Does anyone know if, instead of plugging the C7 into Ethernet, can it be plugged into an Extender (I have a TP LINK 220 which acts as an additional access point if desired, but also has an ethernet plug for output. I use these to convert a number of ethernet only devices to wireless. They have both 2.5 and 5 ghz channels. I am not sure of the speed, but they are enough to carry streaming video (Tivo minis) without noticable glitches in sound or video.
Is it a bad idea to plug the C7 into one of these? Even if not a bad idea, is there enough bandwidth to handle the C7?
If this seems like a good idea, how difficult would it be to add a wireless component to a C7 internally. Seems like lots of devices are doing this.
Last, it would be nice to have a C7 can can speak wifi to switches, plugs and other devices without going through Alexa or other 'add on' programs.
This is already possible. Hubitat doesn't care if a device on your home network is wired or wireless, as long as it can be reached (generally because it's on the same network, which is the case with most home networks). There are local integrations for Sonos, Yeelight, Chromecast, and others--not just wired devices (like the Hue Bridge). The issue is that you can't just buy a random Wi-Fi (or wired; most just seem to be wireless) device that calls itself "smart" and hope it works with Hubitat--or any hub/app outside the manufacturer's closed system. There needs to be an open or documented API for Hubitat (or anything) to integrate with it. This is on the manufacturer.
For the other part of your question, there is the option to use an external Wi-Fi "dongle" to effectively make the hub wireless, but nothing built-in. A "wireless to wired bridge" would also work, as it seems you know -- and is what some people did before this was an option (including me when I had to get the hub very close to my classic Z-Wave Schlage locks to pair--though this was only a temporary setup in my case).
Having a hardline from the hub to the wireless mesh is, to the hub, a wired connection and would work the same as plugging directly into a switch (assuming everything is working properly of course).
Bandwidth isn't much of a concern, but network latency is. Again, assuming your network is healthy, the extra latency shouldn't be noticeable, but it will be there over directly hardwired. This would only impact connectivity needing IP access (Hubitat app on your phone, cloud based services that you've integrated, etc.).
Hubitat has support for a USB-wireless dongle. See this post.
@bertabcd1234 beat me to the punch about the wireless devices.
Wow. The support provided by all of you who took your time to respond is sincerely appreciated and almost a sense of wonderment. Thank you. Having moved from Wink to Hubitat, there is a learning curve even for the basics which get more complex based on the task. The interesting part of this device and company is that it is (seems to be) VERY stable. When they make an error in new firmware, they are (seem) to be very quick to fix the problem. They seem to be slow to adopt changes until proven stable.
More reading before asking would have produced a result for me, but you all pointing to the answer was, frankly, much faster. AND, I happen to have a TP LINK Nano handy. I barely finished reading the sentence and ran to grab the TPLink nano and ran to the C-7 looking for a USB port. I didn't remember seeing one and AHA, there is not one, so I had to finish reading the sentence and get the $7 adapter. It's ordered. It's worth $7 to see if I can make the Hubitat more 'locatable'. I presume because of the mesh network of Z-Wave and Zigbee devices (I have 48 total of both mixed), moving the hub around frequently is not a good idea. But, frankly, $7 toys to play with are not easy to find. So thanks.
Ok, setup was easy following the post which is even shown in settings, network from a C-7 login. Performance vs wired.... uh, there is a noticeable slower response difference which is not preferred by me. It works. But... This is an ok solution if you have no other, but reading Joe's post above, even a powerline adapter would be better. Thanks to all for the comments. I agree with everyone who said this is NOT the best solution to connectivity
Thank you again for the suggestions. The IOGEAR device looks particularly interesting. The TP Link was truly wireless through the wireless code of the C-7. The IOGEAR device looks like an ethernet connection to the C-7. I wonder if that accounts for the lack of noticeable delay. As I said in my original post, I have LARGER (than the IOGEAR) TP 220 devices which would do the same job. When I have time I will set that up just to see if it's the wireless driver code in the Hubitat which is causing the minor delays. No time to play now.
Thank you also @JohnWill1 for the comments and advice
