Smart homes may become more connected next year with new smart devices from Shelly. The 11 devices are part of Shelly's Wave device line, which supports the Z-Wave Long Range specification and will be released in the first half of 2025.

The Z-Wave specification is intended to extend the connectivity of smart home devices connected to a home Wi-Fi network without piggybacking on other devices, like Amazon's Sidewalk IoT network. It also does not consume large amounts of cellular data. This technology is found in many excellent smart home devices and smart home hubs.

According to Sherry, ZWLR can support up to 4,000 devices on a single network and must “coexist” on the same network as Z-Wave nodes.

Devices appear to be primarily entry- and light-based, although smart plugs are also included.

“With new devices supporting ZWLR, Shelly is removing barriers to smart home connectivity, offering homeowners, security installers, and commercial property owners and managers unmatched scope, scalability, and energy efficiency to redefine the automation experience We are pleased to announce the launch of our new ZWC,” said Leon Kralj, CTO of the Shelly Group, in a press release.

ZWLR will be present starting in 2020, with more products coming on line gradually in 2020. The certification is expected to eliminate the need for mesh networks with multiple repeaters. Instead, everything will be directly connected to a central node.

Wireless communication with a line-of-sight distance of 1.5 miles (at full power) is possible. This would be true on wide open plains, but perhaps half of that in an urban area with obstructions. But in an urban area with obstructions, it might be half of that.

Perhaps the extended range would allow people to turn on lights or open blinds before entering a house.

Sherry did not provide a price for these Z-Wave products, but stated that they should be compatible with older Z-Wave products and networks. However, to take advantage of the 1.5-mile range, a Z-Wave hub built on a Z-Wave 700 or 800 series platform would be required.