[mlichvar]

My current understanding of the wireless technologies wrt to home automation:

- wifi is most reliable, secure, easiest to debug, but usable only for mains-powered devices due to higher energy consumption

- bluetooth LE has lowest energy consumption, best for unreliable broadcasting of data (e.g. temperature sensors), but has shorter range

- zigbee is best for battery-powered devices where reliable communication is needed and is initiated by the device (e.g. switch, window/door sensor)

- zwave is best for battery-powered devices which need to quickly receive data (e.g. door lock or directly controller radiator valves), but security seems problematic according to some reports

[burnerthrow008]

Regardless of theory, my experience has been that WiFi communications are significantly less reliable than Zigbee or BLE, and typically have worse latency to boot.

Unless you have a bunch of WiFi APs around your house, practical range with Zigbee is also better than WiFi because powered Zigbee nodes (like lightbulbs and switched outlets) act as mesh routers.

One additional benefit of Zigbee and Wave is the possibility of creating battery-less devices, like the Philips Hue Tap switch, which uses a hammer and piezoelectric generator for power.

[santialbo]

Add to wifi that if you plan on having a lot of devices your router might commit seppuku.

Zigbee can hold hundreds of devices (as long a you have zb routers in your mesh)