As the popularity of smart homes continues to rise, more and more households will have their home appliances connected by a smart network. This short article is dedicated to how Wi-Fi resists interference compared to other “sub-GHz” (below 1 GHz) protocols like Z-Wave or Zigbee.
However, while most of us use Wi-Fi on a daily basis, many may not know exactly what it is. Wi-Fi is the technology that enables wireless connections between computers and other devices. It is a web signal transmitted from one device to another and subsequently translated into a form that the receiving device can understand.
In a more technical sense, Wi-Fi is a group of protocols that make it possible for wirelessly connected devices to work together. It is designed to function on a 2.4GHz radio frequency network.
Currently, the number of signals from smartphones, laptops, and Internet of Things gadgets is incredibly dense around us. Sub-GHz protocols that use frequencies below 1GHz are much less likely to have interference than Bluetooth, WiFi, or 2.4GHz ZigBee because they work in a part of the spectrum that our home devices don't use.
Apart from that, there are additional advantages of Sub-GHz protocols like Z-Wave associated with pure physics:
The strength of a radio transmission decreases when it travels past obstructions like walls or furniture. A 2.4GHz signal loses strength more quickly than a sub-GHz signal because attenuation rates rise with frequency.
Radio waves with a frequency of 2.4 GHz lose strength faster than lower-frequency waves when reflected from thick surfaces. When there are a lot of obstacles around, 2.4GHz transmission can fade more quickly, which lowers the quality of the signal.
Although radio waves appear to move straight, they in fact bend when they come into contact with a solid surface. Sub-GHz signals are less dampened by obstructions because the angle of diffraction rises with decreasing frequency.
Wi-Fi has several benefits, such as portability, flexibility, and wireless data transfer, among others. There are, however, drawbacks, such as probable interference that causes connection hiccups, less privacy, and shorter ranges.
Even though Wi-Fi is already available in every home, sub-GHz frequencies will continue to help smart home technology advance because they give devices a reliable way to talk to each other that can not be affected by outside interference.
All HELTUN devices are Z-Wave 700-series certified for all Z-Wave frequencies worldwide: