WHEN HOME AUTOMATION got its start, most systems were hardwired into a house, using solely low-voltage cabling to pass information and commands to and from devices. In those early days having a good wireless network didn’t really matter that much. A strong wireless connection might have been helpful when you took your laptop from the home office to surf the Internet in the family room, but not entirely necessary. You could deal with a few drop outs, right?
Now that so many electronic products and systems communicate via Wi-Fi, Z-Wave, ZigBee and other airborne languages, having a solid, reliable wireless network in your home is absolutely crucial. And not only for the transmission of commands, but to support any streaming of audio and video content throughout your house. Even if your network seems to be working fine now, when you start adding the components of an automation system, it can get bogged down quickly. Imagine trying to issue an all off command to shut down and lock up the house for the night when the network is acting finicky. It might not be the end of the world, but if it happens a lot, it may be annoying enough to make you want to rip out your home automation system.
While you’d ordinarily need to call an IT specialist to beef up your home network (or attempt it yourself), increasingly custom electronics (CE) pros are becoming proficient at network installation and facilitation. Now, the same person who designs and installs your home theater gear, lighting system and home automation system should be able to also set up a home network that’s fast, reliable and able to handle any technology you throw at it.
Most CE pros agree that standard residential networking equipment can no longer handle the bandwidth demands of most automated homes. Consequently, it’s become common practice for them to update customers’ homes by installing enterprise-grade equipment. Moving up to a gigabit router is a good first step. From there, your CE pro might add stronger wireless access points and position them in places that may have initially been ignored, like outside. After all, you’re probably going to want to use a mobile device to control the lights, music and more while you’re relaxing or working in the yard.
No matter how robust your router, it will need to be power-cycled every now and then. Many CE pros will do this for you, often remotely, as part of their service contract. Your CE pro will also be able to set up your automation system so when the Internet does go down, you’ll still be able to operate the lights, A/V equipment and other devices.
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