I started with WiFi but changed to ZigBee (specifically zigbee2mqtt and ZZH dongle). The problem I had with WiFi was that my [ISP provided] router would only allow me to reserve 20 DHCP addresses. Also the WiFi reception was poor in some places in my house.
With regards to the earlier message about Tuya products not working, my experience with zigbee2mqtt is different. Most Tuya products I have purchased work out of the box. Only 2 bulbs, both new models, did not work immediately. They only required a line of code added to a configuration file to change that and make them work.
So for me its ZigBee all the way
Hi @Tougharms may I ask you something? I prefer that my devices do not run over an outside server and for Tuya WiFi products they do, unless you flash them with Tasmota and un-Tuya them. However nowadays often a dedicated chip is used inside Tuya WiFi products and flashing is not possible anymore. Hence my remark for precaution regarding Tuya WiFi products.
I have no experience at all with Tuya Zigbee but hope they will act as any other normal Zigbee product and can be seen by an universal Zigbee gateway/Hub (like my Conbee). You speak of a configuration file, is that file part of the gateway and update was required because the product was a new type of Zigbee device and not yet defined?
Iâm sorry but I cannot answer your question for certain. I have no experience of using a universal hub as you mention. I use Zigbee2mqtt software (https://www.zigbee2mqtt.io/) running on a Pi Zero. The descriptions of the products INFER that they will work with a universal hub but I cannot promise that is correct. You may have to buy one and test if you cannot get any info from the web.
With regards to your final question, the answer is âyes and yesâ. Basically, each manufacturer (Tuya, Sonoff, Hue etc) has a âDevicesâ file which lists the products. Sometimes a new product will have a model number that is already used but has a new manufacturer code. I just add the manufacturer code in the appropriate place in the devices file where the model number is already listed. Ive done it twice so far with success both times.
Thanks for your reply, not sure I will have those config files available for my Conbee or need to wait for a firmware update. Letâs wait and see till i buy a Zigbee device who cannot join my Zigbee network.
BTW perhaps my name âuniversal hubâ is incorrect (sorry for that) but think you are using it already; your PI Zero + ZigBee Coordinator (your ZZH dongle) + Software = Zigbee Gateway. For communication with Openhab you can either use the Zigbee or Conbee binding in Openhab or Zigbee2MQTT on your device. Your remark did me also realise I can always make it standalone in the event my Zigbee signals from the basement are not strong enough anymore (due to a new lewis-floor in the kitchen).
BTW I also experience problems with my ISP provided router. Even thinking to put it in bridge mode and buy a better router. That route is more expensive than a Zigbee solution so Zigbee versus Wifi : 3 - 1
Conbee II is supported by zigbee2mqtt. You will have to install zigbee2mqtt (it can be installed on the openhab rpi) and the mqtt broker (also on the rpi - see the openhabian setup menu) and the mqtt binding. The âuniversal hubâ will therefore be part of the rpi - no extra wires or connections to hide 
Already using MQTT for some Arduino, Wemos and a bunch of Tasmota (mostly Sonoff) devices but is there a benefit for using MQTT (and this extra layer) in combination with Zigbee when there is a binding available (however I can imagine when you were an early adapter of Zigbee your best and only option was Zigbee2MQTT at that point in time)
Other example; for Shelly products I would prefer to use the Shelly binding and not MQTT or even flash it with Tasmota. But now I am getting too much off-topic or the message is still take the best of both worlds, Openhab will be your glue.
Try both, see which you prefer, both are free (haha). I have only used zigbee2mqtt. I found the zigbee2mqtt community easy to understand and the dev seems very helpful and responsive. On the other hand, I have also seen a lot of posts from the OH ZigBee binding dev and he seems very helpful as well.
I forgot to mention earlier, the config files I mentioned are part of the zigbee2mqtt software, so you will only have them if you install that.
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My house is too big to be covered by a single wireless router, and in my setup, I find that neither Zigbee nor Wifi nor Z-Wave nor any other wireless technology works reliably enough.
I need 4 Wifi routers to just about cover the whole house. Iâm using the routers in a WDS configuration which is the only setup my clients will support (e.g. they do not support IEEE 802.11r fast roaming). I find Wifi to be unusable. All my house guests say the same. If youâre going to use Wifi, be sure to use a separate SSID WLAN which is completely decoupled from the Internet, i.e. it is on a house-wide WLAN only. Otherwise, your devices could be sending data back to the mother ship, or anyone from the Internet could potentially hack into your appliances. If the manufacturer requires an Internet connection, e.g. to provide cloud based services, I would not touch them with a barge pole.
For Zigbee, Iâm using a Conbee II stick. It is very unreliable. I started with some non-essential automations, e.g. switching my air dust filter on at a time Iâm known to have left my bedroom and switching it off again when it gets dark, so that I get the benefit of both clean air while also never experiencing noise when Iâm in my bedroom and it needs to be quiet. I also bought about 100 sensors and smart plugs of various kinds. The air filter comes on and off when itâs supposed to. Except when it doesnât. Itâs very unclear why sometimes commands donât make it through. The sensors work. Except when they donât. Itâs very unclear why some do and some donât, some sensors very close to the ConBee II stick (less than 3m away) donât work while sensors of the same make and product class much further away (in rooms of the house 40m away) have been working reliably for months. I have bought a CC2652P based Zigbee adapter with a big attached antenna in the hope that it will work better than the Conbee II but I havenât yet had the time to install it and migrate all the paired devices over. My plan was to control hot water and heating as well as my moisture exhaust fans using Zigbee or Z-Wave, but frankly, I have found all wireless connections to be too unreliable. Do I want to risk switching the boiler on at a predetermined time, and have a rule to switch it off after 20 minutes, only for the switch off never to happen? I could burn through 6 months worth of kerosene in a week because my wireless home automation connection is flaky.
For me, for anything mission critical, I will only use a wired solution going forward.
I looked at powerline based solutions. As far as I can tell X10, which is sufficiently feature rich for most of my mission-critical applications (which just need to switch things on and off), doesnât work on 240V. I looked at digitalStrom but found them to be too complicated. My next effort is going to be trying to use the coaxial TV cables, which I have in virtually every room, with the other end conveniently ending up in the room where my circuit breaker box is, to try to use MoCA and then an Ethernet bridge to some wired home automation solution, perhaps one intended to be located on a DIN rail next to the circuit breakers. Currently in my sights are digitalStrom still, if I can ever get around to reading their obscure manuals, and Larnitech. Maybe some others if I can find them.
FYI, this may be due to MAC address randomization. This is a default on many new devices and computers. You can turn it off in settings, which is necessary to reserve IP addresses.
Specifically, Tuya stopped using the ESP8266 chip thatâs required for Tasmota. Before that, they released a firmware update (I think about two years ago) that prevented OTA flashing of Tasmota using Tuya-convert.
For what itâs worth, I use TP-Link Kasa WiFi devices. Theyâre inexpensive, reliable, and work natively in openHAB. After adding them via TP-Linkâs cloud, you can deny them Internet access via your router and control them locally with openHAB. Some folks have figured out how to add them without the cloud at all, but I personally donât think thatâs necessary.
I also live in an 800sq.ft. space, so my WiFi doesnât have to travel that far. That definitely makes a difference.
I agree with the sentiment that a mixed approach is fine for openHAB. Most of my sensors are Z-Wave, while most of my lightswitches and plugs are Kasa or Tasmota. I donât have any Zigbee gear, but Iâd add it if a particular Zigbee device was the best fit for my needs/budget.
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