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Security considerations of WiFi vs Zigbee for self-hosted IoT (self.selfhosted)

submitted 10 months ago by MigratingtoLemmy to c/selfhosted

17 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Hi everyone. Before anything else, I would like to mention that I do not plan to expose absolutely anything to the internet other than using a VPN, and that's if necessary.

Now, if I understand it correctly, ZigBee compatible devices need a controller attached to the computer to decipher messages? Since we are talking about security, it seems that the ZigBee network has its own encryption technology.

Coming to WiFi which was my original plan, we have established protocols like WPA2. I had intended for all of my IoT devices to be locked in a separate VLAN with no external access.

Which one of them do you think is better for privacy and longevity? I am going to use the basics such as lights, temperature/motion sensors (would like to flash with custom firmware like Tasmota if possible) - alongside some custom devices, which would also be programmed from scratch (ESP32 based). The problem I have with the devices from the latter proposition is that I have to keep on top of security trends myself, but I suppose that's the trade-off one makes with custom devices.

Please tell me what you use at home and why, between Zigbee and WiFi?

Thanks

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[–] MigratingtoLemmy 1 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (3 children)

Do you think I'll be able to use 915Mhz (I'm in the US) for ZigBee devices using the Sonoff controller and IKEA devices/custom devices? Or is it reserved for specific purposes?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Isn't Zigbee always on 2.4GHz regardless of country? Trying to shift the frequency to 915MHz for all devices sounds like a lot of work with questionable benefit

[–] MigratingtoLemmy 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Won't it interfere with 2.4Ghz WiFi?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago

Well, theoretically yes but it doesn't continuously send data and both WiFi and Zigbee also allow for operation on various channels. Does your neighbors WiFi interfere with yours?

Also, most WiFi devices now support 5GHz WiFi anyway so it's even less of an issue anymore. The bigger problem would probably be WiFi interfering with ZigBee. But again, that can be resolved by changing the channels.