Bluetooth mesh , Thread, and Zigbee are popular mesh networking standards used to add wireless connectivity to building and home automation products. Silicon Labs conducted mesh network performance testing to help developers better understand difficult-to-predict wireless behavior and make more informed choices when designing products for the IoT.
Learn about performance results and additional criteria for selecting the appropriate mesh networking technology.
Networking performance characteristics such as throughput, latency and the impact of network size on scalability and reliability are important factors to consider. Additional factors such as technologies used in different ecosystems, gateway interfaces and cloud connectivity should also be factored in when making a technology selection.
Bluetooth Mesh | Thread | Zigbee | |
---|---|---|---|
Market Focus | Lighting and Home Automation | Commercial/Industrial | Home Automation, Lighting, Metering |
Maturity | Established 2017 |
Established 2015 | Established 2003 |
Application Layer |
Native Mesh Model | Flexibile support for IP-based application layers like dotdot, OCF and Nest Weave | Comprehensive Zigbee Cluster Library (ZCL) |
IPv6 |
No | Yes | No |
Cloud Connectivity |
Smartphone (Temporary) Gateway | Border Router Gateway | Gateway |
Ecosystems |
None | Nest | Amazon, IKEA, Phillips HUE, Samsung SmartThings, Lowes Iris, Wink, Cox, Rogers, Deutsch Telekom (Qivicon) and others |
Routing |
Managed Flooding | Full Routing | Full Routing |
Additional Notes |
Beaconing, Direct Phone Connectivity | — | Most Mature |
Examine the key factors such as technical strengths, maturity in the marketplace and established deployments to determine the appropriate technology for your needs.
Tests were conducted using Silicon Labs’ Wireless Gecko SoC platform capable of running Bluetooth Mesh, Thread, Zigbee, and Proprietary protocols. Silicon Labs Bluetooth Mesh, Thread, and Zigbee software stacks were utilized. The test environment was a commercial office building with active Wi-Fi and Zigbee networks in range. Wireless test clusters were deployed in hallways, meeting rooms, offices, and open areas.