Dumb beginner conceptual question...

[172pilot]

Hi, sorry if this is in the wrong place, but I didn't find a board for newbie Q/A.. I did try to search, but I didn't find anything that quite answered my mental lapse..

I've got a "beginner" Zwave system with a Vera UI7 controller running a few lights and door sensors, etc..

My goal is to automate everything from the toaster to the cat (ok, not really, but you get the idea) and I'm familiar and comfortable with Arduino, so I stumbled across this site, and I like what I read about the self-healing aspects of the MySensor network, but in thinking it through further, it seems that the self healing aspects must be dependant on using the "nRF2401" for radio communication? I had envisioned using the small form factor 8266 WiFi devices for many of my sensors, just because I have a stack of them, and they're directly wifi, but if I do that, I'm depending on every sensor having direct access back to the access point, and the IP network, right?

If that assumption is correct, then am I also correct in saying that every Wifi device would be a distinct gateway, and need it's own instance directly in Vera? If I have 10 or more of these, that could get messy and complicated, right? What is recommended? If I'm thinking this through correctly, I think I may want to use the 2401 modules afterall, and only have ONE gateway defined on the Vera, right??

Sorry for what is probably a dumb question, but this whole thing looks so customizable that it's pretty intimidating for a first timer!

Thanks!
Steve

[mfalkvidd]

Hi Steve. Welcome to the forum!

Your understanding is correct, with one small exception: MySensors supports the rfm69 radio (in addition to nrf24l01+). The rfm modules are a little bit more expensive, but more advanced and can be bought for other frequency ranges. Most people use nrf due to their low cost and simplicity though.

[172pilot]

Thanks.. I did break down and order 10 of the nrf radios last night... should be here tomorrow.. In thinking it through more, it seems that it's shortsighted of me to want everything on Wifi just because it's familiar.. I'd end up needing eventually to possibly expand my subnet, have to be reliant on an access point that is probably being killed by my son playing online games, etc.. I'm sure there's a learning curve to the NRFs, but from what I read about their low power requirements and the advantage of all of the self healing, it seems it's the right way to go..

Thanks for the info!