And maybe to add; abandon everything that doesn't provide two-way communication. I have just since 2 weeks replaced my old 433 MHz flush mounted dimmers with Shelly Dimmers for control of facade and outdoor lights on and around our house. One-way communication should be "forbidden" in home automation systems, so much trouble during the years, trying work arounds with "intelligent" flows, regular re-transmissions etc etc
The Shellies work fine, reacting fast on commands, but I noticed that the status could be reported wrong sometimes; using mqtt, the device have (rarely) been reporting "off" even though the power consumption was not zero (lamps where on!!!) So instead, I decided to monitor the actual power consumption. This value seems so far to be reliable. I'm using their latest FW, I'll now check how it works for a longer period in operation
Right, but to use the mesh functionality you need some mains powered device acting as routers. Otherwise you have a star architecture were all endpoints have to see the hub.
These 10€ modules can do the business and they come with a lot of gpios ... so many possibilities but not enough time ... or some always powered (not always lit) zigbee bulbs on strategic places in the house will work too.
I will try the cc2531 usb / zigbee dongle solution. Together with the programmer, adapter and cables you around 15€ depending on the antenna and programmer from china.
And in the end : all open source
I believe there is a cc25xx + lan chip inside the ikea thing too and somebody wrote an alternative firmware already. Hey I have one somewhere, never used, not even unpacked... should do a search in my workshop
