Zigbee’s next big update lets you add smart home devices without a hub

The Connectivity Standards Alliance has released Zigbee 4.0, an updated mentation of its wireless mesh networking modular with amended security, improved artillery life, and batch setup of caller devices similar astute lights, switches, and plugs. It’s besides announcing a caller diagnostic called Suzi, which is abbreviated for Sub-GHz and Zigbee. 

While Zigbee astute location devices typically run connected the 2.4GHz band, which tin acquisition awesome nonaccomplishment caused by obstacles similar heavy walls, Suzi-branded devices volition beryllium capable to enactment connected the European 800 MHz and North American 900 MHz frequence bands. That way, the radical says they’ll connection sum for astute devices installed extracurricular and farther distant from a home, without the request for further hardware to widen the networks.

Suzi is akin to different branded features that person been added to the 802.15.4-based spec implicit the years, similar Zigbee Smart Energy usage monitoring gear, and the low-power / low-maintenance Zigbee Green Power devices that harvest vigor from sources similar airy oregon vigor alternatively of utilizing batteries.

As companies similar Ikea person been making the modulation to Matter implicit Thread, which besides operates connected the 2.4GHz band, the advantages of Suzi volition assistance support the Zigbee protocol competitive, and not conscionable successful the home. “Suzi is simply a beardown acceptable for commercialized and concern use-cases, which present challenging environments specified arsenic heavy walls, aggregate levels, and ample deployments,” Genie Peshkova, seat of the Zigbee Product Marketing Group, explained to The Verge successful an email.

The database of improvements coming with Zigbee 4.0 includes a simplified certification process, accrued accusation speech betwixt devices, amended security, and improved artillery beingness for devices with communications that tin beryllium constricted to acceptable schedules.

A caller diagnostic called Batch Commissioning volition streamline large-scale installations by allowing aggregate astute devices to beryllium acceptable up simultaneously. An electrician could instal Zigbee-compatible airy bulbs passim a caller location agelong earlier there’s adjacent power, and erstwhile a hub is aboriginal installed and running, they tin beryllium activated astatine erstwhile alternatively of having to adhd them to the web individually. 

Zigbee Direct, a antecedently optional diagnostic added 2 years ago, is present modular successful 4.0. It allows smartphones to straight connect, control, and adjacent adhd adjacent Zigbee devices to a web utilizing Bluetooth Low Energy without a hub.

Zigbee 4.0 is afloat backwards compatible with Zigbee 3.0 and Smart Energy devices, and devices with “sufficient operational resources” tin perchance beryllium upgraded over-the-air erstwhile certified, according to Peshkova. But precisely which devices volition beryllium eligible to instrumentality afloat vantage of the improvements isn’t yet known. The Suzi certification programme is scheduled to commencement sometime successful the archetypal fractional of 2026.