Router for Smart Home

Wireless networks of IEEE 802.11 standard, as we know, use a "star" typology – all devices in them use a single entry point. In this case more than two hundred devices can work in one network, which is enough not just for a smart house, but for the whole smart estate.

Zigbee 3.0 USB router for network expansion: Tuya Smart, Home Assistant integration

The subject of this review will be a smart home gadget that is neither a sensor nor an executive device. It does not transmit any readings or perform any actions, so it cannot be used in automations. It is a Zigbee router and its task is to transmit data from other devices in the network, thereby expanding its capacity and coverage.

• Model: RP280, in zigbee2mqtt – TS0207_repeater
• Protocol: Tuya ZigBee 3.0
• Range: 20 ~ 30 meters
• Power: 10 dB
• Power: USB A – 5V up to 1A
• Dimensions: 28 mm * 18 mm * 7 mm
• Color: white

Delivery

The router comes in a small white box, though taking into account its size even a dozen of such routers could have been placed in it. The inscription on the front side, except for the word Zigbee, is made in hieroglyphs – it is an indication that the device is designed for the domestic market. The technical parameters of the device, which I have already told you about, are written on the back.

The first thing that came to mind after I opened the box – a royal bed. But all came to me safe and sound. By the way – the store was very conscientious about the outer packaging.

The instruction manual is in Chinese, without an interpreter it is hard to understand anything. So it is hard to understand anything without an interpreter.

In the parcel there was an instruction manual in English, and this was the store's initiative, because the box was sealed and the instruction manual was separate. It also has the name of the store on it. The most useful thing in it is the way to reset the router, which requires plugging it in and out of USB three times in a row.

Z-Wave versus smart home devices with Wi-Fi

To understand the essence of the problem, you need to know what makes Z-Wave different from Wi-Fi smart home devices. Z-Wave is a certain standard that follows certain rules, while Wi-Fi is not when it comes to smart home devices. Amazon and a few other companies are trying to change that with a standard called Chip , but it's a long way off.

Z-Wave has a particular advantage over ZigBee (another smart home standard) and Wi-Fi-based gadgets. Z-Wave devices communicate on a less used radio frequency, 908.42 MHz, which will not cause network congestion.

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ZigBee and most Wi-Fi smart home devices communicate over 2.4 GHz. If you're familiar with Wi-Fi networks, you probably know that your router can handle two "bands" of radio frequencies, 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz. The latter is faster and less likely to be congested, but it doesn't broadcast as far. It is also more expensive to embed in devices.

ZigBee and Z-Wave devices also automatically create mesh smart home networks from device to device, while Wi-Fi-based smart gadgets don't. But while Z-Wave and ZigBee have many advantages, they are slowly giving way to Wi-Fi devices.

Wi-Fi smart home devices don't require hubs, and it's easy to make them compatible with Google Assistant and Alexa. If you buy smart light bulbs for multiple rooms, a smart lock, a video intercom and cameras, you're suddenly adding dozens of Wi-Fi-enabled devices in addition to your laptops, tablets, smartphones and smart TVs.

Your current router is not designed for the smart home

Smart home companies that build Wi-Fi devices often choose to include only the 2.4 GHz radio module to save on costs. This lowers the price and ensures that the device has a wide range. If it's a simple device that listens most of the time, the extra speed from the 5 GHz radio may not be that important. For similar reasons (and smaller), the same devices often don't have Ethernet ports, forcing you to use Wi-Fi.

This sounds great from a cost standpoint, but it just throws a shadow over the problem of congestion. In the past, you might have had to deal with your neighbor's loud and busy network causing congestion, but now it's your house's fault.

What's worse, despite the 2.4GHz or 5GHz dilemma, consumer Wi-Fi routers weren't designed to handle that many devices. When Wi-Fi 5 came out, the average home had about five Wi-Fi devices connected. Now we connect many more Wi-Fi devices, even without smart homes. In addition, Wi-Fi 5 routers can only broadcast four devices at a time, and only one device can respond at a time.

And while Wi-Fi router software can theoretically handle "up to 250" devices, few consumer routers have the hardware to support this. Your router can only communicate with so many devices at once, so the more you add, the greater the load on it. Even a mesh router can't handle that. That's where Wi-Fi 6 comes into play.

What's been accomplished?

We spent the first season of 2021 getting used to life at the cottage and forming a vision for ourselves of what we wanted to turn it into. Of course, some things were already done then.

I started with communication – in the dacha you have to not only rest, but also work. The initial idea to lay the optics in the garden had to be abandoned. Providers were willing to do it for the cost of six zeros, and there were almost no willing to invest in broadband access in the village. But it turned out that two mobile operators on the territory of the village have quite fast 4G networks.

Here it is worth mentioning. A million rubles for fiber optics to the village is not a necessary price. It depends on many factors: the distance to the nearest node, the support for laying the cable and others. It may well be that for many SNTs broadband will be much cheaper. H is envy.

Experience One: Dacha Internet

Yes, there may be no cell phone service at all in your garden. In this case, I can only sympathize. Most likely, things are not that bad and at least one operator got to your dacha. In my case there were two.

Lifehack. Unlimited calling for reasonable prices is hard to find with the Big Four operators themselves. But many of them have partners: virtual operators. And you can find interesting options with them. I found one with my operator, and now I have full-fledged unlimited mobile Internet for 400 rubles a month.

Using an ordinary smartphone and the Speedtest app, both networks were tested and the one with the higher "inbound" speed was chosen. After that, a wireless router with a SIM card slot was purchased and a suitable tariff was chosen.

• First of all, there are not many devices on the market with a SIM card slot (I did not want to use a "whistle" because of the unseriousness of such devices).
• Secondly, I considered the options of only those manufacturers who have in their portfolio devices for simple construction MESH-systems. And there are essentially only three of them on the market.
• Thirdly, a prerequisite was the availability of a mobile app for remote management of the router via the cloud. My wife is not very good with electronics, and simply rebooting the router can be a challenge for her. And I might be far away at a critical moment.
• Finally, the technical requirements were two operating bands and IEEE 802.11a/n/ac support at 5 GHz (not for IoT, but for full-fledged surfing).

As a result, I bought a TP-Link Archer MR600 V3 and along with it three RE200 Wi-Fi amplifiers from the same manufacturer. Why not the popular Keenetic? Simply because at that moment this vendor didn't have any compact repeaters. And ASUS "lost out" on price.

Soap as a quad-channel 802.11ac router

One of the main functions of the device is a router. The system is quad-channel, with two 2.4GHz spectrum channels and two 5GHz channels. With this approach, the router provides access to the wireless network at speeds of up to 2GB/s.

The system has built-in virus/malware protection, so there is no need to install anti-virus software on home/work systems individually, according to the developers. There are parental control features as well. If necessary, you can remotely disable any of the devices connected to the wireless home network (for example, the tablet of a child who should be doing homework now instead of watching another episode of "The Fixies" on the Web).

According to the developers, the system allows you to work with almost any wireless device, with any of the presented communication modules: Z wave, Zigbee, WiFi, Insteon, X10, 433 mhz, Audio, IR, BLE and some others. As far as we can understand, the device can even control a garage door, opening and closing it as directed by the owner.

The device is controlled by Soap Automation software, which is compatible with the Apple Home Kit.

Specifications

• Android OS as the software platform;
• Gigabit Ethernet;
• Gigabit WiFi;
• Two WiFi modules: dual-channel 802.11AC and dual-channel 802.11N chipsets;
• Freescale IMX6 quad-core processor;
• 2GB of DDR3 RAM and 32GB of internal storage (128GB SSD can be installed if desired);
• First Bluetooth router: the system gives the same Bluetooth capabilities as WiFi;
• Soap Mesh – several Soap devices can form a cluster, amplifying the signal and increasing the radius. In addition, such a system forms a single storage array;

• USB 3.0, USB 2.0, SATAII, mPCIe, RJ45, HDMI ports;
• Compatible with Z wave, Zigbee, WiFi, Insteon, X10, 433 mhz, Audio, IR, BLE protocols.
• 7 or 8.4 – inch touch screen display (depending on the model).

As mentioned above, the developers presented several models of their device at once:

The system is controlled using the touch display of the "router" itself. In addition, mobile applications for iOS7, iOS8 and Android are now being developed.

Configuration of different Soap models

Smart homes don't have to be very expensive

Assuming you choose Zigbee or Z-Wave as your smart home protocol, there's no reason to stick to one brand or ecosystem.

Samsung and Apple's official websites are constantly updating lists of partner brands and compatible devices for SmartThings and HomeKit, respectively. Home Assistant and Hubitat don't come with mandatory certifications due to their openness and work with more devices than you'd expect.

Why is this a big deal? Take motion sensors, for example. If you have a SmartThings hub, you do not need to buy sensors produced by the same Samsung. A worthy alternative is the Z-Wave multi-sensor from Aeotec, which combines temperature, humidity, motion and ultraviolet radiation measurement in one bottle. Another promising gadget is GE's Enbrighten wall-mounted light switch with intelligent Zigbee, Z-Wave, or Bluetooth control. The choices are endless.

If you're a little more adventurous, it's also worth taking a look at lesser-known models: Aqara from Xiaomi, Sonoff from eWelink and Trådfri from IKEA. I can say with confidence that the range of brands listed almost always provides satisfying results at an impressively affordable price.

Of course, there are some notable exceptions. For example, the trendy Philips Hue line of smart home accessories is extremely easy to set up. The only and significant minus is that it doesn't have a completely open ecosystem. Many third-party Zigbee devices can be connected, but unless they are Friends of Hue certified, full functionality is not guaranteed. Among other things, official accessories are not cheap, partly because there are quite few analogs.

The cloud is unreliable: Smart homes need manual control

As soon as you set up automation in the house and the lights start to turn on like magic, it may be tempting to immediately get rid of the "outdated" switches. My advice would be to take your time.

Unless you live alone, it's important that your smart home settings be as unobtrusive as possible. What works well and pleasantly for you won't please or please someone else. And the last thing you need is a family member or guest who can't turn on the lights themselves. Silly? Believe me, I've been in that situation.

Another point to consider is the prevalence of server failures. Gadgets, including big brands like Hue, Tuya, and GE, run into them from time to time. The more devices you bundle, the more likely you are to be affected by outages. Cloud bundles (in my case, Google-Hue) have let me down a few times, even though both platforms work fine through their official apps.

So consider the shortcomings of cloud-based systems and try to design your smart home with offline functionality as a backup. It all starts with choosing the right hub that doesn't turn into a useless box in the absence of an Internet connection. As for manual control, physical switches still reign supreme. In a modern implementation, smart switches would be a great idea. They combine the best of both worlds.

I hope my conclusions will help you start your journey through home automation technology. A final tip: start small – at first try to limit yourself to a couple of inexpensive gadgets and sensors.

Smart home with your own hands, to prepare a Wi-Fi network

The works on turning the apartment into a smart home require a large number of devices connected to the network. The project implemented by the author has already exceeded 30 connections, and it seems that this is not the limit, as the result of the work is pleasing, which makes you connect more and more new devices.

But this process has a downside: since the devices are evenly distributed throughout the apartment, the moment came when the previously used Wi-Fi network can no longer cope, and a new approach to the deployment of Wi-Fi in the apartment was required. In fact, some of the devices could not work steadily, because they were too far away from the router, and the signal did not reach them. All owners of apartments in monolithic buildings or apartments with a large area face such problems, because no router, even a very expensive one, can penetrate three reinforced concrete slabs or make its way to the floor above.

In our case, a three-room apartment in a reinforced concrete monolith with the repair, which was made several years ago, and the lack of wired wiring in the apartment required finding a solution to the problem of stable Wi-Fi signal transmission from one corner of the apartment to another. It should be noted that previously there was no need to cover the whole area of the apartment with Wi-Fi network, and the only close task to transmit the signal through a couple of rooms from the router was solved quite simply – by installing a repeater. Despite the fact that this solution allowed to transmit the signal to the TV set located there, the quality of this solution left much to be desired. The main complaint about this solution is the instability of the connection. So, when using a repeater the connection regularly, two or three times a month, fell off, and the repeater had to be rebooted. It should also be noted that when using a repeater the speed of the net it creates is reduced by half and you need to create a new separate network with a different name, while the stability of this connection, frankly speaking, is not satisfactory, so I did not want to put up with this state of affairs. This is despite the fact that in the bundle worked devices from the high price segment, separately possessing almost top characteristics at the time of purchase. Here it should be noted, if for the TV, the loss of speed played a role, especially when transmitting video content in HD-quality, then for the work of sensors and smart home devices connection speed is not of fundamental importance, but for them the stability of the connection comes to the fore.

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For the beginning it was decided to look at what providers offer in terms of connection speed and what can be done about it. After all, a lot of time has passed since the connection of the apartment to the network, it is possible that something new has appeared. At the time of the start of the work the speed of the Internet in the apartment was 70 Mbit / s, in general, it was acceptable, but I wanted more. Then I got an offer from MTS Home to optically connect 500 Mbps directly to my apartment, and they also threatened to give me a TV set-top box and an IPTV package with access to their new KION movie theater. Considering that all of this was offered at a lower price than the rate previously used, the decision was made in their favor. I must admit that the level of service from MTS Home pleased me both with the speed of installation and the professionalism of the installer. The package included a Sercom RV6699 Gigabit dual-band router and a ZTE TV attachment. The router was installed at the entrance to the apartment, and the installation was done very neatly without any damage to the interior or the surrounding design.

It was decided to give up the idea of using a repeater. After researching the issue showed that the only sensible alternative to the repeater is to deploy a mesh-system. Despite the novelty of this option, there are already a sufficient number of mesh solutions from different manufacturers. A set of three TP link deco m5 devices, which cost 13,000 rubles, seemed to be a reasonable and affordable option. The key difference of the mesh-system is that it creates a single Wi-Fi space, which provides equal connection speed throughout the entire enclosed space and at the same time is able to provide seamless roaming inside when moving from one room to another without losing connection to the network.

The TP-link Mesh System is the best replacement for a regular router

TP-Link developers managed to create an interesting and comprehensive solution for the modern home or office. The user will get a stable seamless network in two bandsThe user will get a stable seamless network with two bands, automatic signal redirection and uninterrupted data transmission without any interruptions.

Deco M9 combines the capabilities of a hub for communication with smart electronics. So you don't have to spend money on additional devices that only increase the signal transmission time.

As a bonus, there are out-of-the-box solutions for data protection and filtering. This is not a tricky third-party browser extension or subscription service, but additional settings in the proprietary system management app.

This is what a top-of-the-line kit looks like for accessing the network and connecting all the smart gadgets in the house.

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How Almond protects your home with Gulfstream

The coolest trick invented in Wifire – built-in directly in the native router control app to call the remote guard, alarm system "Gulfstream".

For its work it is enough to do the initial setup and to connect the service in a private office. And, of course, create a specific scenario by which the rapid response team will be called.

There is also SOS emergency button, which allows you to call the security guards in manual mode.

It comes in especially handy if the camera video feed shows something suspicious, or maybe even a real threat to life or property.

The video stream is available in the app through the section with the camera in real time thanks to a proprietary cloud service. You don't have to pay for it – everything is included in the cost of the camera.

The prices are humane. And could be even lower.

Creating the smart home itself with Wifire is easy. You can set it up yourself in a couple of clicks, or you can trust all the work to a specialist. They can pick up the components and write the scripts.

Moreover, they can even wire it in any way needed. If you're afraid that it will be too expensive, there is the installment plan.

Besides, don't forget that we're not just talking about a router, but a full-fledged smart home center.

On the provider's website, you can connect to the Internet, home television, and mobile communications.

This ensures the smooth operation of all systems, including the security system, and allows you to pay for the necessary multimedia services in the house through one personal account.

The prices are surprisingly humane. Home Internet, for example, in Moscow, will cost from 400 to 900 rubles per month for an apartment (available rates of 50, 100 and 500 Mbit / s). In a private home will be slightly more expensive, up to 1200 rubles for 100 Mbit / c.

Home TV is combined with a package of wired Internet: package "120 +" (channels) will cost 199 rubles, and the epic option with 257 on-air and satellite channels – 949 rubles per month.

Prices can be dropped by choosing a package offer from "MegaFon" on the home page: then the package will include mobile and home Internet, voice traffic and TV.

LIFEHACK: You can buy a static "white" IP address from your ISP and bring your router out into the global network with a direct address.

Configuring Smart Scenarios on Xiaomi Routers

It is not necessary to use a Xiaomi router for a smart home. But it is recommended to buy one. With it, the ecosystem will get useful functions.

The main one is Intelligent Scene. These are smart scenarios that further unlock the potential of smart devices. With them, the router's behavior is easily configured. The user controls when devices are turned on and off:

The smart home models feature a MiNet button. With one click, the router will connect Xiaomi smart devices to the same network. You do not need to enter a password.

Connecting a hard disk drive (HDD) to a router

A video camera is used in almost every smart home. This device records video at resolutions up to 1080p, and it also records nighttime footage. They are equipped with speakers and a microphone for feedback. The hard drive connected to the router is used to save the video footage. With it the device turns into a home server capable of storing information.

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