Z-Wave vs. Zigbee
Comparing 2 standards across 13 specifications. 13 key differences identified.
Z-Wave is a proprietary wireless mesh communications standard standardized by ITU-T G.9959 and governed by the Z-Wave Alliance. Operating in unlicensed sub-gigahertz frequency bands (868.4 MHz in Europe, 908.4 MHz in the US), it eliminates interference from 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, supporting up to 232 mesh nodes (and up to 4,000 nodes in Z-Wave Long Range).
Zigbee is an open global wireless mesh networking standard maintained by the Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA), based on IEEE 802.15.4. Operating primarily in the 2.4 GHz band at 250 kbps, it uses self-healing Ad-hoc On-Demand Distance Vector (AODV) routing to connect up to 65,000 nodes in smart lighting and home automation.
Specification Comparison Table
13 Parameters| Parameter / Spec | ||
|---|---|---|
|
Frequency Bands
|
868.4 MHz (EU), 908.42 MHz (US), 916.0 MHz (US high speed) | 2.4 GHz (Global 16 channels) / 868 MHz (EU) / 915 MHz (US) |
|
Network Topology
|
Source-routed Mesh (up to 4 repeaters) / Star (Z-Wave LR) | Full Mesh / Star / Cluster Tree |
|
Standardization
|
ITU-T G.9959 / Z-Wave Alliance Specification | — |
|
Raw Data Rates
|
9.6 kbps, 40 kbps, 100 kbps (FSK / GFSK) | — |
|
Max Mesh Node Limit
|
232 nodes (classic mesh) / 4,000 nodes (Z-Wave Long Range) | — |
|
Security Framework
|
Security 2 (S2) with ECDH key exchange and AES-128 | — |
|
Hardware Ecosystem
|
Silicon Labs (500, 700, 800 Series SoCs) | — |
|
Underlying Radio Standard
|
— | IEEE 802.15.4 (Physical & MAC Layer) |
|
Raw PHY Data Rate
|
— | 250 kbps (at 2.4 GHz with O-QPSK) |
|
Routing Protocol
|
— | AODV (Ad-hoc On-Demand Distance Vector) |
|
Device Roles
|
— | Coordinator (ZC), Router (ZR), End Device (ZED / Sleepy) |
|
Security Protocols
|
— | 128-bit AES CCM* encryption with Network and Trust Center Link keys |
|
Current Specification
|
— | Zigbee 3.0 (Unified Zigbee Cluster Library / ZCL) |