Everything You Should Consider Before Buying Smart Home Tech

Every time I write about a new smart home product, I can count on a few commenters to question the need to add smart functionality to a product they’ve used for years. “What’s wrong with a washing machine that doesn’t talk to me,” “I can do a better job than any robot vacuum,” or “Hope you enjoy being spied on through your smart air purifier!” There’s nothing inherently wrong with the “dumb” products we learned to use—they’re not dumb at all, they just require more work on our part. The promise of smart products is vast. Sure, they save time, because they work without your input. And they save money because you can program them using intelligence—both yours (experience) and theirs (AI). And they’re fun. I’ll never get over the joy of voicing a request into the air and having lights turn on, doors lock, the dryer spin, or a robot mop. But the best reason—the reason you really can’t refute—is that smart home products make the world accessible. We will all be using them in a few short years; but for now, there are important considerations to make before leaping in. 

You need strong and consistent wifi

Smart home devices need internet. You can eventually run them on local signals like Bluetooth, Z-Wave, Matter, Thread and Zigbee, but that’s not standard. Setup is almost always going to require wifi, and usage often depends on the internet as well. It’s not just that you want strong wifi: you want consistent wifi throughout the areas you’ll use smart products. That’s not always easy to achieve if the space is large, or you have barriers like metal in your walls or large appliances in the way. Mesh routers can help with that, since they do a better job distributing your wifi signal across a space. You buy mesh routers in sets, then place one mesh router by the modem, and then additional mesh access points across the space you want to cover. From here, the system constantly analyzes every device currently connected, and moves bandwidth where it’s needed most.

It is also worth noting that smart devices almost always run on 2.4 Ghz wifi. Don’t freak out: Your house, which has Wi-Fi 5 or 6 (maybe even 7) will absolutely also have a 2.4 Ghz signal. But in case you are obtaining your wifi through some weird means, just be aware you’ll need that lower signal to make these devices work.

Usually, connecting doesn’t require anything special, and the app will do the work of finding the 2.4 Ghz signal for you. (It will also have the same username and password as your 5, 6, or 7 Ghz signal.) If you do have trouble connecting your smart device to this particular band, try to power cycle both devices and to be sure you are close enough to the modem.

What devices does a smart home consist of?

I like to divide smart tech into groups. Let’s start with what I call endpoints: smart devices like lightbulbs, toaster ovens, washer-dryers, fans, robot vacuums, or lawnmowers. These are items that can be plugged in, and are, themselves, smart. Through an app, you’re able to control them directly.

Next, there are connectors: devices meant to turn a dumb device smart. That includes smart devices like plugs, outlets, extension cords, and switches. Plug a regular fan into a smart plug, and now it’s a smart fan. Through an app, you’ll turn the plug on and off, instead of the fan. While this sounds like a more flexible solution, remember it only works on items where the on/off button is mechanical.

There’s a whole group for triggers, which includes sensors and cameras. Smart cameras, like doorbells, are video cameras that allow you to view the stream over your local or wifi connection, and use intelligence to tell you if someone or something is approaching the camera, for example. Smart sensors can be used to detect almost anything, including light, motion, water, a lack of water, cold, heat, moisture, pressure, even “presence.” What these all have in common is that rather than “doing” something themselves, we use them to trigger another action, whether that’s to turn on lights, alert the police, or turn on a humidifier.

Lastly, there are controls. These are your smart hubs, speakers, assistants, and apps, and it’s sometimes complicated to understand their priority and order. Many smart devices require a hub, a physical piece of hardware you’ll need to keep around to connect your smart devices to your wifi. Usually, it’s per company, so if you have lightbulbs and smart plugs from one company, you’d probably only need one hub. The same company probably has one app on your phone you’d use to control all those devices.

But in homes where people have smart devices from more than one company, they’d likely also have a multi-hub. This is one device that will work with many brands, and can aggregate all or most of the controls to one place. Most people choose one of these four popular multi-hubs: Google Home, Amazon Alexa, Apple Home, or Samsung SmartThings. Once you have a multi-hub, you stop using the individual apps and hubs for each device (but they’ll need to remain installed, which is a bummer) and just use the multi-hub and its corresponding app, which is easier and allows you to create automations between devices.

The same companies with these multi-hubs often have voice assistants, that will listen to your requests and handle them for you. This includes things like, “Turn off the living room lights,” and “Run the vacuum in the hallway,” but also, “How many pints in a quart?,” What is the date?,” and “What are the hours of my favorite restaurant?” All of these parts—hubs, multi-hubs, speakers, assistants and apps—are used to control your smart home.

The hub problem

As I noted above, every time you get into a new brand of smart devices, there’s likely a hub that is required alongside it. Soon, you’ll find you have a lot of these physical hubs hanging out in your home. At some point, you’ll likely add on a multi-hub, as I discussed, to allow those devices to talk to one another, but you will still need those extraneous hubs to hang around, too. It’s a lot of hardware and a lot of corresponding apps to have just taking up space.

Matter, a relatively new connectivity standard on par with Bluetooth and Z-Wave, was supposed to fix the hub problem by being one universal standard everyone signed on to, and all multi-hubs would accept, so you would just need the multi-hub, no additional apps or hubs. But, it hasn’t really worked out that way. While Matter makes it smoother to connect your devices, usually you have limited control in the multi-hub app, and still need to go back to the brand app to make most changes. An excellent example is robot vacuums, which have tons of controls, but these are typically only accessible through your vacuum’s app, not a multi-hub app like Google Home, which may only allow you to start the vacuum.

While you’ll inevitably end up with many hubs, there’s little argument for having more than one multi-hub. Sure, you can run Alexa and Google in your home, but it’s easily avoidable. The best way to choose is to consider the most important products to you, and what kind of tinkerer you are. If you are an Apple fan, Apple Home makes sense—but a lot of products don’t work with Apple Home. Alexa has the strongest ecosystem, in my opinion, but if you like absolute control, Home Assistant might be for you. New hubs like Hubitat offer varying levels of control and product integration, and plenty of people sold on Android and Google products stick with Google Home.

Start adding smart home tech in layers

Don’t go hog wild on smart products. Choose a hub, and then choose one layer of utilities: Lights, HVAC, or cleaning. If you choose lights, choose between smart switches, fixtures, or lightbulbs (or all three), but try to stick with as few brands as possible, and go slowly. Experiment with automations along the way, voice control, and what to do when you lose connection. Slowly add on more layers as you get more comfortable with the technology. 

As you build your system, you’ll notice all those hubs start to pile up. Locate the hubs in one spot and label them so its clear from the front what they control. Keep a doc or spreadsheet somewhere with all the apps on your phone and what they control. This is my favorite hack, because so many of these apps don’t have the name of the company in them, and all look and sound very familiar (My SmartLife, Smart Home, Homelife, etc.). 

Some smart home tech won’t move with you to the next home

Some smart products are easier to hit the road with than others. I’ve found it pretty easy to relocate floor bots and smart plugs. Voice assistant speakers or your hub are a pain, but not impossible. The same goes for lightbulbs and smart appliances. But as smart technology becomes more directly integrated into homes, things like a smart wall oven, smart fridge, smart doors, or smart windows might end up staying with the home. You have to consider whether you’re investing in products you’re not likely to uninstall and bring to the next home. Your robot pool cleaner might come with you, but the smart garage opener won’t. Consider the longevity of your choices. 

There will be smart home tech privacy breaches

We should be able to have smart products and expect privacy at the same time. But we know that companies are fallible, networks are hackable, and security breaches happen. I’m not saying we should just accept the privacy breaches that now seem standard, but I stand by the unpopular opinion you need to be aware it’s likely to happen and not let it make you anxious.

The fallibility of connected devices is, of course, their connection to the internet. They can be hacked, accessed remotely, or in the case of smart cameras, jammed. While some devices, like smart cameras and locks, tend to have more onboard security than others, most advice centers around best security practices. Use strong, unique passwords or phrases. Change them often. You can also change your wifi channel occasionally, and while not super convenient, you can use hardwired cameras or devices instead (but that defeats the purpose of wireless devices).

What are the most popular smart home sensors and devices used today?

Most people are going to start with the basics of smart home technology: lightbulbs and smart plugs. Stop for a moment and consider how many times a day you turn lights on and off, and yet you do so in a completely expected way at expected times. Automating it would remove a tiny amount of labor in your day.

Robot vacuums and mops have become absurdly popular, and are possibly the first smart appliance most people will purchase. While you should not expect a robot to mean you can get rid of your broom or stick vac, you will be pleased with the results if you choose the right one.

After testing robot vacuums for the last year, I’ve been consistently impressed with Roborock’s S8 line and the Qrevo line. These are top of the line models with corresponding price tags, but similarly priced models haven’t performed nearly as well, proving that price is really not the main determining factor. For instance, I have been unimpressed with the Roombas I’ve trialed. At a lesser price, if you’re only looking for a vacuum for small spaces, I highly recommend the Switchbot K10+ Pro.

Security cameras are also popular, of course: After putting up and taking down enough security cameras around my home to turn all of my neighbors into conspiracy theorists, I’ve developed a few preferences. First, I strongly advise people to get PTZ (pan, tilt, zoom) cameras. In fact, I can see absolutely no reason to go with a camera that can’t be moved remotely, because almost immediately, you will find yourself annoyed that something is happening just off-screen. Most brands now carry these PTZ cams, but I’m particularly fond of Reolink and Eufy models.

If you’re interested in adding smart sensors to your home, I recommend starting with temperature and humidity sensors, as well as motion sensors. You can use temperature and humidity sensors to trigger a number of devices, from your HVAC to a freezer alarm. Motion sensors (and the more modern presence sensor) can trigger lights, doors, music, or alarms. Simply, if you need to know if someone enters or leaves a room, a motion sensor is the ideal way to do so.

Generally speaking, I consider Aqara the “sensor people.” They have a highly robust line of sensors, including the groundbreaking presence sensor. Moreover, I have found their sensors to be consistently reliable over time. I’d also note Airthings air quality monitors.