Z-Wave in 2026: Long Range, 800 series and controllers

What Z-Wave Long Range is

Z-Wave Long Range is an addition to Z-Wave that swaps the mesh for a star topology. The Z-Wave Alliance lists up to 4,000 nodes for Long Range against 232 for classic Z-Wave, and about 1 mile (1.6 km) of line-of-sight range against roughly 100 meters per hop. Long Range does not route through other devices.[1]

Long Range devices use their own frequencies. In the United States, classic Z-Wave runs on 908.42 and 916 MHz and Long Range on 912 and 920 MHz. The Alliance also states that Long Range can run up to 10 years on a single coin-cell battery through dynamic power control.[1]

Home Assistant describes Long Range as an option picked per device at pairing. Devices that support it offer a choice between Long Range and the mesh, and devices without Long Range can still be added. Home Assistant says Long Range options exist for the Europe and United States regions and that the adapter must support them.[2]

What the 800 series means

The 800 series is the newest generation of Z-Wave chips, and several controllers in the index list one. Home Assistant says Z-Wave JS supports 500, 700 and 800 series adapters. For new setups it recommends an 800 series adapter with firmware 7.23.2 or later.[2]

Chip series and Long Range support are separate facts to read on a product page. Aeotec lists the Z-Stick 7 on a 700 series chip. Zooz states that its ZST39 stick has an 800 series chip with Long Range, and Zooz has discontinued the 700 series ZST10 that the ZST39 replaced.[4–6]

Frequency is fixed in the hardware of a device. Home Assistant notes that the radio region of a 700 or 800 series adapter can be overridden in software, but device frequencies cannot be changed, so a device has to match the region of the network.[2]

Z-Wave controllers and USB sticks

A Z-Wave controller is either a standalone hub or a stick or module that a host computer drives. Home Assistant requires a supported Z-Wave adapter plus a Z-Wave server, which on Home Assistant OS is the Z-Wave JS app.[2]

• Home Assistant Connect ZWA-2: a Silicon Labs ZG23 adapter in the Z-Wave 800 series that runs Long Range alongside standard Z-Wave. Nabu Casa lists it for the United States, Europe and Australia in one global model.[3]
• Aeotec Z-Stick 10 Pro: a USB stick that combines Z-Wave and Zigbee in one body. Aeotec lists a 1-mile range and says it works with Home Assistant, Zigbee2MQTT and openHAB on Windows, Linux or Mac. The Z-Stick 7 is the earlier Z-Wave-only stick on a 700 series chip, and the Z-Pi 7 is a module that mounts on the GPIO header of a Raspberry Pi or Orange Pi Zero.[4][7][8]
• SONOFF Z-Wave 800 Dongle Plus: a USB controller on a Silicon Labs EFR32ZG23 chip with S2 security and Long Range. SONOFF lists it for Home Assistant and openHAB. The Z-Wave 800 PoE Dongle Max uses the same chip with an ESP32 and connects over PoE Ethernet, Wi-Fi or USB-C.[9][10]
• Zooz: the ZST39 800 Long Range USB Stick and the ZAC93 GPIO Module are 800 series controllers that need host software. The Z-Box Hub is a standalone hub with a built-in interface, a 700 series chip and Long Range, and Zooz lists local control with no external computer needed.[5][11]
• Hubs with a Z-Wave radio: the SmartThings Hub lists Zigbee, Z-Wave and Bluetooth, and the Ring Alarm Pro Base Station lists Z-Wave alongside Wi-Fi 6, Ethernet and LTE.[12][13]

Z-Wave in Home Assistant

Home Assistant runs Z-Wave through the Z-Wave JS integration, and it classifies the integration as Local Push. The Z-Wave server connects to Home Assistant over a local WebSocket, and the adapter should sit on the same host as the server.[2]

Home Assistant states that S2 security is the default and is preferred whenever a device supports it. S0 is used only when needed, for example with some older door locks, because it adds significant traffic. Security keys are visible in the Z-Wave JS app and Home Assistant advises keeping a backup of them.[2]

SmartStart lets an adapter add a device by scanning its QR code, and the device joins within 10 minutes of being powered on nearby. Not every device supports SmartStart, and the others join through classic inclusion.[2]

Replacing an adapter is a documented migration. Home Assistant provides a Migrate adapter action and a downloadable backup of the adapter's non-volatile memory, which holds every paired device.[2]

Z-Wave plugs and other devices

Z-Wave devices join the controller as nodes, and mains-powered ones can repeat signals. The Zooz ZEN04 800LR Smart Plug lists 400 ft of line-of-sight range, or 1,300 ft with Long Range enabled.[14]

The Shelly Wave Plug S is a Z-Wave 800 series plug that meters power and supports Long Range. Shelly lists a Schuko (Type F) socket and frequencies of 864 MHz for Long Range and 868.4 MHz for the mesh, so it is a European-frequency device.[15]

Z-Wave compared with Zigbee and Thread

Z-Wave differs from Zigbee and Thread mainly in its radio band. The Z-Wave Alliance gives sub-GHz frequencies for Z-Wave, while the Zigbee 4.0 announcement describes 2.4 GHz as Zigbee's usual band and adds sub-GHz options under the name Suzi. Thread is built on IEEE 802.15.4, the same radio standard family as Zigbee.[1][16][17]

Nabu Casa says Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Zigbee and Thread compete for the same airspace and that Z-Wave has its own much quieter spectrum. The same page makes no performance comparison between the protocols.[3]

Each protocol needs a different piece of hardware at the center. Z-Wave needs a Z-Wave controller, Zigbee needs a coordinator, and Thread devices need a Thread border router to reach the home network. Home Assistant lists a supported Z-Wave adapter as a prerequisite, and its Thread documentation describes the border router role. The table shows how many devices in the index sit on each path.[2][18]