I don’t have my hubitat in hand yet but still debating which smart devices to add. for some, the cost of a wifi smart device over zigbee/zwave is pretty big so I think I’m open to still adding wifi devices (plus, I currently live alone in a 1500sqft townhome so it’s not like I expect to hit wifi device limits like larger families in larger homes may)
But what I really don’t want for many of those devices is to be tied to the cloud - mostly due to latency. With a smart tp link kasa switch, for example - given that it can work locally can I expect its response/trigger time to be just as fast as zigbee or zwave? I know hubitat doesn’t have wifi built in so I guess it’s still coordinating through the router which may or may not add some delays/reliability?
If I’m ie expecting a motion sensor to trigger a wifi smart switch, is there basically no perceivable delay between them?
I would think the local WiFi devices should be quick. The latency, unpredictability, and privacy issues are all related to the use of a cloud service. The latency added by jumping from wired ethernet to WiFi has got to be really small compared to other factors. Not sure what you mean by "coordinating through the router" . . .
Kasa device are great. I have 36 of them and they react as fast as my zwave or zigbee stuff. BUT do not count on them to be good trigger devices because the pulling needed will add a substential delay to your automation.
By the way it is better that Hubitat is not wifi. If it was, it would add an extra step in the chain and no matter if wired or wifi, everything will be "coordinating through the router" anyway.
WiFi bandwidth is huge compared to z-wave and zigbee. My experience is that LIFX bulbs controlled locally work at least well as zigbee RGBW bulbs controlled locally.
The issue with WiFi devices is that some of them need to be polled to report changes in their state.
I would not be concerned about wifi devices, solely due to the fact they are wifi. As far as wifi devices go, the following are the issues I would be considering:
Wifi devices can be of poor quality. This doesn't mean all wifi devices are of poor quality, but some are. Buyer beware.
Power consumption (of the device itself) is higher than zigbee, zwave, lutron. This has a few implications. The first being that if you have 50 wifi switches all using 0.5 watts in standby vs 50 lutron switches all using 0.2 watts in standby, you will use an extra 131 kilowatts of power after one year. Second, because of the extra power usage you can't really use wifi battery powered devices, therefore if you need a battery powered device you don't have an existing zigbee or zwave mesh to join up with.
Some, but not all, wifi devices need access to the cloud. TP-Link Kasa are probably the most popular wifi devices on HE, since you don't need cloud access for them to work.
Not all wifi devices integrate with Hubitat. Do your research before buying.
I would not worry about the strength and stability of the wifi network. With today's home network equipment I would not hesitate to add 100 wifi devices to my home. Having said this, there is a vast range in the performance of people's home networks.
As far as extra power consumption is concerned, automating all your light switches typically results in the lights being switched off on a more timely basis. This saves you power. The savings is typically offset by the fact the devices draw a small continuous amount of power, resulting in minimal change to one's electrical bill.
To me, the biggest problem is that most wifi devices don't send out a message when they've been changed locally (e.g., a switch flipped). That means you need periodic polling, and you'll have to balance between load of frequent polling and lack of prompt feedback: more frequent polling gives prompter feedback.
And wifi devices that must be controlled via the devices' cloud-based servers are also an issue, as you lose local control and are dependent upon the vendor remaining in business.
That said, I do have a couple of wifi devices: Costco bulbs. Mainly because I'm being cheap and also because I only control them to change color, which is an infrequent need. Otherwise, they're being switched on and off by a wall switch, not directly via wifi.
