The Internet has become such a pervasive presence in our lives, so why not use it to communicate with the electronic devices in our homes? It’s a concept that manufacturers of electronic systems and products have embraced fully, making it possible to monitor, manage and control just about every part of your home via the World Wide Web. You can find a host of products that are IP-enabled—surveillance cameras and electronic door locks to thermostats and light switches. Complete home automation systems are accessible via the web, too.
The Impact
As long as there is a strong, clear web connection available to your smartphone, tablet or PC, you can interact with a home automation system easily and from anywhere in the world. Of the many advancements taking shape in home automation systems, web connectivity has become one of the most appealing improvements.
With a long-distance network between you and your home well established, manufacturers have recently started to turn their attention to the communications network that exists inside your home. Using the same Wi-Fi technology that wirelessly connects your laptop to a router and printer, you can now control a wide assortment of devices within your home. There are Wi-Fi-enabled lighting systems and thermostats, as well as complete automation systems.
What’s really driving the popularity of Wi-Fi-enabled electronic products and systems is their ease of installation. Wi-Fi is the ubiquitous communications standard of smartphones and tablets, which means they’re ready to speak with other Wi-Fi devices with minimal setup required. Also, a Wi-Fi-based control system may require no special gateway device (unlike other home automation communications protocols) to facilitate communications and control from a mobile device. The router you likely already have in the home may be able to handle the pass off of commands from your phone or tablet to a light switch, thermostat of some other Wi-Fi-based device.
Wi-Fi-based automation is making a big impact, too, due to its pleasing price tag. Since Wi-Fi is wireless and pervasive, it minimizes the amount of labor required to set up and install a system. In fact, many Wi-Fi systems are intended to be installed by do-it-yourselfers. And who can deny the impact that Wi-Fi has had on the way we consume media? Streaming songs from your phone to your stereo system has made listening to music fun, engaging and effortless; streaming movies from the Internet has afforded us the luxury of watching what we want whenever we want.
The Next Step
Still, Wi-Fi isn’t perfect. A Wi-Fi-based automation system is only as good as its Wi-Fi network, and in many homes this network isn’t quite up to snuff. If you’ve ever experienced dead zones and drop outs as you roam the house with your smartphone, tablet or PC, the automation commands that travel over the same Wi-Fi network will likely experience the same hiccups. You can preclude these problems by beefing up the network. This may require the addition of a wireless access point (WAP) or could involve a complete overhaul of your current network setup. With so many devices speaking Wi-Fi, and many of those devices streaming audio and video signals (bandwidth gluttons), it’s a good idea to contact a custom electronics (CE) professional to assess the capabilities of your home’s current network. To ensure reliable operation of home automation gear, many CE pros recommend upgrading to a enterprise-grade network.
If you’d rather not add automation to your Wi-Fi network’s already long list of responsibilities, there are other wireless networking options, Z-Wave and ZigBee being the two most popular and widely supported by home electronics manufacturers. These differ from Wi-Fi in that they create their own network within the home, ostensibly making them more reliable. In fact, many systems sold via service providers and security companies adhere to Z-Wave, which currently seems to have more support than ZigBee from manufacturers of residential products. You can find a wide assortment of Z-Wave products also at retail outlets. One of the biggest selling features of Z-Wave is that you can start small and gradually add new components as your budget allows or your needs change.
The Bottom Line
Regardless of which protocol you choose—Wi-Fi, Z-Wave or ZigBee (or a combination of all three), a wireless communications platform offers a great way to implement an automation system with minimal disruption of your household. You or your CE pro will need to fish no wire and programming can usually be handled right from your smartphone. Untethered by wire, the products can be repositioned and even taken with you should you move into a new house. They’ve also broken the price barrier that’s kept many people from automating their homes. Now, no matter if your house is large or small, your budget unlimited or tight, you can finally incorporate at least a few automated devices into it.
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