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What is Zigbee?
In This Article
If you’re looking at buying any bit of smart home tech, be it a new plug, Wi-Fi camera or fridge, then you may well have come across the term Zigbee.
But what is it and why is it important when buying smart home tech? In this guide we’ll explain everything you need to know about Zigbee.
What is Zigbee?
ZigBee is an IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) standard for wireless home networking. It’s a low-power, secure, and IoT (Internet of Things) friendly technology that allows you to create connected devices in your home.
More specifically, ZigBee is a short-range wireless protocol primarily used for the wireless interconnection of sensor, actuator, and control devices within the home environment. It is also used for wireless networking between smart appliances, tools, and other devices. It is one of the most popular standards for home automation and wireless networking devices.
ZigBee was designed as a lower-cost alternative to Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. It’s also advertised as being much more secure than Wi-Fi, so you can feel more comfortable letting connected wireless devices be used by other devices in your home.
Zigbee Pros
The reason so many companies use Zigbee to help their smart devices communicate is that it comes with a number of perks. The biggest include:
Zigbee Cons
Despite these perks there are a number of issues with Zigbee that have led some companies to experiment with other protocols. These include:
Which smart Home Hub should you use With Zigbee?
If you’re interested in using Zigbee for smart home automation, then you should use a Zigbee-enabled smart hub. These hubs support the Zigbee standard and can help you find and control devices in your home.
These hubs can help you get the most out of your Zigbee network. They can help you discover new devices by serving as a bridge between your Zigbee network and the wider web. They can also help you set up new devices by providing a point of control and configuration. Finally, they can help you monitor your Zigbee network and troubleshoot issues.
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Why trust our journalism?
Founded in 2003, Trusted Reviews exists to give our readers thorough, unbiased and independent advice on what to buy.
Today, we have millions of users a month from around the world, and assess more than 1,000 products a year.
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
