My only Wi-Fi device is the Shelly Button one, it’s slow, sometimes very slowly. It has to wake up, connect, grab an IP, and then send signal. ST button is 100x fast. Distance wise Wi-Fi is great since coverage is easier to add with APs
Just my viewpoint - My kasa devices have been every bit as reliable and low maintenance as my zigbee stuff. I do not notice sluggishness. Are you using local or cloud integration? What i discovered in the various communities was a general snobbishness towards wifi devices. I fiddled with the tuya devices and even managed to get a local solution working via a pi. It was quick and very reliable. I then however had one melt slightly internally (only noticed when I decided to flash the firmware), but otherwise was chugging along like all was good. So I wound up removing them over safety concerns.
My path to home automation. Get a good deal on a lock that has a keypad. Happened to be a zwave lock. Which led me to smartthings. Which eventually brought me here. The good deal on that lock has cost me a lot of money lol.
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I am using local, another thing I don’t like about them is that there is only polling, so controlling multiple different lights from a single switch (wireless 3-way) is slow.
Also there is no bulb compatbility list to my knowledge, and at least with my bulbs, there is a glimmer and buzz at low brightness.
Yeah this is unfortunate.
That!
Stupid z-wave locks! I have a forbidden schlage. It works flawlessly with Aeotec repeaters, but I, then pulled the trigger on two Alfreds as well. Oh how I wish they were zigbee. I DO love my Alfreds. I have a bunch of z-wave contact sensors and they’re reliable. I can’t complain about much with Z-wave other than the locks, but … It’s left a bad taste in my mouth. when the mesh gets wonky, then you really feel it. Especially in the cost of batteries. I guess some things are meant to be zwave. Like the pir sensor in my garage that’s been working for 3+ years on the original battery, Where responsiveness can lack a bit. Everything has a place. Just not Z-Wave locks.
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I’ve been watching this topic and wondering why Z-wave has a bad name here. Granted, locks are common problem but I don’t have locks and my Z-wave has been solid while I’ve had lots of issues with Zigbee due to Wi-Fi interference. And the smaller Wi-Fi devices I have (ESP32, IoTaWatts, Pi-cams) have a hard time staying connected.
Vindication, finally!!! My mesh is fine damn you all! 
I replaced my schlage and yale with ZB versions (they both have them) and they have been flawless ever since!
Change your Wi-Fi channel.
Z-wave lacks in speed and distance compare to Zigbee IME. I’d replace all my ZW tomorrow if a found a good ZB replacement for the ZEN16 I use for landscape lighting and other things (great device)
Knowing what I know nowni could never in good faith recommend someone build a zwave mesh again. Maybe LR will make it better
I have 3 nets on 1, 6, 11. With much experimentation I’ve eliminated the interference…as long as nothing physically moves. What do you suggest?
BTW, Zigbee is on channel 20. I tried others but they were all worse.
If you have nets on 1, 6, and 11, no wonder you are running into interference, you are hogging the whole spectrum 
You’d put all 3 on the same channel?
Honestly, idk what I would do, only ever had 1 dual band network. Out of curiosity, why do you have 3 networks? Is it just for extra coverage or do they have distinct uses?
One for “normal” use, one for security cams, and one for HA devices. And they are all on different LANs with a dumb switch so they keep on truckin’ if the firewall has a problem. I’m not admitting to the all-to-frequent admin-induced problem, mind you. 
Interesting, I think most people get around this with a single network and the use of VLANS to segregate devices. But I have never messed with anything as advanced as that since I still just have a mostly consumer setup with minimal to no ethernet wiring around the house.
I always try to separate the device from the protocol. So your bad experience with the lock may be that lock or manufacturer and not the zwave protocol. Its similar to others having bad tastes for zigbee based on their experience with xiaomi products or my bad taste for wifi based on my experience with Wemo.
Now I use all 3. I just try to use products that work best on each. I don’t commit to any one.
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Good point. I will use all 3 because of the investment, but it’s not the protocol that left a bad taste.
I think that network and antennas say a LOT here.
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I only have a couple of zwave in wall switches and find these are slower to react than zigbee
Plus the fact that z wave in general is far dearer than zigbee, at least here in aus and our range is far less than USA!
I haven’t looked too much at wifi based but I’m thinking it could time to start!
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You mean you have three separate routers covering the same space? Bad idea. Your unintentional creating a lot of interference. Let’s discuss some network infrastructure improvements. Happy to help you sort out that 802.11 rats nest you’ve made
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Perhaps distance but not in speed. The speed of the protocols is close enough I’ll call it the same. The difference in “speed” is perception people have learned from motion sensors and from poor quality z-wave implementations in cheap hubs.
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What do you guys mean by speed? Is that theoretical throughput of the protocol or realized latency of an action?