[yesimahuman]

Unfortunately, the writing's on the wall for mainstream adoption of Zigbee. For me, Leviton not making any more Zigbee smart switches was the last straw and I've prioritized Z-wave devices where possible. I also get much better performance out of Z-wave. Sad to see though, as the Zigbee devices I do have are working just fine. I don't really get the point of Matter or Thread when Z-wave works so well.

[CharlesW]

It's pretty straightforward: Z-Wave is a closed (one company owns and controls the tech and brand) hub-bound mesh, and really should've been displaced by an open solution long ago. Matter is an industry-standard IPv6-based application layer that works over Thread (the successor to ZigBee) and Wi-Fi.

[mox1]

Z-wave also uses 900mhz in the US, which penetrates walls better and has less competition with 2.4 (Zigbee). So while its closed, it usually more performant than Zigbee (in my experience...)

[philjohn]

Yes - but it does feel over-engineered in some places (for good reason, having device profiles that everyone adheres to makes supporting a new device of a given class a doddle for smart home platforms) and it is definitely more finicky at present to pair devices than with Zigbee.

If I had to wipe and re-setup my smart home with 100 Zigbee devices and 18 Matter over Thread devices (Tado smart thermostat and TRV's) the Zigbee devices would take me about half an hour in total to have back up and running in HomeAssistant, the Matter over Thread devices would take me around 2-3 hours as you have to pair them one-at-a-time.

[CharlesW]

> If I had to wipe and re-setup my smart home with 100 Zigbee devices…

FWIW, this is purely an HA issue, not a Matter one. Once HA includes the Matter credential store in backups/restores, the experience will be the same.

Out of curiosity, what is the reason you find yourself completely wiping and re-pairing all of your Z-Wave devices?

[philjohn]

> Once HA includes the Matter credential store in backups/restores, the experience will be the same

It was more a comparison of how quick and easy adding a Zigbee device is compared to adding a Matter device. Hit "Enable join" and the new device just shows up. For Matter it's either scanning a QR Code, waiting, hoping your phone is close enough for the initial bluetooth handshake - or hit "share" from an existing smart home platform (e.g. Apple/Google Home) which in my experience takes around 30s at a minimum.

[luckydata]

So you dropped a dying ecosystem for a very dead and buried underground one?

Bold move.

[yesimahuman]

Is there some reason you felt compelled to comment on this, using that tone? Because it was completely uncalled for

[luckydata]

That's a weird way to feel about a standard.