RFInsteon vs WiFi: Key Differences Explained
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This page compares Insteon vs WiFi and mentions the difference between Insteon and WiFi technologies.
What is Insteon?
Insteon is a technology that uses existing electrical wiring for communication using powerline frequency. In addition, it operates on RF waves. Insteon devices are designed to operate on RF, Powerline, or both.
It is created by SmartLabs, which supports and encourages Insteon product developers. Typical applications of Insteon are smart lighting, electrical control, sensors, electric cars for remote control of home appliances, thermostats, outlets, and so on.
Figure-1: Insteon network
The figure depicts a typical Insteon network. Insteon devices are dual-band operated and communicate in peer-to-peer mode due to its mesh network architecture. It does not require a router, unlike WiFi, for network setup.
It requires a router only when Insteon devices are to be remotely controlled with the help of the internet and a specifically designed application (smartphone app). An Insteon Hub is used to interface the Insteon network and the router. It is backward compatible with X10 technology.
The following table mentions typical features of Insteon technology.
| Features | Insteon |
|---|---|
| Physical layers | Powerline, i2/RF |
| Modulation/Frequency | BPSK and 131.65 KHz (For Powerline) |
| FSK and 915MHz (For RF) | |
| Message type | Standard (10 Bytes), Extended (24 Bytes) |
| Message format | From Address (3 bytes), To address (3 bytes), Flags (1 byte), Commands (2 bytes), User data (14 bytes, for extended message only), CRC (1 byte) |
| Devices | Device Categories: 256, Unique IDs: 16,777,216 etc. |
| Security | Physical device possession, Address masking and encrypted message payloads |
Though Insteon has been in use for some time for smart lighting and smart home automation, it has become popular recently due to its use in modern devices such as Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa, and Tesla cars.
What is WiFi?
WiFi is the short form of Wireless Fidelity and is a wireless networking technology. The technical specifications of WiFi are mentioned in the IEEE 802.11 series of standards.
Based on data rate and coverage range, there are different versions of WiFi viz. 802.11b, 11a, 11g, 11n, 11ac, 11ax, and 11be. These standards are designated as WiFi-1 to WiFi-7 respectively.
A WiFi connection can be established between a client (i.e., Station) and a router (i.e., Access Point or AP) and between two clients. WiFi makes it possible for more than one client device to share the same internet broadband connection. Hence, everyone can access the internet using their smartphones, laptops, and tablets simultaneously. The consumer electronic devices such as TVs, DVDs, and digital cameras are also designed to be WiFi compliant.
Figure-2: WiFi network
WiFi is very simple to install. It just requires a WiFi-compliant router that connects with an internet broadband line such as a coaxial line or fiber optic line. The multiple client devices can access the same WiFi router using RF (Radio Frequency) waves.
| Features | 802.11n (WiFi 4) | 802.11ac (WiFi 5) | 802.11ax (WiFi 6) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequency Bands | 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz | Only 5 GHz | 2.4GHz, 5 GHz, 6 GHz (in WiFi 6E) |
| Data Rate | Up to 150 Mbps (Maximum) | 433 Mbps (Using 80 MHz and 1 Spatial Stream), 6.933 Gbps (Using 160 MHz and 8 Spatial Stream) | 9.6 Gbps (Maximum) |
| Channel Size/Channel Bandwidth | 20 MHz or 40 MHz | 20 MHz, 40 MHz, 80+80 MHz, 160 MHz | 20 MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz, 80+80 MHz, 160 MHz |
| Maximum Modulation | 64 QAM | 256 QAM | 1024 QAM |
| Coverage range | 70 meters (Indoor), 250 meters (Outdoor) | 80 meters (Using 3 antennas) | Better than WiFi-5 routers due to beamforming feature |
Difference Between Insteon and WiFi
The following table summarizes the comparative differences between Insteon and WiFi.
| Parameters | Insteon | WiFi |
|---|---|---|
| Physical layer | RF, Powerline or both | RF |
| Operating frequency | 915 MHz (US), 131.65 KHz | 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, 6 GHz (supported by WiFi 6E/WiFi 7) |
| Network size | Unlimited | Max. 256 (supported by earlier versions), Higher due to use of 8x8 MU-MIMO in downlink/uplink |
| Data rate | 13,165 bps(Instantaneous powerline), 2,880 bps(Sustained powerline), 38,400 bps(Instantaneous RF) | 9.6 Gbps in WiFi 6/6E (as per IEEE 802.11ax) and 46 Gbps in WiFi 7 (as per IEEE 802.11be) |
| Security | Unique addressing mechanism with unique ID code, AES-256 encryption for messages | WPA 3 |
| Modulation | FSK in RF PHY layer, BPSK in Powerline PHY | BPSK, 16-QAM, 64-QAM, 256-QAM, 1024QAM (max. supported in WiFi6) and 4096QAM (max. supported in WiFi7). OFDMA is also used in WiFi6 and WiFi7 versions of WLAN |
| RF Range | 300 feet unobstructed LOS using half wave dipole antenna | Difference coverages are supported by different wifi versions from wifi-1 to wifi-7. |
WiFi-4 devices as per IEEE 802.11n support 70 meters (indoor) and 250 meters (outdoor). WiFi6 and WiFi7 supports about 100 meters (indoor). | | Router requirement for network | No (for Home automation), Yes (For remote control of smart home devices using mobile app) | Yes | | Network configuration | Full Mesh | Star | | Message Propagation | Simulcast | Routed |
Conclusion
From the above difference between Insteon and WiFi, we can conclude the following:
Insteon is preferred for smart home automation and building applications, whereas WiFi is preferred for high data rate internet browsing using laptops, mobile phones, and tablets. Both technologies, Insteon and WiFi, support wireless communication. In addition, Insteon supports wired communication over electrical powerlines, unlike WiFi. Insteon supports low data rate monitoring and control applications, whereas WiFi is designed to support high data rate communication between WLAN-compliant devices.
