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Where can I find affordable zigbee (or non wifi) light switches?

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  • Oct 20th, 2022 4:25 am
Sr. Member
Sep 8, 2005
503 posts
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Backwater West

Where can I find affordable zigbee (or non wifi) light switches?

I'm looking for non wifi smart light switches, dimmers, and 3 way dimmers. Would prefer not to have so many wifi devices so was looking for zigbee so it's all local (will grab a hub and run HA). But the only one I've found is like $70/switch.

Primecables seems to have a few on their page but have been OOS forever.

Do affordable ones exist? Wifi smart ones are like $18 each.

Cheers
8 replies
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Feb 25, 2015
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Search crappy tire clearance deals around you. I remember seeing Leviton zigbee switches for $25-30-ish in the electrical aisle.
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Deal Expert
Aug 2, 2004
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East Gwillimbury
Gochris wrote: Do affordable ones exist? Wifi smart ones are like $18 each.
Zigbee is the new premium device. They cost more than Z-Wave now

I hitched my wagon to Z-Wave because I didn’t want to be on the 2.4 GHz frequency

With Matter around the corner, it is totally understandable. Zigbee will work with all the smart assistants out of the box.

I would buy it on Amazon US. During prime day, Enbrighten Zigbee switches were 40$
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Jan 21, 2018
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Gochris wrote: I'm looking for non wifi smart light switches, dimmers, and 3 way dimmers. Would prefer not to have so many wifi devices so was looking for zigbee so it's all local (will grab a hub and run HA). But the only one I've found is like $70/switch.

Primecables seems to have a few on their page but have been OOS forever.

Do affordable ones exist? Wifi smart ones are like $18 each.

Cheers
I have some of the Zigbee stuff from Primecables, including the hub (rebranded Orvibo) which they originally sold for $10, and a pack of switches and sensors that cost less than $50 including a wall dimmer switch.

You are correct, they have been OOS forever, and I don't expect them to ever come back in stock - it's been years. The few things that remain in stock have more than doubled in price. They work ok, but they aren't the most reliable. I use them through the Orvibo Homemate app (same as Primecables), linked to Home Assistant via Tasker.

Advice: this is not the time to be investing in new home automation gear. The market is ridiculously fragmented between competitors greedy for subscription fees. Recognizing the harm this is causing, this fall the major groups are trying to unite behind the joint Matter/Thread initiative, including the former Zigbee coalition. Wait 6 months until we see where it is going. Consider anything you buy in the meantime to be a learning experiment you may end up throwing away next year.
Sr. Member
Sep 8, 2005
503 posts
566 upvotes
Backwater West
Scote64 wrote: Advice: this is not the time to be investing in new home automation gear. The market is ridiculously fragmented between competitors greedy for subscription fees. Recognizing the harm this is causing, this fall the major groups are trying to unite behind the joint Matter/Thread initiative, including the former Zigbee coalition. Wait 6 months until we see where it is going. Consider anything you buy in the meantime to be a learning experiment you may end up throwing away next year.
Thanks I didn't know about this so perhaps I will wait then. Cheers!
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Feb 25, 2004
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Gee wrote: Zigbee is the new premium device. They cost more than Z-Wave now

I hitched my wagon to Z-Wave because I didn’t want to be on the 2.4 GHz frequency

With Matter around the corner, it is totally understandable. Zigbee will work with all the smart assistants out of the box.

I would buy it on Amazon US. During prime day, Enbrighten Zigbee switches were 40$
My understanding was that a Z-Wave device would work with any Z-Wave system since it has to be certified while it is more open for Zigbee. Ex: they can use the "hardware" but customize the software, making it incompatible with other Zigbee systems. I could be wrong but I read that many people have issues with Xiaomi Aqara Zigbee devices for example if they don't use the Xiaomi hub since they don't use the real standard. That was my understanding. If it is the case, how will those Zigbee devices work with Matter?
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Aug 2, 2004
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East Gwillimbury
JEDI Force wrote: My understanding was that a Z-Wave device would work with any Z-Wave system since it has to be certified while it is more open for Zigbee. Ex: they can use the "hardware" but customize the software, making it incompatible with other Zigbee systems. I could be wrong but I read that many people have issues with Xiaomi Aqara Zigbee devices for example if they don't use the Xiaomi hub since they don't use the real standard. That was my understanding. If it is the case, how will those Zigbee devices work with Matter?
Z-Wave is proprietary and there is only one manufacturer that makes the chip (Silicon Labs). It is similar to Apple. One manufacturer that basically controls everything. Silicon Labs puts out the spec and everybody conforms to the specs, so everything just works

Zigbee is protocol (802.15.4). Just like WiFi, anyone can build it. Since it is a protocol, manufacturers can decide what to send over Zigbee. In the early days, everyone designed their own systems and they didn't communicate with each other. That is why Matter is such a big step.

To answer your question, most of the older devices can be updated (firmware) to support Matter. If you find a device that cannot be updated, then you can use ZigBee2MQTT and let MQTT communicate with your hub. Prior to Matter, Zigbee2MQTT is the only way to get different systems to communicate with each other.
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Oct 9, 2010
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JEDI Force wrote: My understanding was that a Z-Wave device would work with any Z-Wave system since it has to be certified while it is more open for Zigbee. Ex: they can use the "hardware" but customize the software, making it incompatible with other Zigbee systems. I could be wrong but I read that many people have issues with Xiaomi Aqara Zigbee devices for example if they don't use the Xiaomi hub since they don't use the real standard. That was my understanding. If it is the case, how will those Zigbee devices work with Matter?
Z-Wave works with most Z-Wave devices, but if a single "older" Z-Wave device is in the system, all of the security features go away (aka: unlocking your Z-Wave lock becomes trivial). Also, I have a certified Z-Wave Aeotech home home power monitor, and it ruins my entire Z-Wave network if I turn it on. So, there are also bad-actor Z-Wave devices (my Iris stuff, for example). Zigbee has had "proper" security since always, but non-compliant devices will have issues. I'll note that Hue uses Zigbee.

As a person who has purchased so much of this garbage, Zigbee is wildly more reliable than Z-Wave, and range is far superior. Also, Zigbee devices tend to use less power, which can matter when you have 20 switches, or if you use battery powered devices.
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