The Z-Wave Alliance returned to The Things Conference 2026 in Amsterdam to highlight Z-Wave Long Range (ZWLR) and discuss commercial and industrial IoT applications. The event was held September 22–23, and the Alliance attended as an ecosystem partner for the second year, with its first dedicated booth.
Z-Wave Alliance Chairman Avi Rosenthal joined representatives from the Bluetooth SIG, Connectivity Standards Alliance, DECT Forum, LoRa Alliance, Thread Group and Wi-Fi Alliance on a panel about wireless connectivity, developer adoption and the role of standards organizations. Rosenthal said: “Z-Wave is an open standard, check. Z-Wave has multiple silicon providers, check. Z-Wave is a member-driven organization, check. Z-Wave’s ecosystem is completely interoperable, check. Z-Wave’s ecosystem is backwards compatible, check.”
Rosenthal also spoke about Z-Wave’s security architecture, networking options and Wake on Event End Nodes (WOEEN), which the Alliance said enable new opportunities for energy-harvesting devices. He joined a panel on how Z-Wave Long Range, LoRaWAN and other wireless technologies address practical IoT deployment challenges.
A workshop by Eric Ryherd, known as Dr. Z-Wave, covered findings from a field study sponsored by the Alliance comparing Z-Wave Long Range, LoRa and Wi-Fi HaLow. The study evaluated commercially available products under identical suburban and light urban conditions, examining RF range and performance through obstacles including wood-frame homes, trees, brick and concrete buildings. The workshop had a waiting list.
The Alliance said its booth provided an opportunity to connect with members and industry colleagues and discuss potential applications for Z-Wave Long Range in commercial IoT. It said it would build on the relationships and conversations from the conference.
