Wi-Fi shares the airspace with a network you ignore, and it can disrupt your smart home.

Most people know that home Wi-Fi doesn’t work in isolation. Viewing neighboring networks in the list of networks clearly shows that your Wi-Fi network is working with many neighboring networks that live on the same spectrum. So, when the Wi-Fi network goes wrong, you immediately blame your neighbors and recheck the wireless channels.

However, Wi-Fi shares spectrum with other networks, which is often not noticed because it is not shown in the Wi-Fi analyzer application. I’m talking about your Zigbee smart home network and how your strong Wi-Fi signal can sometimes break it. Zigbee is designed to work in conjunction with Wi-Fi, but there are a few things to keep in mind to avoid disrupting your smart home network.

Your neighbors’ Wi-Fi isn’t the only obstacle you need to think about

Private Wi-Fi interferes with your smart home

When diagnosing Wi-Fi latency issues, it’s natural to suspect that your neighbors’ Wi-Fi networks are sharing a common channel with interference. I used WiFi analyzer This is an infinite number of times to determine the least congested channels to minimize interference. You may also have reduced your router’s transmit power and changed other settings to minimize this inevitable reality. By the way, you can ignore the effect of Wi-Fi on the Zigbee network.

Zigbee is a wireless protocol designed to operate as a low-power, low-data network for smart devices. Operating in the IEEE 802.15.4 physical year, it uses a fraction of the data and transmission power comparable to Wi-Fi, making it ideal for smart home networking. If you’ve switched from Wi-Fi to Zigbee for your smart home, you’re already enjoying the battery-efficient benefits that come with it.

The problem is that both Zigbee and Wi-Fi operate in the unlicensed 2.4GHz ISM band. A Zigbee network doesn’t show up in WiFi Analyzer scans, so it’s easy to forget that this “invisible” network is sharing the airwaves with your Wi-Fi network. Wi-Fi uses 22 MHz wide channels, while Zigbee uses smaller 2 MHz wide channels. In fact, Zigbee channels 11 through 22 overlap and potentially interfere with Wi-Fi channels 1, 6, and 11.

Zigbee is designed as a low power network and your Wi-Fi can disable it

Your Zigbee smart home just gives up

Zigbee shares the airspace over Wi-Fi on the 2.4 GHz network, but it is connected to this protocol. Its low transmission activity and collision avoidance mechanism help it coexist with Wi-Fi. However, Wi-Fi transmissions are in the 100–250 mW range (or higher), which is significantly stronger than Zigbee’s 1–100 mW transmissions. So Wi-Fi can significantly blind a Zigbee network when operating on the same channel.

If you have a lot of Wi-Fi devices in your home, they can cause strange problems with Zigbee devices. Delayed responses on your smart lights and switches, missed automations due to Zigbee being forced to retransmit, and smart devices appearing offline can all be caused by strong Wi-Fi interference on overlapping channels. Your Zigbee devices can lose battery life while fighting a losing battle.

The solution is to reconsider your channel selection with Wi-Fi and Zigbee. The best combination is to select channels 1, 6 or 11 in the Wi-Fi router and channels 15, 20 or 25 in the Zigbee settings. This allows your Zigbee transmissions to avoid overlapping Wi-Fi channels. Note that many smart home hubs require factory reset and repair to change the Zigbee channel.

Separate the Wi-Fi router from the Zigbee coordinator

Minimizing resistance is the name of the game

Avoiding channel overlap is one of the best ways to ensure Zigbee devices work properly near a heavy Wi-Fi network. Also, you need to make sure you don’t make any other mistakes. For example, a Zigbee coordinator and a Wi-Fi router should not be in close proximity, no matter how convenient. Keeping them at least 10 feet apart will prevent radio interference and keep your smart home stable.

Also, never connect the Zigbee dongle directly to the host computer. The interference of USB 3.0 ports can cause problems with low power Zigbee transmissions. Use a USB extender connected to a USB 2.0 port, then plug the connector into the extender to disconnect. Commercial smart home hubs like the Philips Hue Bridge already take care of this shielding aspect, so you don’t have to worry about it in these cases.

Zigbee is better for your smart home, but it’s not bulletproof

Zigbee is designed to occupy the same airwaves as Wi-Fi without major problems, but it needs to be set up correctly. Since Wi-Fi signals can easily overcome your Zigbee transmission, it’s important to avoid radio interference to avoid disrupting your smart home. Your smart home works in the background, under the radar, but you may forget that it operates on the same spectrum as your Wi-Fi network.