Zigbee availability
Posted: Tue Dec 29, 2009 2:59 pm
Zigbee appears to me as the perfect protocol for home automation: open, secure, 2-way,... So why aren't there any modules available in NL or even EU? Zigbee seems to be around for a few years now, so I would expect some ready-made devices and components to be sold by (web)shops like they do for X10, Z-wave, etc.
Another question, which worries me a little, is how much of a standard is Zigbee exactly? I'm still diving into the Zigbee specs as we speak, but I read stories about different Zigbee systems (e.g. Plugwise, Control 4 & AMX if I'm not mistaken) which will not be able to communicate with eachother. Isn't the whole purpose of the Zigbee protocol (and other protocols for that matter) to be able to create a network of different devices and components using the same protocol and have them all to communicate and work together? Or was that in the datacommunications class I missed ?
Another question, which worries me a little, is how much of a standard is Zigbee exactly? I'm still diving into the Zigbee specs as we speak, but I read stories about different Zigbee systems (e.g. Plugwise, Control 4 & AMX if I'm not mistaken) which will not be able to communicate with eachother. Isn't the whole purpose of the Zigbee protocol (and other protocols for that matter) to be able to create a network of different devices and components using the same protocol and have them all to communicate and work together? Or was that in the datacommunications class I missed ?