Basics of wireless smart home solutions

btw: A house can also be "smart" with radio actuators.

Example?

Another disadvantage of the radio gadgets is...

They are for the most part de facto disposable solutions. Poor/low quality, planned obsolescence, possibilities of shutting down support or communication channels and/or functions under the pretext: "It is outdated" "It is no longer supported" sometimes already after a few years. Very few people think about the fact that it is basically not a purchase but a kind of rental.

One must differentiate here. A robot vacuum cleaner and a lawnmower, etc., are just a few individual devices which are also uncritical.

The best sentence in the thread. You can tinker with uncritical things one way or another. If it doesn’t work sometimes, it’s uncritical. If you, , can overlook one or the other problem or malfunction with a certain generosity, your approach is great and certainly a source of many small joys. Your introduction is then also consistent. If you want to put your quality of life in the hands of home automation, it’s worth dealing with quality, safety, and redundancy. In my house, many things run wirelessly. None of it is really important. Just comfort gadgets. Everything can fail, and I don’t live worse, I can still get into my house, have light and heat. My wife hardly uses the wireless stuff or does so largely unknowingly, as she is neither interested nor particularly fond of it.

But that makes it even more expensive than just using KNX from the start? With KNX I can at least connect the switches "in series." To wire these now also in a star shape requires even more cables again.

You can, but he doesn’t want to commit to one system beforehand. Flexibility always costs more.

Example?

I’m not exactly sure what you’re getting at? The radio actuators are the same as the switching actuators in a DIN rail in a network cabinet. It doesn’t matter how the signals are transmitted, whether by cable or radio. What matters is what happens afterwards, for example a light turns on or countless other things happen... PS: always with the guiding principle that you choose an open radio protocol and impose as few "dependencies" as possible (central unit, batteries, ...)

The radio actuators are the same as the switching actuators in a DIN rail in a network cabinet.

Oh, I see, the discussion is based on false assumptions. You suppose it would be equivalent. I have to disappoint you there. The radio actuators for the socket or the lamps and other components of everyday home automation at this level are then "only" consumer grade. You can already tell that just by looking from the outside, let alone if you take off the plastic packaging and look inside.

It is irrelevant how the signals are transmitted, whether by cable or wireless.

No, you can't say that either. Because with wireless, a lot of unnecessary stuff comes along.

What's decisive is what happens behind it, like a light turning on or a bunch of other things happening...

No, not only the result but also the way to get there is important. Because depending on how you set things up, there can also be significant delays or even dropouts and telegrams going into the void.

PS: always with the guiding principle that you choose an open wireless protocol and impose as few "dependencies" as possible (central unit, batteries, ...)

Yes, that's just it... with wireless, you automatically put yourself on a higher level of dependency than with cables.

That's true as well. But in both, I appreciate electric windows and automatic climate control.

Is it even possible to downgrade the Rolls to crank windows?

My wife hardly uses the remote stuff or does so largely unknowingly, as she is neither interested nor particularly fond of it.

I think that’s an important aspect to consider when planning: not only the wife acceptance factor but also idiot-proof usability: besides a battery of Rubik’s Cube switches, also adding one that simply works with analog I/O. So that guests don’t have to wear a visitor badge with a transponder just to get the light on in the bathroom :-)