This is just rambling thoughts from a guy who has done this for a while, and has some rare free time this Sunday morning. Feel free to pile on, argue, or ignore as you wish. It is NOT a criticism of Hubitat's z-wave or zigbee radios, which I find to be very reliable. Rather, it's more about uch (not all) z-wave and zigbee equipment I've used with my systems (two different properties).
About 15 years ago (maybe more) I got into home automation with X10. It actually worked pretty well, but lost most of its support by manufacturers, so I moved to Insteon. That was awful at first, but over time became rock solid - until the company behind it basically crashed. So, I jumped on the z-wave bandwagon for thermostats and lighting, with some zigbee for temp/humidity sensors here and there. Based on performance, especially from battery devices but with a fair amount of switch failure as well, I've decided to work toward minimizing my use of either of those technologies in 2024 and beyond, although I doubt I'll be able to eliminate them, sadly.
Instead, I'll focus on Lutron Caseta for lighting, I have it in five different buildings on our property, all controlled by a single Pro hub * in the basement ! * of one building because I originally didn't intend to use it in the four others, and much to my amazement, everything "just works". Every time, all the time. I did add a repeater in a second building, but holy cow, the range and reliability runs circles around my z-wave network (which has many different wired devices that allegedly repeat). I also use it in a second property we own, where I removed all the zigbee and z-wave lighting because of reliability issues, and it has performed beautifully there. So, more Caseta, less (hopefully no) z-wave or zigbee, for lighting.
For temperature and humidity monitoring, Ecowitt and @sburke781 's driver have been flawless, and the sensors use cheap AA batteries that are easy to change. In fact, this whole post was inspired by my frustration with both z-wave and zigbee temp/humidity sensors across two different properties we own. Those infernal little devices can drop off someone else's network, and get on someone else's nerves. I've come to despise them, so Ecowitt it is, going forward.
I do note that I've had rock solid performance from my GoControl wired z-wave thermostats, and from Zooz Zen 16 contact sensors/relays. My heavy-duty plug-in Zooz appliance controllers have also been good. Leviton plug-in controllers usually work well, but have required a couple of resets. So, those things will stay, and go into the new house we're building where required. They should give me ample repeating functions if placed appropriately. But for lighting control and for temperature/humidity monitoring, I hope to put z-wave in the rearview mirror as much as possible. Everyone needs goals for the new year...
