Zigbee vs. Matter over Thread:Understanding IoT Protocol Performance in Practice

Post by esseph » Wed, Aug 05, 2026, 2:00 AM UTC

Gigachad wrote: post #9

Forge36 wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having switched to zigbee devices recently I regret trying to start with WiFi. While I'm not sure how it looks under the hood, adding devices with home assistant was miles easier.

Thread is fairly similar to Zigbee, just standardized and doesn't require brand specific hubs. You can actually control thread devices direct from an iphone with no hub at all. Wifi for anything but cameras is a mistake, it only exists for maximum compatibility since everyone has wifi already.

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Aug 05, 2026, 2:08 AM UTC

Gigachad wrote: post #9

Forge36 wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having switched to zigbee devices recently I regret trying to start with WiFi. While I'm not sure how it looks under the hood, adding devices with home assistant was miles easier.

Thread is fairly similar to Zigbee, just standardized and doesn't require brand specific hubs. You can actually control thread devices direct from an iphone with no hub at all. Wifi for anything but cameras is a mistake, it only exists for maximum compatibility since everyone has wifi already.

Post by rob-olmos » Wed, Aug 05, 2026, 2:25 AM UTC

nomel wrote: post #14

esseph wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wifi for cameras is arguably also a mistake

Cameras that require internet to connect to are a mistake, but cameras that use Wifi for local link are fine (wifi is perfect for this). And, having some way to connect remotely is a requirement, for most everyone.

Post by 4chandaily » Wed, Aug 05, 2026, 2:29 AM UTC

richwater wrote: post #10

jauntywundrkind wrote: post #3

A lot of graphs where OpenThread & zigbee dance around each other, are within 2x of each other. Two huge notables to me: message throughput for openthreads scales up, zigbee seems to hit a wall early. Not sure when that matters but very clear. The last table was a fright through: it takes half a minute for OpenThreads to recover after a node drops where-as Zigbee a quarter second! Wow.

Is there a situation in which your smarthome taking 30s to recover from a node failure is impacting your life? Seems like a distinction without a difference

Post by hiitsmyaccount » Wed, Aug 05, 2026, 2:31 AM UTC

Dan_- wrote: post #8

baby_souffle wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've helped lots of people with home automation Network build outs l; the biggest factor is the RF environment. If you're fortunate enough to not be battery constrained at most endpoints and can put a high quality Wi-Fi access point in an optimal location than Wi-Fi is incredibly reliable. The tooling for inspecting all layers of a Wi-Fi network is infinitely more accessible and mature and that certainly helps; I can…

No, you have to order it from Mouser for $16 instead. Fixed link: https://www.mouser.com/en/ProductDetail/Nordic-Semiconductor... And there’s a little configuration: https://wiki.makerdiary.com/nrf52840-mdk-usb-dongle/guides/n...