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Unpopular take: wireless sensors aren't always better
Just ran across a stat from the 2023 Security Industry Association report. Said wireless sensors fail 12% more often than hardwired in high RF areas. Found it buried in the technical appendix. Most folks here swear by wireless for speed but nobody talks about interference in commercial buildings with heavy machinery. Anyone else see this playing out on jobsites?
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viola_ward14d ago
The real issue nobody talks about is how wireless sensors interact with VFDs (variable frequency drives). Those things put out SO much electrical noise that even shielded wireless units can drop packets like crazy. Had a job in a factory with 20+ welding stations and every wireless motion sensor went haywire within a month. Hardwired stuff just keeps chugging along. Code might let you go wireless but physics doesn't care about code.
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oscar74314d ago
My 2017 install at a plastics plant had the same issue with 12 VFDs on one line and the wireless temp sensors would just randomly drop out for no reason. I spent three weeks swapping antennas and repositioning gateways thinking it was range or interference from the molding machines. Eventually I ran a temporary hardwired pair just to see what happened and it worked perfectly from day one. The problem is these wireless protocols were never really tested in industrial environments where the noise floor is constantly shifting. People act like it's a reliability issue but really it's a physics issue and you can't code your way out of basic electromagnetic interference.
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the_hayden13d ago
Respectfully, VFD noise is real but proper filtering and shielding fixes most dropouts, wireless isn't automatically worse.
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