Much like having a conversation in a loud room, wireless networks are affected by interference from other wireless devices, smartphones and industrial equipment. And with the increasing prevalence of smartphones and other sophisticated devices that communicate across the airwaves, devices have to negotiate an ever increasing noise floor.
The state of the airwaves
Todays smartphone communicate on no less than 7 wireless bands. Cars widely use radar technologies, security cameras stream constant data over several bands, Bluetooth devices are everywhere, 5G cellular uses more frequencies than ever, and some devices like smart doorbells and baby monitors just blast the 2.4GHz band indiscriminately. And your microwave blows up the 2.4GHz band with noise and can be detected from kilometers away. The airwaves aren't getting any quieter.
Coping with the crowded 2.4GHz band
Protocols like Bluetooth and WiFi are constantly evolving to support new consumer oriented features and higher speeds; as these protocols evolve, they incorporate ever changing methods to cope with the crowded 2.4GHz band; in fact, WiFi has added additional 5GHz and 6GHz band support to go to higher speeds and avoid the 2.4GHz band when possible. Zigbee and other 2.4GHz protocols have to live with the limitations on the 2.4GHz band, resulting in limited range and reliability.
The 900MHz Sub-GHz band
For industrial wireless applications where speed is not a priority, a lower frequency range offers a lot less traffic and longer range at the expense of network speed. GrowFlux Mesh uses the 900MHz ISM (Industrial, Scientific, & Medical) band to communicate across automation devices wirelessly. Read more about Sub-GHz wireless here.
Channel Hopping
GrowFlux Mesh splits the 902-928MHz band into 50 channels, and our mesh technology automatically switches the operating channel several times per second. This requires some sophisticated wireless detection and learning that happens autonomously in the background within every GrowFlux Mesh device. If a particular channel is noisy or doesn't result in a healthy connection, GrowFlux Mesh will avoid that channel and utilize other channels. Channel hopping within GrowFlux Mesh even works with battery powered devices, which spend most of their time in deep sleep to conserve battery power.
The channel hopping sequence within GrowFlux Mesh is automatically configured behind the scenes when the Access Point is first set up. Every channel hopping sequence is unique, which allows multiple GrowFlux Mesh networks to operate simultaneously and co-mingled.