Shelly is proud of their devices being:
- No hub neeeded
- Not required to be online
- Compatible all major hubs if you do want to connect them.
I do not work for Shelly. I just really like how I don’t have to use an app for them and they’re compatible with seemingly everything. I’ve bought the devices and I can do what I want with them.
I had owned two of their smart plugs for a couple of years and they decided to stop responding to resetting and could talk to them. Shelly support sent out two new plugs for me and asked for the defective ones back so they could troubleshoot them. Great service.
Just seems that privacy-centric people should be using privacy focused devices.
They are headquartered in Germany so very unlikely they’ll go back on their offline compatibility anytime soon.
Are there any reputable relay brands that work with zigbee? I prefer relays, but I agree that wifi based relays are basically like installing low power wifi jammers in your house lol (OK, that’s an exaggeration, but it is an issue)
It certainly could be an issue, but I have 6 installed in my home and WiFi can still go over 200 Mbps. Maybe it could go higher, but I don’t need that.
For me at least, it’s not about speeds, but stability. Prior to installing relays, smart switches and whatnot in my house I could stream games from my PC to my phone/laptop flawlessly, but after installing them all it’s completely unplayable due to stutters and latency. Download speeds are more or less the same though
Ultimately whether it matters will depend on your use case, like most things
The only streaming device that I use in that context is PS5, and it works the same as before. Lucky me!
Reputable? Eh, depends on your definition.
A lot of people make use of Sonoff and Tuya-relabled Zigbee relays. If you’re able to control it at a wall switch (so not an actual relay) then your options greatly increase.
Wall switches are fine by me, I just don’t like smart bulbs
I make use of the Aqara wall switches. Because I live in a 120 year old house without neutral wiring and with 120V lines, Aqara is one of the few that makes a no-neutral wall switch that fits in a standard Decora mount and also works when the Zigbee network is down.
WS-USC01 through WS-USC04
Comes in with- and without- neutral options as well as single and double rockers.
If you’re not in the US they also make a much wider variety of switches, mix of touch and rockers, that work with 240V with and without neutrals.
I’m aware that Aqara is a Chinese company and you should probably never let them on your wifi network. But because it’s Zigbee it’s far less of a risk and they’re plug and play compatible with all of the major Zigbee controllers.
Nice, I actually already have a few aqara accessories, so that works!