I just bought a Philips Hue starting kit with four candle lights, however owing to a lack of space (and power outlets) near my router in my living room, I positioned my Hue Hub (the Bridge v2) in my attic instead.
Because I already have complete networking (and electricity) in my attic, I was able to build this, but may the position pose range/distance issues?
Is the range any better with the current generation of bulbs (the ones that enable Bluetooth) if I do have issues?
And while we’re on the subject, why don’t any of the outside lights support Bluetooth (requiring the Hue Bridge instead)?
The range of bulbs that need the Hue Bridge (i.e., those that support Zigbee) is greater than that of Bluetooth Hue bulbs.
Zigbee bulbs may also ‘mesh’ together to extend the range of communication.
The Hue Bridge (Zigbee) vs Bluetooth
If you look at the background of a Philips Hue box, you’ll find the words “ZigBee Certified Product” written on it:
Philips Hue products that are “ZigBee Certified.” This implies they have a computer chip that communicates using the ZigBee protocol, similar to how an internet router can connect using an ‘internet protocol’ (such as WiFi), and wireless headphones can communicate using the Bluetooth protocol.
A protocol is simply a way for various technological devices to communicate with one another and transmit information back and forth.
Philips Hue lights with the current firmware have both ZigBee and Bluetooth chips, but bulbs that need the Bridge only have a ZigBee chip.
Bluetooth has been around since 1989, but ZigBee was initially conceived in 1998. Both protocols have subsequently been upgraded; newer lights now accept Bluetooth Low Energy (LE), which was established in December 2009, and all Hue devices now support the new ZigBee 3.0 standard, which was announced in December 2016.
Bluetooth LE and ZigBee 3.0 include the following main characteristics – and differences:
- Both use the same radio frequency spectrum as 2.4 GHz WiFi, which is 2,400 Mhz.
- Supporting devices may transmit and receive data more quickly since Bluetooth LE is faster. (Of fact, since smart bulbs only get little pieces of internet data, the maximum download speed isn’t all that relevant for light bulbs.)
- Each ZigBee device has the ability to operate as a ‘mesh provider,‘ extending the network’s range. This works by enabling each bulb to detect and relay ZigBee signals from other bulbs (either to another bulb or the Hue Hub).
This is a clever notion, and it means that the more Philips Hue lights you have in your house, the wider your smart lighting range will be.
Bluetooth Mesh is a similar concept to ZigBee Mesh, but it’s a different protocol standard that Hue lights don’t support. Therefore your Hue Bluetooth bulbs’ range would be limited to ‘point to point’ (i.e., from the light to your smartphone).
How far does the Philips Hue Bridge (ZigBee) reach?
You will be utilizing ZigBee for your home network if you use the Philips Hue Bridge (even if some of your newer lights support both Bluetooth and ZigBee).
This is advantageous since, as previously stated, ZigBee has a greater range potential than Bluetooth LE.
Link Labs compared the outdoor ranges of ZigBee and Bluetooth LE and discovered that ZigBee had a 291-meter range.
The official ZigBee Alliance statistics support this, stating that the outside line of sight range (i.e., without barriers in the way) is above 300 meters.
What about a range that can be used indoors?
According to the ZigBee Alliance, the indoor range is 75-100 meters.
This, on the other hand, is in perfect working order.
A few research publications investigated this further with additional independent experiments, and the ‘Testing of communication range in ZigBee technology’ study determined that the maximum real-world range is 25 meters inside.
P Kacz’s ‘Range test with ZigBee in indoor environments’ looked at ranges up to 11.7m (with up to two drywall or solid walls in the way) and found no technical concerns, indicating that the effective range should probably be greater than 11.7m.
In other words, you shouldn’t have any range concerns in a normal smart bulb house (with several lights connected as a ZigBee mesh).
Even though there are 3-4 walls and ceilings between my Hue Hub and some of my smart lights, I haven’t had any problems with it being in the attic.
Only if your Hue Bridge is at one end of your home (such as near your router at the front), and you have a number of smart outside Hue lights would you have a problem.
If your garden is big enough that you may be able to extend your range beyond the approximate 25-meter limit.
In this instance, your bulb will appear in the Hue app as inaccessible (or maybe offline).
Due to ZigBee Mesh, the answer should be as easy as purchasing another Hue light and placing it in the center.
This bulb will then operate as a radio relay (almost literally), resolving any range concerns — I go into further in detail about this in the last section.
What’s the range with Bluetooth (without the Bridge)?
Bluetooth LE has a shorter range than Bluetooth — Link Labs (which I mentioned previously) tested it and found a 77-meter range outdoors (compared to 291m with ZigBee).
It is projected that the situation will deteriorate inside, with Hue’s own product announcements from 2019 stating that you may expect a 30 foot (9.1 meters) indoor range.
In a December 2016 research article titled ‘Indoor Positioning System using Bluetooth Low Energy,’ researchers attempted to create an accurate positioning system using Bluetooth LE. Still, they discovered that accuracy degrades to the point that the system becomes unreliable beyond 4 meters.
Naturally, a little packet of data stating “Living room light off” needs less precision than a positioning system. Still, the point is that the larger the distance, the higher the likelihood of mistakes and communication systems (such as your light not going off when you ask it to and needing to attempt this multiple times).
However, Hue’s marketing team is forthright about it, stating:
“You can only control lights in one area of your house since the light bulb only works within the Bluetooth range (approximately 30 feet).”
This makes it simple to get a feel for how smart lights function (and how useful they are!) before investing in a whole Hue system.”
To put it another way, if you want to check out smart lighting fast, you should be OK with the range of Hue Bluetooth lights in the same room.
The benefit of this technique is that these lights are equipped with ZigBee, which allows you to extend their range by connecting them to the Hue Bridge at a later time.
Does the Hub have to be in the same room as the router?
I’ve previously touched on this, but I wanted to go over it in further detail since this is a frequently requested subject.
The Philips Hue Bridge installation instructions state that the Bridge/Hub should be connected directly to your router:
According to Hue’s starting kit instructions, you should connect the Hue Bridge ‘to your WiFi Router.’
But it doesn’t matter and doesn’t have to be done in this instance.
Just make sure that the Hue Hub is linked to your home network through an Ethernet connection – the same home network that you’ll be connecting to via WiFi on your phone in order to use the Hue app – and that everything is working properly.
In other words, if you have already expanded your home network with network switches, you may instead connect your Hue Hub to the following device:
In my loft, I have a Netgear network switch installed. My Philips Hue v2 Bridge is linked to this Netgear network switch through a network cable.
The same is true if you use a second WiFi router (for example, as a repeater) to extend the signal range of your home’s WiFi.
As long as the second router has an Ethernet connection, you should be able to connect your Hue Bridge to it and everything should function as expected.
There is an upper limit to ZigBee’s indoor range – although this is a decent 25m or so, you don’t want to put your Hue Hub in such a manner that it is too far away from all of your Hue lights – otherwise, you will have communication and range difficulties with your Hue lighting.
ZigBee mesh was discussed earlier in this article and how it may assist in resolving any range difficulties you may be experiencing if there is a significant distance between the Hub and your Hue smart lights. But what exactly is ZigBee mesh, and how does it work?
How to extend the Bridge’s range using ZigBee mesh (more Hue bulbs)
Consider the structure of a spider’s web (sorry, arachnophobes!).
It’s not merely a ring of webbing around the outside, followed by the core section.
It consists of a sequence of linked locations as a result of the presence of several webbing lines, each of which connects at predetermined intervals.
The total strength of the spider’s web is increased as a result of this.
As with ZigBee, the ZigBee mesh technology is based on the same concept: rather than having everything connected point-to-point, i.e., each bulb linking directly to the control device (your smartphone), each light can potentially link to each other, with only one or a few bulbs connected to the control device (the Hue hub): Technology based on the ZigBee mesh network.
A mesh network of smart Hue lights is formed by connecting them to one another and to the Bridge.
Consequently, the mesh becomes more durable while also broadening the coverage area of your Hue lighting system as a whole.
The range of a Hue outdoor light is no longer an issue since it does not need to be within range of your Hue Bridge — it just has to be near enough to another Hue light, which will operate as a ZigBee repeater in order to function properly.
With your Hue lighting system, this function is completely automated – you don’t even have to configure anything; the mesh will just shape itself in the most effective manner for your home’s smart lighting setup.
