# Which hardware please **URL:** \ **Category:** General\ **Created:** [1 December 2024 14:38 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/which-hardware-please/93609 "2024-12-01T14:38:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![fogmajor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbce88/32.png) [@fogmajor](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/fogmajor)\ **Post date:** [1 December 2024 14:38 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/which-hardware-please/93609/1 "2024-12-01T14:38:10Z")
Good afternoon I wonder if any of you would be kind enough to offer a bit of advice. I currently have a Fibaro HC2 with numerous switches and sensors. I am despondent with their reliability and the lack of support. What plug in type plug in mains switches (UK) would you recommend that can be controlled directly from node-red using mqtt or HTTP. I need to turn on/off and be able to get the current state. Thank you in anticipation Andrew ---
**Author:** ![TotallyInformation](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/totallyinformation/32/31_2.png) [@TotallyInformation](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/TotallyInformation)\ **Post date:** [1 December 2024 19:56 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/which-hardware-please/93609/2 "2024-12-01T19:56:44Z")
Partly depends on what wireless networking you already have. I think that a lot of us have moved from WiFi switches to Zigbee. Partly thanks to the low-cost switches and bulbs introduced by Ikea. Of course, it does mean that you need a Zigbee dongle to act as a master hub and Zigbee2MQTT running on your server. But these are relatively low cost and easy enough to configure. So yes, the Ikea Zigbee switches and bulbs work well. I think that Sonoff have introduced some as well though I've not tried them myself as yet. ---
**Author:** ![Colin](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/colin/32/17040_2.png) [@Colin](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Colin)\ **Post date:** [1 December 2024 21:57 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/which-hardware-please/93609/3 "2024-12-01T21:57:03Z")
+1 for Zigbee. There are numerous switches and sensors available and I have found it very reliable. I use a Sonoff Zigbee 3.0 USB Dongle Plus plugged into one of my PIs as the Coordinator. ---
**Author:** ![Buckskin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Buckskin](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Buckskin)\ **Post date:** [1 December 2024 23:27 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/which-hardware-please/93609/4 "2024-12-01T23:27:35Z")
+2 for zigbee. I use zigbee2mqtt which makes the whole process simples ---
**Author:** ![xx\_Nexus\_xx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/54ee81/32.png) [@xx\_Nexus\_xx](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/xx_Nexus_xx)\ **Post date:** [2 December 2024 05:32 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/which-hardware-please/93609/5 "2024-12-02T05:32:52Z")
+3 for Zigbee .. you can buy cheap ones from Aliexpress .. I had no issues with em 😉 I use this [zigbee node](https://flows.nodered.org/node/node-red-contrib-zigbee2mqtt) to communicate with zigbee2mqtt ---
**Author:** ![Colin](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/colin/32/17040_2.png) [@Colin](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Colin)\ **Post date:** [2 December 2024 09:06 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/which-hardware-please/93609/6 "2024-12-02T09:06:30Z")
> [@xx\_Nexus\_xx](#): > > I use this [zigbee node](https://flows.nodered.org/node/node-red-contrib-zigbee2mqtt) to communicate with zigbee2mqtt Personally I prefer just to use the standard MQTT nodes, I don't feel that the zigbee node adds much. I also note that there are a number of [unaddressed issues](https://github.com/andreypopov/node-red-contrib-zigbee2mqtt/issues) against the node. ---
**Author:** ![Buckskin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Buckskin](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Buckskin)\ **Post date:** [2 December 2024 19:00 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/which-hardware-please/93609/7 "2024-12-02T19:00:54Z")
I also use standard MQTT nodes. I found that zigbee2mqtt works fine with them. ---
**Author:** ![Colin](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/colin/32/17040_2.png) [@Colin](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Colin)\ **Post date:** [2 December 2024 20:34 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/which-hardware-please/93609/8 "2024-12-02T20:34:00Z")
Yes, zigbee2mqtt just publishes to MQTT. It doesn't care how you subscribe to the topics, whether through the standard mqtt nodes, or the zigbee nodes, or not using node-red at all. ---
**Author:** ![fogmajor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbce88/32.png) [@fogmajor](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/fogmajor)\ **Post date:** [3 December 2024 09:16 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/which-hardware-please/93609/9 "2024-12-03T09:16:38Z")
Many thanks for your input it is most helpful ---
**Author:** ![fogmajor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbce88/32.png) [@fogmajor](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/fogmajor)\ **Post date:** [3 December 2024 09:17 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/which-hardware-please/93609/10 "2024-12-03T09:17:15Z")
Thank you for your prompt response I shall investigate ---
**Author:** ![fogmajor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbce88/32.png) [@fogmajor](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/fogmajor)\ **Post date:** [3 December 2024 09:17 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/which-hardware-please/93609/11 "2024-12-03T09:17:38Z")
Thank you ---
**Author:** ![fogmajor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbce88/32.png) [@fogmajor](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/fogmajor)\ **Post date:** [3 December 2024 09:18 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/which-hardware-please/93609/12 "2024-12-03T09:18:42Z")
Thank you for your help