Which Smart Switch for Wi-Fi

I am looking to replace all my switches/dimmers with new switches. I’m not 100% sure if Z-Wave is going to work for my house. Found with it’s 4 hops it can make I can barely get to the first floor with two hops from my basement. So thinking because my Wi-Fi covers the entire house already would be a better way to go. But I read a lot that the API support of access is limited on these kind of accessories. Any recommendations for Smart Switches that are Wi-Fi based and have full support in OpenHAB? Right now have leviton toggle switches so keeping that look would be nice but not required.

NOTE: Should add that I would prefer something that doesn’t require a cloud solution to function and can work local. If that’s not an option, then will have to stick with Z-Wave.

Thanks.

JR

A lot of people seem to use Shellies, e.g., https://shelly.cloud/shelly1-open-source/ (there are other models too); with there small form factor they seem to fit readily for most into the existing construction box and you can keep your existing switches in form and function. If they are put in MQTT mode, they do not interact with the cloud.

Tplink products are WiFi based and supported via local access in openHAB.

Thanks Hilbrand. Do you have to connect these to a cloud solution at all or can they all be setup locally? If so looks like it will be a good set of devices to stick all Wi-Fi.

Thinking if all these work locally, the only item I’ll probably run into an issue with down the road is when I want to setup a door lock as most of those are Z-Wave and won’t have any infrastructure in place to reach the front door.

Edit: And the TP-Link stuff only comes in stark white of course. Always something. Really need light almond to match my existing components. Which I know unfortunately the industry isn’t there yet other than a couple leading players like Leviton but can’t manage those in Wi-Fi.

Thanks.

JR

I can’t change the color :smile: But can give you answers to your other questions.

You need to connect the devices to your local Wi-FI network with the tp-link KASA app. It could be you need to login to their service to be able to do this. But I’m not sure if that is totally true. I didn’t need to do it, but I read for some newer devices it seems required. However, once the’re connected to your local network you don’t need the cloud connection anymore.

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Huh? 4 ZWave hops is more than enough for any house. There’s barely installations to use more than 1 hop. If you have problems then you need to investigate these. Clearly that’s not a limitation of the technology but a problem with your setup.
Even without hopping, ZWave range is better than WiFi (due to frequency).
Check out zwave graph in habmin. Check all lifeline associations. Do you use openHAB 2.4 ? If not migrate there to re-enable mesh healing.
ZWave is superior to WiFi in about every category except price, but there’s absolutely no point in replacing working equipment.

PS: buy separate switches and actuators to put below these, no matter if WiFi (Shelly) or ZWave (Fibaro, Qubino, Aeotec). No point in limiting yourself