My Hubitat is located just next to my router and currently connected using Wifi.
Are there any significant benefits in using LAN instead?
For many of us it satisfies our OCD to know that another device is wired into the network
Beyond this, obviously speed of the connection is not a material concern, so, for me at least, the main comfort is the removal of any concern around the reliability of the connection, i.e. there is not chance of the connection being impacted by any interference of wireless comm's in the general area.
When in doubt always go wired if feasible. You never have to worry about signal issues SSID changes etc. To coin a phrase "It just Works".
There is a disadvantage of a wireless device so close to a wireless router is that signals on the closest device may prevent further out devices that are on the fringe from connecting. I had this happen with my weather station receiver which is WiFi and my harmony hub refused to connect. I moved the AP to the other corner of the room almost equidistant to both and never had an issue after that.
Why have an extra radio that shares the same 2.4 GHz spectrum as zigbee on all the time?
There is no doubt that using WIFI can introduce some strange problems. I have 3 hubs and one is on wifi because i wanted to see the difference in how well it worked. It is simply for testing. The Hub on wifi is a regular C8. My big take away from the time testing it is that anything that has triggered a need to reconnect to wifi hasn't worked 100%. While it has been connected it has seemed to work fine, but in my case there was a time i was loading new firmware on my AP's on a fairly regular basis. During that time it was pretty common for the Hub to drop off the network and never reconnect until it was power cycled. Though i was updating firmware there was always another AP to connect to
Personally from a reliability perspective i would never run a hub i need to run reliably to Wifi unless i really had no other choice. Then I wold have something that monitors it and checks for it being online.
Thanks for your observations.
I appreciate hearing about you experience and will connect it to LAN
My approach was based on the location of my router and Wi-Fi setup. The router's access point is located at the far side of the apartment, with several walls, including cement. The main Wi-Fi Mesh base node is positioned there, while the satellite node is placed on the opposite side of the apartment to ensure the best line of sight with minimal walls between them. There’s a lot of window glass that reflects RF signals, which I had to account for when adjusting power levels on the balcony. I run channel 3 on 2.4Ghz since there are several networks in my area on 1 & 6.
I have one C7 hub connected via Ethernet to the main Wi-Fi base node, handling all my Ethernet, Matter, and cloud-based devices. There is a partner Home Assistant rPi5 helping the C7 with things.
A C8 Pro hub connected via WiFi and is dedicated to Zigbee and Z-Wave devices and is placed in the center of the apartment to minimize interference from the Wi-Fi mesh network. I run Zigbee at 8 dBm on channel 25 to reduce overlap.
Everything is connected to a UPS, providing about an hour of runtime, including the router, which supports both a cable modem and Verizon 5G for dual Internet redundancy.
This setup has been stable during multiple Internet outages and a 20-minute power outage.
This is something I think Wifi folks generally frown up on on the 2.4ghz band. It has to do with how the chanel and Chanel width of 20mhz work together. Simply put 1,6,and 11 are the only channels that can ensure no overlap. If you are running 3 you are overlapping with all channels between 1 and 6. That is possibly causing more interference.
Here is a link discussing it. https://www.ekahau.com/blog/channel-planning-best-practices-for-better-wi-fi/
I agree with this, however the Optimum cable provider which has probably 40+ WiFi solutions in the building will power up on Channel 1 and normally sticks, if it does move it takes channel 6 and/or 11. There is no way to use those channels without having someone sitting almost at your power level. Its a mess. Welcome to NYC.
Ah that makes sense. And I am sure they all have the transmit power maxed out too..
My rule is connect everything I can via LAN, even if it's more work. Nothing too crazy like running 200' of ethernet cable through an attic, max crazy allowed might be 100'.
LAN connections are just so simple (plug it in) and significantly less likely to ever have connection issues than Wi-Fi, which is subject to interference from your neighbors' Wi-FI, from devices in your own home (auto-adjusting routers/APs that jump Wi-Fi channels w/out telling you, microwave ovens, wireless "land-line" phones vs. 2.4Ghz Wi-Fi channels), etc.
LAN is the OG connection, stick with it when you can.
Channel 1 is within the frequency range of Microwave ovens which do leak a little RF. (I know this from a spectrum analyzer study I was involved with) Enough to degrade WiFi channels 1-5. Use 6 or 11 for 20Mhz channels if there is a chance that a microwave oven will fire up nearby. Like what was going on in our Cafeteria.
My advice is and has been that if you need it to work all the time, cable it in. Why? Because WiFi is shared and half duplex and is subject to collusions, RF interference, and remote hacking. Ethernet with a switch as opposed to through a hub, typically is a dedicated 1Gbps full duplex and virtually immune from RF based interference. Don't let the port labels on your router confuse you. WiFi is also considered to be on the LAN. It just incorporates different technology for its layer 1.
My approach to WiFi or wired LAN is if the device is stationary I try to wire connect it. Nomadic devices always on WiFi and WiFi for devices that are difficult or impractical to wire.
For years and wherever is possible I am using wired LAN connection.
WiFi goes in place only if wired connection is impossible.
Just want to point out that WiFi connects devices to your LAN just like an Ethernet cable does.
LAN means Local Area Network, and refers to all the devices that are connected locally to one another via your router. Some devices connect wirelessly with WiFi, others connect with an Ethernet cable. But all are on your Local Area Network.
My motto: Wired for reliability, wireless for convenience.
It helps that I have around 50 CAT5E drops throughout my house (previous owner was definition of "overkill").