That old security guard was right about not using wireless sensors in commercial buildings

Back in 2018, a security guard at a warehouse in Phoenix told me to stick with hardwired sensors for any job over 10,000 square feet. I figured he was just set in his ways. Fast forward to last summer - I installed a full wireless setup at a distribution center near Tucson. Within 3 months, three sensors failed due to interference from the building's machinery. Had to redo the whole job with wired ones, cost me an extra $2,000 in materials and lost a weekend. Has anyone else had wireless stuff fail in a noisy environment like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

ben40213d ago

Read a study a while back that said wireless sensors and heavy industrial gear just dont mix, the EMF interference is brutal in warehouses. Hardwired is the way to go for any serious size job.

jordan30513d ago

Yeah I gotta push back a little on that. My experience running a small warehouse operation says modern wireless tech has come a long way in the last few years. We put in some Zigbee based temp and humidity sensors near big HVAC units and electric forklift charging stations and they've been rock solid for almost two years now. Your mileage may vary depending on what kind of industrial gear you're talking about, but a lot of the newer sensors use frequency hopping and mesh networking that handles interference way better than the old stuff. Hardwired is definitely still bulletproof if you've got the budget and the time to run conduit everywhere, but for retrofits or smaller operations the wireless options work fine. I'd say test a few units in your specific setup before writing them off completely.