I am considering getting the Hubitat Elevation® US, I really like the idea of controlling things locally and without the need for the internet.
I currently have the Deco X20 mesh wifi setup with one acting as the ethernet/wifi router. I would like to add some smart plugs with energy monitoring. I cannot set which channel the Deco uses for wifi (although that option is supposed to be supported in the future). I have been looking at Zigbee, Zwave and Kasa smart plugs but I am not sure which would be the best option for me. I was leaning towards Zigbee until I read how the mesh system could interfere.
In the future I will be reinstalling my hardware firewall which will control DHCP over ethernet and the Decos would all be set to AP mode.
Any help/suggestions would be appreciated
Thank you
Welcome to the forum!
I find the HE platform a lot of fun and very flexible, but the thing that makes it great is the community and HE's active involvement, But beware - if you're a sailor you may find that home automation is not unlike sailing: standing fully dressed in a cold shower and ripping up $100 bills. Or, as someone said today, the most expensive way to get between two places free. And like sailing there's always something that needs attention.
I can't speak to the Deco gear, but I have a Unifi network with lots of APs and I've not had any issues coexisting with zigbee. You may not be able to change the wifi channel but HE does allow you to change the zigbee channel.
Most networks end up with a combination of zigbee and zwave devices. The nice thing about smart plugs is that they are also repeaters, so it's not a bad idea to scatter them around to improve your mesh. I have a combination of ST, INNR and Leviton smart plugs and they all work just fine. I generally do not use them for power reporting. Excessive power reporting can also cause network congestion so use with caution.
If you look on the forum I think you will find (others may disagree) that in general zwave networks require a lot more care and feeding, whereas zigbee just kinda works - until it doesn't. I run both and both are healthy but I watch the zwave network much more closely.
Take a look at the following two articles. They may help inform your decision.
https://docs.hubitat.com/index.php?title=How_to_Build_a_Solid_Zigbee_Mesh
https://docs.hubitat.com/index.php?title=How_to_Build_a_Solid_Z-Wave_Mesh
