Security considerations of WiFi vs Zigbee for self-hosted IoT
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
ZigBee devices use less power, which means if they're battery powered, it can last longer than wifi devices. It has faster handshake too. it can wakes up from sleep and transmit data in less than a second, while a WiFi devices may need several seconds to connect to your AP if it has been sleeping for some time. The difference in latency is really noticable for stuff like door sensor or movement sensor where the device may be sleeping for extended amount of time. But if you build your own device using esphome, I guess there is no option but to use wifi.
As for security, if they're both offline, is it really matter?
Esp32-h2 now has ZigBee. I just ordered some so I can replace my current ones to get rid of wifi.
Are you planning to write your own code for them? I have been looking at ZigBee, especially support to write custom code and push out OTA updates to devices. Whilst I'm not very clear on the matter, I think with certain devices it is definitely possible, and support seems to be getting better recently.
Please let me know about your ideas for your setup and what you're buying/using/creating!
Damn you're right! Too bad they're not available in my country yet. I might be able to import one but with shipping and import tax it might ended up 10x more expensive than ordinary esp32 sold here.
Acronyms, initialisms, abbreviations, contractions, and other phrases which expand to something larger, that I've seen in this thread:
4 acronyms in this thread; the most compressed thread commented on today has 5 acronyms.
[Thread #269 for this sub, first seen 9th Nov 2023, 10:10] [FAQ] [Full list] [Contact] [Source code]
The communication method doesn't mean anything security wise. Here's a simple example.
Device #1 is an ESP32 based WiFi device with your own firmware. It won't phone its Chinese parent company every hour because you made the firmware yourself. It's no less secure or more wrong than using your phone hooked to your WiFi.
Device #2 is a ZigBee device. It doesn't have any connection to the internet. But you need a hub to interact with it and you decide to use Amazon Echo for simplicity. Now your house is fully owned by Bezos.
You need to inspect every device to see if they suit your needs.
TIL Amazon Echos can act as Zigbee hub. Still not using it lol.
Thanks. If I use a Sonoff controller and plug it into Node-red, how would that score for privacy?
Sonoffs are usually safe.