Zigbee vs zwave plus

Why do I have way better range in my house using zigbee then zwave ? I have no repeaters for zigbee at all.

Zwave on the other hand has issues with stuff not even 20 feet away.

Your question caused me to look into the differences between Zigbee and Z-Wave. Here are some things I came up with:

"The only real difference between how Zigbee and Z-Wave operate their mesh networks is that Z-Wave allows a signal or piece of data to be relayed four times across the network, while for Zigbee there is no limit."

This may mean that Zigbee can be relayed farther than Z-Wave.

Frequency useage: Zigbee uses 2.4 GHz, Z-Wave uses 800-900 MHz.

The way the different frequencies propagate and whether they can penetrate walls may be making a difference also.

Source: https://www.gearbrain.com/difference-between-zigbee-and-zwave-2598399416.html

See also: https://yoursmarthomeguide.com/guides/zigbee-vs-z-wave

Possible baby monitors nearby or other devices in the 900 MHz range interfering?

Ah! You know what. I’m pretty certain my cordless panasonic phones are 900mhz.

I need to double check.

Also you don't mention if you have repeaters for the Z-Wave devices. So let's assume there is interference from other devices in the same frequency range. If you have repeaters, they can help, but only if you paired in place (depending on a few factors), and locks are the exception to that rule.

Z-Wave Plus can do a similar automatic rebuild of the mesh, but Z-Wave (non-Plus version) cannot. You must do a Z-Wave repair. This rebuilds the neighbor tables, but even then, it can take many hours for that to happen.

My phones are not 900mhz. Dect 6.0

Sorry I should of specified. I only have zwave plus. I have 2 outlets and contact sensors only.

Plus my two new additional outdoor GE plugs.

Battery devices don't repeat, but the outlets will. Also depends on your country as to which specific frequency you are on. Most of us have DECT 6.0 phones these days. I'm not aware of issues related to them. That's probably not the cause, but a neighbor's cheap baby monitor blasting out in the same range could be an issue. Also, unlike Zigbee, Z-Wave frequencies are different all around the world. In the US and Canada it is 908.4 MHz and 916 MHz.

https://www.silabs.com/products/wireless/mesh-networking/z-wave/benefits/technology/global-regions

I have a zwave plus stick sitting in a computer next to the hubitat. Not being used for anything.

Could this be the problem?

Very doubtful. One way to find out. :grimacing:

Are your cordless phone by chance Uniden? I had a set of those that I discovered were interfering with my router (they were not DECT 6 though). They found the trash can pretty quick after that.

No Panasonic and there dect 6.

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Same as I have. They’re not a problem, but it couldn’t hurt to unplug them temporarily as a test in case one of them has an issue that is suddenly causing problems.

Unplugging suspects is one of the simplest tests you can do.

When looking a possible interference issues consider non radio devices. I once had a wall wart causing an annoying interference with my WiFi. This was especially difficult to troubleshoot as the wall wart was the power supply for my WiFi.

There is a trick I used to use when testing for EMC interference. Use as cheap an AM radio as you can find (used to be easy to find, not so much anymore). Tune off station in the lower end of the band and move it near different devices. It will easily pickup most types of noise. I use it now to verify my switching devices (think Arduino driving MosFET's) are not causing too much interference.

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