Ride the Z-Wave

Devices capitalizing on Z-Wave technology are moving along quickly, empower smart applications and changes the way we look at home living.

The Z-Wave, a radio band around 800-900 MHz, has been used in the past for nostalgic home electronics like cordless telephones. The band has been dramatically improving recently; smart devices are taking advantage of it to operate blinds, light switches, doors, and more. In doing so, they avoid the crowded 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi band, and some recent commercial devices can boast a 150 ft+ range. Like Wi-Fi devices, the signal can also be “boosted” by networking different nodes together, forming a chain of signals.

Security for this radio band is catching up to its realized advantages. “Z-Wave certification,” granted by the commercial organization Z-Wave Alliance, is given to devices which meet specific security protocols like encrypted transmission, unique PIN, or QR codes.

Since Z-Wave-over-IP specifications released into the public domain in 2016, the number of devices capitalizing on the accessibility has been steadily growing and will only increase in the future.