What is Z-Wave?

If you've been looking at the different types of home automation devices on the market lately, chances are you've seen the Z-Wave logo on many of the devices. And you've probably asked yourself: What is Z-Wave?

If that's the case, you've come to the right place. Here, we'll explain exactly what Z-Wave is, why it's important, and what you need to know in terms of setting up your smart home.

So what exactly is Z-Wave?

Z-Wave was born from an idea by the Danish company Zensys in 1999, arriving in the United States in 2002. Z-Wave, like Zigbee, are wireless protocols that essentially focus on connectivity within the smart home.

As the popularity of smart homes increases, more and more devices are being added to homes. Many of these devices, sensors, light bulbs, heating controls, locks, plugs and the like communicate on Z-Wave.

In fact, there are more than 100 million Z-Wave devices in smart homes worldwide, with more than 3,000 Z-Wave-enabled devices to choose from.

A much lower power alternative compared to Wi-Fi, but with a much greater range than Bluetooth, Z-Wave works by using low-energy radio waves to communicate from one device to another.

Also, note that another protocol called Thread is set to play an important role in the future of home automation.

What is Z-Wave Plus?

You may have seen the phrase “Z-Wave Plus” used for the latest smart home devices. Essentially, it was a major update to the platform that was launched a few years ago… but in terms of marketing it was very good.

Z-Wave Plus, also known as the Z-Wave 500 series, took the technology that was released in 2004 and added things like longer range, longer battery life, OTA update, and additional RF channels.

If you're buying a Z-Wave product today, there's a good chance it's Z-Wave Plus.

Z-Wave Plus V2 certification program is the latest version. It includes an enhanced S2 security framework as well as SmartStart, a configuration feature that enables true plug and play for home automation.

Z-Wave's 700 series, which was actually launched in 2019 but has only recently been seen included in a few devices, makes things even more agile and durable, with 64% less energy used and a far superior memory and processing power.

How does Z-Wave work?

Getting technical for a moment, Z-Wave operates in the 800-900MHz radio frequency range, but the only reason you might care about this is that, unlike Zigbee which operates in 2.4GHz (a main frequency for Wi-Fi), Fi), Z-Wave doesn't really suffer from major interference problems.

The actual frequency at which a Z-Wave device operates depends on the country in which it is being used. For example, the US uses 908,40, 908,42 and 916 MHz; while the UK and Europe use 868.40, 868.42, 869.85Megahertz. Therefore, it is important to ensure that you purchase a Z-Wave device designed for your region.

Unlike Wi-Fi, where devices have to connect to a central hub (usually a router or access point), Z-Wave devices all link together to form a mesh network.

The central smart home hub you use to manage your Z-Wave devices connects to the Internet, but the devices themselves. sensors, bulbs, etc. They don't have Wi-Fi at all, they just use Z-Wave connectivity to talk to the hub, and that connectivity doesn't have to be direct; Mesh networking means signals can jump from one device to another.

The technical term is “source-routed mesh network topology.” Put it in your locker if you want to impress your friends.

However, not all Z-Wave devices can repeat a signal, some can only transmit their own. This is why Z-Wave repeaters are popular; Basically, a mains-powered “always on” device, such as a smart plug, that can receive and send a signal from another node to the hub.

What is Z-Wave LR?

However, Z-Wave Long Range will likely make repeaters a thing of the past. Announced in September 2020, Z-Wave Long Range promises up to 4x wireless range compared to regular Z-Wave signals.

You can have up to 232 nodes in a standard Z-Wave mesh network, that's 232 devices!!! It's a far cry from the 65,000+ nodes available on Zigbee, but we think it's still enough for your entire Z-Wave home automation kit.

However, Z-Wave LR will increase this to over 2,000 nodes in a network, so it is headed in the right direction.

The standard Z-Wave has a range of 100m for point-to-point contact (4 times longer than for LR, remember) and operates at such low power that some sensors will last 10 years on just a button cell battery.

With sensors - think temperature, motion, door/window and the like - quickly becoming one of the most common smart home devices, this is obviously a big deal.

Z-Wave SoCs (systems on a chip) can also be installed on furniture and hard-to-reach places inside walls, etc., to make the mesh network even stronger. And the good news is that Z-Wave is completely backwards compatible, so the new long-range devices will work just as well with devices from years past and devices that will be released in the future.

Described as “the most secure and safe smart device ecosystem on the global market,” Z-Wave uses the same AES-128 symmetric encryption as Zigbee. It's not entirely hack-proof (what is?), but most smart home vulnerabilities are due to login procedures in a device's software, not its connectivity.

Who and what uses Z-Wave?

The great advantage of Z-Wave is that its devices are completely interoperable. All Z-Wave devices, without exception, work with other Z-Wave devices â ???? and that's because the Z-Wave Alliance is owned and maintained by a private organization.

Sigma Designs purchased Z-Wave from Zensys in 2009, and Silicon Labs recently acquired the business for $240 million and is responsible for approving the software and hardware of Z-Wave certified devices.

The Z-Wave Alliance now has more than 700 members, with more than 3,000 certified products from these brands in the world.

There are a staggering number of over 100 million devices on the market with Z-Wave inside them; which covers 70% of the smart home market.

Z-Wave: Should you care?

The great thing about Z-Wave is that while it will certainly make your smart home setup more seamless, you don't actually have to do anything to get the most out of it. Z-Wave devices will find each other in your home, creating a stronger mesh network, and it's up to you if you want to take things further by linking different brand kits using apps or the hubs mentioned above.

The rise of big-name smart assistants built into speakers like Amazon Echo or Google Home also means that, fortunately, you don't need to worry too much about the protocols your smart devices run on. There are some benefits to having all your devices running on the same protocol â ???? a single application is the most important â ???? but the reality is that that's extremely unlikely, especially given Z-Wave's low power consumption... not good for HD video on security cameras, for example.

So, while it's a good idea to keep an eye out for the Z-Wave certified sticker on the box, there are always other ways to make your connected kit work well on different platforms.

Z-Wave Hubs and Applications

Although the Z-Wave kit communicates with each other over the network, many systems that incorporate it are still very separate and have their own applications and hubs. However, there are plenty of great Z-Wave options, both hardware and software, to keep everything working under one roof.

On the hardware hub side, Wink 2 and Samsung SmartThings do a great job of not only bringing all of your Z-Wave devices together, but they also support Zigbee, so they can offer some cross-platform automation options as well.

For specific Z-Wave hubs, you can see this model, which simply plugs into the USB port of your PC or Raspberry.

Due to the open nature of Z-Wave, many of the brands with Z-Wave kit have great apps that not only control their own native devices, but also third-party Z-Wave technology. Check out the big names like Wink, Samsung, Insteon and Abode, but also consider openHAB, Homey, Home Assistant Companion and Imperihome.

Z-Wave devices to test

• Fibaro flood sensor
• Kwikset Obsidian Smart Lock
• Ring Door/Window Sensor
• Oomi Double Wall Switch
• Extensor Logitech Home Harmony Hub
• August Smart Lock
• Ezlo Secure
• Zipato 2 bulb
• Abode access door
• Yale Keyfree Connected
• D-Link mydlink sensors
• Somfy ILT series blinds
• ADT Security Center
• GE lighting control