Smarthome-type Candidate Networks

Posted on by CBMalloch

  • Long-range off-the-grid communications

    • Meshtastic

      • LoRa sub-GHz radio band, e.g. 915MHz in the US
      • mesh, broadcast, forwarding, max 7 hops
      • normal use case – short text messages

    • MeshCore

      • LoRa sub-GHz radio band, e.g. 915MHz in the US
      • mesh, using path learning
      • AES encryption
      • devices have fixed roles: companion radio, repeater, room server, stand-alone device
    • Reticulum
    • LoRa and/or HAM
      • APRS – Automatic Packet Reporting System “Packet Radio”
        • Digipeaters
        • aprs.fi

  • Wireless Personal-Area Networks

    • BSR X-10

      • power line transmission

    • XBee

    • Zigbee

      • 6LoWPAN/IEEE 802.15.4
      • 2.4GHz, sub-GHz, e.g. 915MHz radio bands
      • 10-100 meters, line-of-sight
      • star, tree, mesh
      • Zigbee coordinator (ZC), router (ZR), end device (ZED)
      • encryption
      • optimized for battery-operated devices
      • network layer, application layer, Zigbee device objects (ZDO), manufacturer-specified application objects

    • Z-Wave

      • sub-GHz radio band, e.g. 915MHz in the US

    • painlessMesh

    • Thread

      • 6LoWPAN/IEEE 802.15.4
      • 2.4GHz radio band
      • can be run on ESP32, perhaps on ESP8266
      • IP-addressable
      • cloud access
      • AES encryption
      • optimized for low-power and battery-operated devices
      • open-source implementation OpenThread via Google
        • OpenThread network simulator

    • Tasmota

      • Protocol for ESP devices
      • Supports Matter, but only (so far) over WiFi

    • Matter

      • Lives atop Thread; can also live atop WiFi