Difference with wireless?

[Scud]

Hi guys;

Just wondering the main differences between wireless and wired cbus. As i understand it, wireless is preferable in retrofitted installations as it can use main wiring and then just communicate wirelessly. With wireless lighting functions are their any differences, can dimmers and PIRs still be used?

Also any other major difference which exists and which is the better of the two?

[NickD]

As i understand it, wireless is preferable in retrofitted installations as it can use main wiring and then just communicate wirelessly.

Wireless is definitely easier in a retrofit installation, because in most cases you just take the existing light switch off the wall and fit the wireless switch. I say "most" cases, because you are limited to 2 output channels per wireless switch.. so if you have a switch plate which feeds more than 2 separate lighting circuits then you'll need to do some redistribution of the loads.

With wireless lighting functions are their any differences, can dimmers and PIRs still be used?

The wireless products are newer, so they include some newer, enhanced functionality over the wired products... some more key functions, and little more flexibility in others. There are no PIRs in the wireless range, however the wireless and wired protocols are the same, so if you put in a wireless gateway, you can seamlessly combine wired and wireless networks. A few of the guys here have prredominantly wireless networks with small wired sections to run some PIRs and touchscreens.

Also any other major difference which exists and which is the better of the two?

Neither is "better"... they both have their place.

Wireless is great to retrofits, for extending wired installations in hard to reach places, and the plug adapters are great for controlling appliances (heaters, coffee machine etc). Plus it has a few more bells and whistles.

Wired obviously has a larger range of product, and is better suited to larger installations where range might be a problem for wireless.

Nick

[Scud]

thanks for that. extremely helpful!

[Scud]

I thought i may aswell also ask... with standard cbus the lights dim as they turn on and off, does this still occur with wireless?
Also the levels of my home are seperated with concrete slabs and am worried that the signal won't make it through the entire house, can this be overcome?

[NickD]

Concrete slabs etc to reduce the range of the wireless... and it's difficult to give rules of thumb for range.

If it does turn out to be a problem, you could run individual wireless networks for each floor and link them with a wired c-bus backbone network (this would require a wireless gateway for each network, and a power supply for the wired part). With correct programming this can work as one big network, but it does require some planning and thought.

If you are in the planning stage, it might be a good idea to make sure you have a pink c-bus cable linking each floor to allow for this.

Nick

[ashleigh]

Yes wireless does the soft start for dimmer products.

And as Nick points out, concrete slabs can have a BIG effect.

Example: I have a concrete slab floor between levels in my house. There is simply NO WAY AT ALL that I can get wireless LAN between the upper and lower levels. I can actually get better cbus wireless linking between levels than wireless LAN, but even that is a bit iffy. I run different cbus wireless networks upstairs and down (well actually I have some units that run down through the stairwell and its all fine there). Linking with a gateway is the most foolproof - just like how I got my gigabit ethernet. Spent a day and punched a cable through. Electrons go down wire easily :)

[Newman]

I thought i may aswell also ask... with standard cbus the lights dim as they turn on and off, does this still occur with wireless?With the way the units are programmed out of the box, you'll get soft-on and instant-off behaviour when toggling the output on and off on a wireless unit. This is the same behaviour as a wired C-Bus DIN Rail universal dimmer. If you want soft off behaviour you'll need to change the way the keys are programmed.