Z-Wave's mesh networking was a giant pain to get functioning correctly, and good luck if devices were multiple hops away... things would just randomly fall off the network.
With Zigbee (IKEA TRADFRI and Philips Hue) I haven' had any of those issues, nor with any of my Thread devices.
I have some zigbee stuff with HA, and I have made some custom sensors with esphome. I'd like to try some thread stuff.
How are you currently using thread/what are you using it with? Do you have any recommendations for how to get started with it now - I've been rather confused as it feels like its in limbo right now.
My Thread devices are all HomeKit devices, and they work incredibly well. Once they are joined to the Thread network they show up as IPv6 devices in mDNS and just work.
I have a ton of Thread enabled lightbulbs, smart outlets, and sensors on Thread, and I haven't had any issues.
They seem to mesh really well, store and forward for devices that are sleepy just works, but sleepy devices waking up and sending traffic is almost instant.
I do not own any devices that use WiFi, other than my Ecobee thermostat. So I can't compare against that. I would put the Thread devices up there alongside the Zigbee devices in terms of reliability, if not more resilient since I have multiple thread border router capable devices (multiple HomePod mini's and Apple TV's with Thread) so a device getting restarted (unlike a Zigbee hub like Hue/IKEA TRADFRI) won't affect the network/ability for the devices to trigger responses.
> Once they are joined to the Thread network they show up as IPv6 devices in mDNS and just work.
I don't have any thread devices but I've been eyeing them.
Do they show up to your router/networking gear as IP6 devices? I know that this is the underlying tech, and use mDNS, and thread routers are IP routers, but I always assumed they wouldn't integrate with existing IP home networks.
I see mDNS advertisements with my devices in them (such as Nanoleaf bulbs/Eve Thread devices), with a custom IPv6 prefix from the ULA, I assume assigned by my Thread border router.
The advertisements are captured by Avahi on my router... so they are on my existing IP home network.
With Zigbee (IKEA TRADFRI and Philips Hue) I haven' had any of those issues, nor with any of my Thread devices.