, it’s actually better to connect more Z-wave devices so that you can flush out your Z-wave mesh.

On the other hand, Zigbee can be connected across sixty-five thousand devices! Now honestly, no person, nor most facilities, have that many devices. Again, with Zigbee mesh topology, the more devices the better.

Here, Z-wave and Zigbee get the win as they don’t face any data loss when a practical number of devices are connected.

Verdict: Zigbee, Z-wave, or Wi-Fi

As with all things in life, it depends. The decision of whether you should go for Zigbee, Z-wave, or Wi-Fi is predicated by your own needs.

If you have relatively few (eg less than 20) devices, and you want your experience to be super easy with minimal effort, go with Wi-Fi.

However, if you want to turn your home into a fortress and are willing to take some extra steps for added connectivity, you should opt for Zigbee or Z-wave. You can find hubs that control both protocols, like the Samsung SmartThings Hub.

Now some of you may be thinking “I read all that just to find out you hedged?!” If so, we are happy to provide our decision process when purchasing a new device. We have a hub that connects to both Zigbee and Z-wave. We also have a beastly Wi-Fi 6 mesh network system, so our Wi-Fi can still handle quite a few devices. Hence, our algorithm goes something like this:

1. Does it come in Z-wave? Is the Z-wave resonably priced compared to the Zigbee or Wi-Fi versions? If the answers are both “yes”, we buy it.
2. If the answer to either of the above is “no”: Does it come in Zigbee? Is there not a lot of bad reviews mentioning connection drops? If “yes”, we buy it.
3. If the answer to either of the questions in #2 is “no”, then we add it to the pile of devices that are on our Wi-Fi network

Interested in learning more about smart home devices?

• Check out our educational content in the learning center here.