Controlling My Family’s Smart Home Is Driving Us Mad
Just follow some very simple rules of smart homes and it will be a better journey. I could make an infinitely long list.<p>1) things must fail to being dumb, not non-functioning. Dumb&#x2F;old  behavior must exist in parallel, Just consider selling the home or having an AirBnB guest. Would you need to write any notes with instructions for them to use the home? Then you probably failed. Typical example is the “don’t touch this switch, the bulb is smart” idiocy.
Things must only be made smarter, never dumber or more cumbersome. I repeat: <i>smart bulbs must never ever be connected to traditional switches</i>. Just use smart switches behind your regular switches.<p>2) This one follows from 1: you will be required to know how to do basic electrical work safely, such as replacing switches and dimmers. You will <i>not</i> build anything that isn’t frustrating without knowing (or spending money on) electrical work. Manufacturers will try to sell you gadgets that make things smart without needing an electrician but ignore those.<p>3) Unfortunately you’ll need to know a bit about networking and computers. Don’t embark on it if you aren’t comfortable tinkering with computers. You’ll spend more time tweaking smart home things than you’ll ever save through the smarts. Remember: smart home tech is still on the level where it’s a <i>hobby</i>. It costs time.<p>4) Get things that support local-only operation. At least things that fall back to local only (e.g using a web service for extrnal access but still working local use even if the service is down).<p>5) Low power wireless mesh networks will fail to connect, drop nodes. Plan for it.<p>6) Don’t get anything that requires a subscription to function.<p>7) Don’t buy things from companies whose business is ads and dealing in PII, rather than building good gadgets. You know which those are.<p>8) Most things have no use being “smart”. Fridges, stoves, ovens etc. I’d avoid all A&#x2F;V equipment too. Only connect smart things that actually make things easier with very simple means. Being able to switch of all lights in the house when you leave with a double click on the switch by the door is really convenient and saves you a lot of work (or electricity). “Dimming the lights and starting a movie” might be cool but is gimmicky and gets old quickly.