Zigbee vs. Matter over Thread:Understanding IoT Protocol Performance in Practice

SEJeff•about 2 hours ago

I’m a bit surprised they didn’t add zwave into this comparison.

asveikau•about 1 hour ago

Doesn't zwave use a different frequency, and zigbee and thread are both 2.4ghz? Perhaps that makes it a more fair comparison?

vdfs•about 2 hours ago

These protocols add so much complications it makes wifi/tcp/ip a blaze

They fix some problems but add more, you endup just like that xckd about protocols

Forge36•about 2 hours ago

Having switched to zigbee devices recently I regret trying to start with WiFi. While I'm not sure how it looks under the hood, adding devices with home assistant was miles easier.

baby_souffle•about 1 hour ago

I've helped lots of people with home automation Network build outs l; the biggest factor is the RF environment.

If you're fortunate enough to not be battery constrained at most endpoints and can put a high quality Wi-Fi access point in an optimal location than Wi-Fi is incredibly reliable.

The tooling for inspecting all layers of a Wi-Fi network is infinitely more accessible and mature and that certainly helps; I can't go to My local big box store and get a USB thread dongle for 20 bucks that will just work on a Lennox computer and integrate nicely with Wireshark out of the box...

hiitsmyaccount•28 minutes ago

I have a Unifi home network with two Wifi 7 access points and gigabit ethernet. For home automation, I went with ZWave and do not regret it at all. It's been rock solid and I've never felt the need to get a dongle to debug the traffic. I don't want to be working through all of the WiFi baggage with my home automation devices. I recently introduced some Zigbee bulbs (hue and cheapos from Amazon) and they've been mostly "fine", albeit with lower range.

Dan_-•about 1 hour ago

No, you have to order it from Mouser for $16 instead.

https://www.mouser.com/en/ProductDetail/Nordic-Semiconductor...

And there’s a little configuration: https://wiki.makerdiary.com/nrf52840-mdk-usb-dongle/guides/n...

Gigachad•about 1 hour ago

Thread is fairly similar to Zigbee, just standardized and doesn't require brand specific hubs. You can actually control thread devices direct from an iphone with no hub at all.

Wifi for anything but cameras is a mistake, it only exists for maximum compatibility since everyone has wifi already.

zer00eyz•18 minutes ago

> Wifi for anything but cameras

Buttons (key presses, remotes - think rapid input), Knobs, sliders, Pixel LED' strips, some MM wave sensors, ir/radio transmitters, really need wifi.

There is products where you will want a bluetooth proxy, plenty of kitchen/grill thermometers and scales for kitchen and bathroom are great examples.

Where range is an issue LoRa is a thing that has plenty of devices and is easy to DIY.

esseph•about 1 hour ago

Wifi for cameras is arguably also a mistake

deadmutex•about 1 hour ago

Some specifics would be a great addition to this comment.

jauntywundrkind•about 2 hours ago

A lot of graphs where OpenThread & zigbee dance around each other, are within 2x of each other.

Two huge notables to me: message throughput for openthreads scales up, zigbee seems to hit a wall early. Not sure when that matters but very clear. The last table was a fright through: it takes half a minute for OpenThreads to recover after a node drops where-as Zigbee a quarter second! Wow.

richwater•about 1 hour ago

Is there a situation in which your smarthome taking 30s to recover from a node failure is impacting your life? Seems like a distinction without a difference

4chandaily•30 minutes ago

Standing outside with an armfull of groceries, and a door is now our of range of your hub temporarily due to the failed node. 30s can seem like quite a while standing in the rain.

Zigbee vs. Matter over Thread:Understanding IoT Protocol Performance in Practice

⚡ Community Insights

Discussion (19 Comments)Read Original on HackerNews