Are all z wave devices repeaters? That was a question that I did to myself when I was starting to learn about the different types of smart home networks.
After digging enough into these topics, the words “interference” and “security” started to pop up more often in every article I read. It feels that Z wave has an incredible amount of features that I haven’t discovered.
Z-Wave is a wireless protocol designed primarily for home automation. It was built with the core of a mesh network to enhance the communication between smart appliances. All of these devices behave as Z-Wave repeaters excluding battery-powered ones and smoke detectors.
As I shared with you above, Z-Wave is incredibly helpful to automate your home in any way possible, but if you want to avoid interference problems with this cool home automation network is imperative that you can identify which devices won’t work as repeaters.
What is a Z-Wave repeater?
Sometimes I tend to overlook things. And this affects even my smart home!
When I started automating everything, I thought I had it all covered until I got my beautiful Z-Wave smart hub.
There were so many cool devices to get, that I felt like a child inside of a candy shop.
And I thought these devices work so flawlessly! After connecting them, it looked like I’ve hit the Jackpot.
And everything of that was possible thanks to the mesh network protocol used for Z-Wave.
As I kept getting devices, my house was getting more controlled and better connected!
Which led me to know that most of my z-wave cool gadgets had something to do with it.
Digging a little deeper, I’ve found how a mesh network works.
Every time you buy a new cool gadget to detect if someone is in your room, or if your dog went out using its little door, it’s helping the network get stronger and stronger.
So Yeah, most z-wave devices act as a little dot in a huge network of automation.
Which in my opinion works great because there’s another cool reason to buy that extra temperature sensor that I was needing in my backyard, you know, for informational purposes.
Are all Z-Wave devices compatible with each other?
After answering if “are all z-wave devices repeaters” my head kept asking me things on the topic.
Are they all compatible?
I feel that in the smart home world the scariest word now is compatibility.
Nobody wants to buy a device online, expect the delivery time, hope the mail doesn’t destroy it to find that wasn’t compatible with your Hubitat Elevation latest firmware update, right?
Doing just a quick search there are over 30 different z-wave product manufacturers only in the U.S.
And you know how that is! Everyone wants to create their own smart home habitat so you need to get all of your devices from the same source.
Not with Z-Wave. Z-Wave is the affordability made smart home network.
There are literally tons of different devices out there that work seamlessly between them.
Because that protocol was designed with that purpose.
The idea of having a network that was very secure, it does not interfere with other ones like Bluetooth, Zigbee, or even Wi-Fi, and at the same time, allowing you the user to connect them the way he wants!
I love apple products don’t get me wrong, but one of the things that really pisses me off is that they don’t have this type of versatility.
Sure, sometimes it means more stability, but if the core of a network or even an Operating System is done well from the beginning, there’s no need to make it so private.
How many devices can Z-Wave handle?
According to Wikipedia and the Z-wave big site, it can handle 232 devices at the same time.
It feels to me that I would need to work a lot harder to even achieve to spend 232 z-wave devices to fill that range.
In my perspective, once you reach this number you are going to be the proud owner of one of the strongest smart home networks that a homeowner can have.
I wanted to share with you another cool fact about z-wave to help you understand how cool it is to have this network.
In case your bank account doesn’t go bankrupt buying 232 z-wave devices, you can create another one to keep automating!
At this point I guess is pointless to think that you would need another one, but If you own a company with lots of windows and doors these numbers can add up pretty fast.
As I told you, Z-wave is a big deal: You can connect up to 4 billion different mesh networks! It’s even ridiculous to think this kind of power for a home.
Are all z wave devices repeaters? Range
Ok, now you’ve decided to give this Z-Wave new gig a try. But it sounds that is too good to be true, right?
Well, let me tell a hard-cold truth about the beauties of a mesh network.
It requires proximity to work.
Every device should be around 30 feet or less without interference for maximum efficiency. It means that if there are thick walls and big objects like furniture it can increase the interference of the connection.
Perhaps I’m overreacting and for most homes isn’t an issue, but if you’re experiment constant disconnections this should be the reason.
Now, The Z-wave network page claims that the latest version of this firmware would run flawlessly from up to 328 ft on open-air, but let me tell you is not the case.
I haven’t tried that particular number, but I feel that is less than that.
So, if you feel unsure whether if it’s the connection or not, I suggest you two options:
- Go get another cool gadget to enhance the connection!
- Buy a Z-Wave repeater
This second one is obviously a better option because it will spread out more Z-Wave in your home, but hey, if you are as passionate as me with Smart home Tech, it’s way better to get another 20 motion sensor just for the sake of it.
Conclusion
Are all z-wave devices repeaters? I think we have discussed thoroughly how wonderful it can be to know that yes they are!
Even though there are exceptions to the rule, like everything in life, it’s very helpful to know that a mesh network has that kind of potential to control a home protocol.
This and for most other reasons, the Smart Home world will only continue to grow.
It will be the time where we can see all houses controlled by a larger artificial intelligence hub just to serve us and to help us with our quality of life in every way possible.
Z-Wave is one of the tiny right steps to see this future.
That’s why I wanted to learn as much as I can from this mesh network, heck, I even made a super cool thorough guide where I broke down 13 reasons why having Z-Wave is the way to go!
If you are interested, please follow this link
There’s a bonus a the end of the guide, so don’t miss it.
