Its my understanding that "supervised wireless" devices communicate with the main controller. Some act in response to a role call, others send a periodic signal (similar to HE devices sending out battery status).
I also know alarm sensors work at Approx 350MHz. Hence the longer range. So why did Zigbee end up at 2.4GHz and Z-wave at 900MHz? .... don't know but the chosen frequencies definitely effects the range. Perhaps FCC only allows the 350KHz band to alarms.
Just go with LoRaWAN! 
(I think it's awesome, just wish there was more stuff available)
The mesh architecture should mitigate the loss in range found with higher frequencies though. That, however, turns out to be a problem when a node drops out. It's the entire reason I have multiple hubs. Less hops mean less points of mesh failure. In my home, with my devices, Z-Wave seemed to be way more prone to this failure mode.
I guess I'm not sensitive to dropouts and communication loss as I've hand none or few. The worst loss of communication I've had are some very old Leviton dimmer modules sometime don't obey but very seldom and it seems to not be a mesh problem its just the get stubborn.
The majority of my Leviton dimmers and switches are sitting on a shelf in the basement where they can't do additional harm. The only ones left are relegated to storage room lights - I'll get around to switching to the 400 Mhz Lutron switches eventually.
Once I ripped those out, my Z-Wave mesh has been pretty solid.
12v psu, approx £30
12v (good quality) pir, approx £8.
NodeMCU approx £2.
Roll of wire approx £20.
I've done the whole house this way. A fair bit of time/effort though. Single 12V psu with a handful of cheap 12v-5v usb modules mounted in backboxes with the NodeMCU's. Some connected to temp sensors plus pirs, door sensors etc and the odd relay.
Cost savings compared to standard smart tech is immense.
/ personal preference
Sorry, I should have clarified. I don't want to run wires to every sensor location through walls and such (or pay someone to do it).
In the case of the SmartThings motion sensors and window sensors I mentioned, the reason I wouldn't buy those again is not because they get unreliable when their battery wears down - any battery device is liable to malfunction with a low battery. My problem with them is the battery wears down so fast because they won't shut up reporting stuff that you didn't want to know lol - but then don't bother reporting a low battery. Not all battery powered devices are this silly.
fair enough. Have to admit, running wires and doing anything that gives me some head-space away from the kids is something I actively seek reasons to do 
So how does SimpliSafe achieve a high degree of reliability with their wireless equipment? We have multiple properties, and one has a SimpliSafe system. It just works. Simple, easy, reliable. So, why can't home automation companies perform similarly?
Because SimpliSafe is working from a known and tested set of devices. Home Automation hubs have to contend with a lot larger variety of devices each with their own eccentricities/build quality etc. A good thing to do when setting up a Home Automation system is to limit yourself to known working devices and stay away from the cheap or suspect stuff. Sometimes this means process of elimination - Security companies have already vetted their stuff for the most part.
So what is the thought here on Ring Alarm system. It is Zwave right. The new devices are zwave 700 series.
I have about 18 of the door window Gen 2 sensors. 2 of the Gen 2 Motion sensors. It doesn't appear any more or less reliable then the ADT Smartthings panel I had. It was all ADT Security equipment for the Alarm side of it.
I wouldn't use just any sensor for something as important as security, but the sensors are very capable if well made. I tend to think the problem is more in the software side.
I mean that's great if you have the skills to do so, and/or have a house that has easy wall access either from a crawl space or attic...
If you don't have easy access either below or above the wall though it is a nightmare trying to wire in sensors after the fact.... At least if you want the wires hidden, which I would think most people do.
Skirting with cable management : win.
Sorry, no way my wife would allow the use of skirting or any other external wiring. That is something that just isn't done very often in the US outside of office buildings.
But I do acknowledge that every use case is different, and every household is different.
Following that train of thought, I suggest hub mfrs should align with certain sensor makers, and co-promote certain sensors as, for example, "Hubitat certified" (which I think exists today, frankly). To my mind, any sensor that is "certified" should have a very high level of reliability (e.g,, alarm level quality). Anything else is just a toy or experiment.
In doing so do you think a manufacturer would even bother with a startup like Hubitat Inc and their "works with" requirements? How would a small player survive in that scheme?
As painful as it seems I still prefer the current wild diversity we get now as opposed to the locked-in, expensive but "pretty" experience you get when you hand control over to the big corporations. Seems a bit more "free" as in freedom to me..
Without any experience in something of that nature, I can imagine there would a large amount of "legals" involved in what is a trademark of sorts for other companies to place on their products. There would also be work involved for Hubitat to administer the scheme. Compared to maintaining a list of devices that are known to work with the HE hub and an active Community to help inform current and future owners, I think they currently strike the right balance. That's not to say in the future this might become an option, but I feel like it is ultimately reserved for those platforms with much more power and prominence that Hubitat currently have in the market. Just my opinion...
The other issue is - what if the standards/api/whatever have issues?
Thinking about the whole SiLabs 700 SDK mess.. they have very tight control over the spec and qualifications but there have been a ton of updates since it's release. Also some of the way things happen like device removal don't seem good..
Zigbee alliance on the other hand is too open and can be exploited by larger companies and that's how you end up with certified but not compatible devices.
Having separate bodies governing IoT protocol standards seems to be the right way to go about things but the trouble is in the implementation and acceptance of such.
Goodness no. Not here anyway. But I am trying to get some cat 8 up from the basement to the 2nd and 3rd floors. Turning out to be something of a project. My contractor wants to remove the baseboards, route out a wiring channel, and stick the cabling in there. I'm thinking some discrete conduit up the side of the house, hidden next to the gutter and painted the same color as the house, is starting to look like a decent idea.
Download the Hubitat app
