Any Zigbee Light Link (ZLL) bulb should theoretically work, as should any Zigbee 3.0 bulb after recent Hue firmware upgrades, though I don't know if there are any for anyone to have actually confirmed.
But specific ones include Cree Connected, Ikea Trådfri, and GE Link. There are probably others, and different brands if you're not in the US. As mentioned, pretty much anything ZLL should be fine. Ones that don't work include current Osram/Sylvania/Lightify bulbs (they are ZHA despire promises to support Zigbee 3.0 after they stopped allowing crossgrades to the ZLL firmware) and, I think, Sengled (can't confirm but reportedly also ZHA).
You don't want to strengthen your mesh with bulbs. That won't be the result. You'll have instability with anything that is not a bulb (Sengled is the exception). Use mains powered devices like outlets and light switches.
I see what you are saying. I guess I was reverting back to the past when I used the conbee and it was dependent on having a bulb included first. I guess I will stick with the hues and lifx. thanks
Hue on a hue bridge or a separate HE hub, so that there is an independent Zigbee network for the bulbs. Hue bulbs paired directly to HE with other non-bulb Zigbee devices on the same hub will result in the other devices dropping off the network.
Exactly, I have all my hue bulbs on the hue bridge and lifx on the hub obviously. I have tried so many types of bulbs and it is really hard to know which ones will work together correctly.
$44 a bulb?! I don't see how that would be worth it, no offense. A bulb like that for Hue is between $15-20 and the Hue Bridge is around $50-60 stand-alone and less expensive as a kit.
HE Hue Integration with the Bridge is excellent, local and very fast. Plus you can use the lower cost IKEA Trådfri bulbs for places where you just need a simple warm white bulb.
My home network has a zwave plus mesh with 40+ devices (all 500+ series chips and several zwave repeaters). I expect it might grow to 100 devices eventually. There is also a 300Mbps 802.11n wifi network running on a business/enterprise firewall and access point that is under heavy use with 50-75 wifi devices currently active. I might deploy additional business/enterprise wifi bridges or access points later.
At this point, I don't see anything that zigabee gives me that I can't get via other networks - short of cheap high quality smart LED light bulbs. And, the 2.4ghz spectrum at my location is crowded with ~16 wifi networks from other locations broadcasting in plus Bluetooth.
As for the logic of switches versus bulbs, I've really considered it...but I do find value in multiwhite bulbs with selectable 2.7-5K temperature and there are locations where changing switch(s) would be difficult. So, I'm leaning towards the bulb route.
I guess I could create a zigabee network with nothing but bulbs on it and set the channel to 25 so that it doesn't conflict with wifi...but I can't guarantee how good the mesh will be as I'd like to avoid buying any other zigabee specific gear, including hue bridges. When investigating, I did like the quality and brightness of LIFX bulbs and I've had Philips LED lights fail early due to overheating in the past...so, if I built a zigabee bulb network, it's won't be hue but lightify/osram.
I am currently looking at the Aeotec zwave plus bulbs... but there is so few reviews for them that it is hard to know how they compare. I'll probably buy a few for testing. They are actually more expensive than LIFX.... the LIFX mini dawn to dusk bulbs are $21? each in packs of 6 whereas the aeotec bulbs seem to be sold only individualy on amazon for $35 each?
Actually, most home routers will only allow 32 devices per band (so 32 for 2.4 GHz and 32 for 5GHz). But they will slow down well before that. I actually moved all my "low-bandwidth" devices (HA stuff that doesn't need all that much bandwidth anyway) over to another access point running in bridge mode. That way, my router only delivers wifi to my high speed devices. I have seen a marked improvement in my high-speed devices.
My home office firewall/access point was marketed for a 30 employee small businesses and somewhat overkill :), wifi is probably limited more by MIMO antennas/radios (concurrent send/receive) than processing ability. I'm not sure how one sizes the number of MIMO capabilities versus number of devices connected....but it probably depends on how 'chatty' the devices connected are. So far, with 50+ devices connected I'm not seeing any real issues....just a little drop off in reliability/performance at extended range or if multiple substantial interactive video streams are active at the same time as other latency sensitive applications.
Aotec multiwhite zwave bulbs arrived and paired into the zwave network without issue. No issues with speed, brightness, or color. Of course, there is no android app and the bulbs appearance could be nicer. At the moment, for A19 bulbs - I have no complaints other than the bulbs need to get much cheaper over time...but, everything aeotec is always overpriced.
Just want to chime in and say IF your network supports enough Wi-Fi devices, MagicHome has been great. I’m constantly working on them, but I have 20-30 active devices on each of my networks. The RGB + CCT bulbs are very nice, same goes for strips. I think @liquidskin can give good input here, as he recently installed some.
If you’re going z-wave, fibaro is great for 4 (and fewer) channel strips. Very reliable.
+1 for Magichome and @adamkempenich's driver. I was a bit suspect of Wifi at first when looking into RGB lighting for my kitchen cabinet, but Magichome on my HE has been rock solid so far. Lutron Caseta and Z-wave switches everywhere else in the house, but once I found a spot in the house I needed RGB, the cost of Hue just seemed crazy with what Magichome was able to accomplish for far less cash.
I have had the magichome magiclight bulbs since their inception. They have worked flawlessly (much more reliable than my sengled zigbee bulbs), but WHEN is someone going to get a working device driver for hubitat (or ST for that matter) that work with them? PLEASE someone... PLEASE!!! They worked with ST dev handler for awhile, but from what little I was able to learn, stopped for whatever reason. The bulbs work flawlessly... I have never had an issue with any of them in over 5 years, not even a single disconnect, and their app is very good. PLEASE someone get a device driver for them for hubitat?
